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Dear friends and fellow researchers,
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How can we shape digital technologies to serve the public interest? In this issue, we explore new ideas, frameworks and formats that address this issue. Read on to discover how universities are navigating digital change, how AI can support human work and how niche platforms are challenging dominant business models. We invite you to dive into these timely debates and discover cutting-edge research on topics ranging from autonomous weapons to fair and sustainable open access publishing and the hidden costs of AI. |
Stay informed and inspired,
Jeanette Hofmann · Björn Scheuermann · Thomas Schildhauer · Wolfgang Schulz |
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Future-ready universities: Resilience and creativity | |
How can educational technology contribute to building resilient universities and equip them to cope with future change? Though they’re only midway through the project, our Organisational Resilience and Creativity team has already begun to deliver insights relevant to practice. One new study examines how eight European universities responded creatively to the pandemic; another looks at ways institutions can address resistance to digital change. |
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Project completed: Governing urban data responsibly | |
What does the responsible use of data in municipalities look like in practice? Using air quality monitoring as a case, our Data & Smart City Governance project examined citizen engagement, data sharing models and the legal and organisational requirements for data-driven governance. Results include a data governance guide already adopted by several German cities, alongside further outputs on data access, sharing and protection. |
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Teaching future skills: Micro-credentials for students | |
How can non-STEM students acquire the essential skills required in a digitalised labour market? In collaboration with universities from Bangladesh, India and Vietnam, we have developed two free micro-credentials that introduce the fundamentals of artificial intelligence and data literacy while also addressing their societal implications. The courses provide hands-on experience and critical thinking tools that can help students navigate digital technologies. |
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Open-access book: The Realities of Autonomous Weapons | |
As AI becomes central to military innovation, questions of accountability, human oversight and machine autonomy are becoming more pressing. This new volume, published at Bristol University Press, brings together sixteen interdisciplinary insights into how autonomous weapons are shaped by culture, ethics, regulation, doctrine and research. In turn, how do these technologies reshape the frameworks that govern them? |
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Platform business models: Digital niche marketplaces | |
Although dominant platforms such as Amazon and Uber have been well researched, niche marketplaces are less understood. A new article in Information and Organisation demonstrates how institutional logics influence the business models of ten European niche platforms. The article identifies two archetypes — “concierge” and “wizard” — and provides a framework for understanding how complexity and context influence platform design. |
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Human oversight in AI: New insights from credit lending | |
This FAccT 2025 proceedings paper examines the operation of human-in-the-loop configurations in real-world credit scoring systems. Employing an approach that combines legal perspectives, social science and architectural modelling, the paper identifies key factors for meaningful human control and proposes two new roles to strengthen the transparency and resilience of automated decision-making processes. |
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HIIG BOOKSHELF · Other worthwhile publications | | |
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Shaping Diamond Open Access together | |
In collaboration with Verfassungsblog, we cordially invite you to the concluding event of the Acquisition Logic as an Obstacle to Diamond Open Access project. We will present a blueprint for how this publication model could be organised in Germany in the long term. This will be followed by a public panel discussion on access and academic freedom, held in German and streamed live. |
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Conference on risk narratives in data processing | |
How are the risks associated with modern data use communicated, and what impact do these narratives have on individuals and society? We are hosting an interdisciplinary conference with the Nexus Institute, exploring dominant and alternative narratives in privacy, surveillance and data protection. The programme includes contributions from the scientific, artistic, pedagogical and practical perspectives. |
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Omnipresent & hidden: Impacts, costs and futures of AI | |
Although AI dominates the headlines, its public image is largely shaped by the people who design and profit from it. This workshop sheds light on overlooked perspectives. It reveals the hidden societal and environmental costs of AI development that are often absent from mainstream debate. Critical insights from voices in research and civil society will contribute to a more balanced and inclusive conversation. |
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Beyond HIIG · Events that caught our eye | | |
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