Exploring the digital society
To understand current social and technological change, we need explanations that help shape our future. Within the framework of the lecture series “Making Sense of the Digital Society“, visionary experts share their perspective on the digital society of our time. They address fundamental questions: What could a European perspective on the current transformation process look like? What is the meaning of power and how is it...
Work in the digital age
The future of work is now. We are already working alongside machines that seem to have learnt to think, even feel. Some of us have jobs that our grandparents would have considered recreational activities. And some don’t even stop working anymore. But what does the age of AI and automation hold ready for us? How many of us will still be working? And what does digital labour mean for workers in the Global South? What does it mean for...
GDPR – what’s beyond?
New rights for consumers, new obligations for businesses: European data protection law will receive a massive update, as the EU’s general data protection regulation will enter into force on 25 May 2018. This makes it easier for users to find out what Facebook, Google & Co. store. Will GDPR really make data traffic more transparent? Or nothing new after all? In this context, our researchers also shed light on other topics such as...
Algorithmic decisions and human rights
From smart assistants in the justice, over intelligent systems in the administration sector to highly developed portable devices: Innovations in the field of artificial intelligence are impacting nearly every area of our everyday life. However, algorithmic decision-making leads to complex human rights implications. In this dossier researchers of the NoC European Hub discuss the role of law and ethics in the context of algorithmic...
- All
- Innovation
- Knowledge
- Law
- Policy
- Social
Addiction: Apt metaphor for (over)use of digital technology?
People are increasingly being warned about the dangers to one’s physical and emotional well-being of always being online. In this post, Sally Wyatt reflects critically on the metaphors of ‘use’...
“This might interest you” – How the Filter Bubble determines our perception
The Filter Bubble – that is one of the most discussed phenomena of the internet. It is suspected of restricting our perception of the Internet through filters. Everyone is talking...
Scientific policy advice – Mediator between two systems
Scientific policy advice is also becoming increasingly important in Germany. What is important here? Rebecca Winkels talked to Christian Kobsda, associate researcher at the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet...
Could fake news annul the Brazilian elections?
Fake News affecting polls – a possibility feared for the Brazilian Presidential Elections this year. As Supreme Court Justice Luiz Fux has claimed the election results could even be annulled. But how...
What is surveillance capitalism?
Big Brother is watching you. And not only that – new methods of evaluating and manipulating behavior are starting to threaten our freedom. In her new book “The Age of...
Is political micro-targeting hijacking European democracy?
One of the phenomena that Tom Dobber and Natali Helberger have put under the magnifying glass is political micro-targeting, a technique employed by politicians to address individual voters with tailor-made...
Digital identities: a chance for democracy?
What happens when the entity that issued your identification documents no longer exists? Are encrypted identities the solution to this and could they be a prerequisite for technologically enabled forms...
Is the future of mobility upon us?
Silicon Valley is notoriously known for its heavy traffic, affecting every Bay Area resident on a daily basis. No wonder that Silicon Valley has become a test-bed for futuristic mobility...
Proposed Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market: a missed opportunity?
Do news aggregators impact traffic generation towards online news sites? Will platforms like Instagram and TripAdvisor automatically filter user content? Is an EU news publishers’ right really a good idea? ...
Click Cliques: User Types in Online Learning
It should have been an educational game changer. The world’s top universities were offering courses online, free to anyone with an Internet connection. Enthusiasm was high, as was enrollment. But...
We want to e-participate
The latest form of the diverse concept of political participation is “e-participation”. This includes activities by citizens who use information and communication technologies to try to influence political processes. What...
Data protection law in upheaval?
Less than two months had passed since the General Data Protection Regulation entered into force on 25 May 2018, and yet its impact could already be seen everywhere. In addition...
Digital work: Unions focus on the crowd
IG Metall is the world’s largest organised employee representation. For them, as well as for other unions, working in the digital age raises many new challenges and tasks. Stefan Stumpp,...
How YouTube helps to unite the Right
With over 1.5 billion users a month, YouTube is the world’s biggest social media platform. It is also the communication and information backbone for the far-right in the United States....
Creating value with the crowd
The crowd is continuously gaining significance for organisations. What exactly makes it so valuable? This article by Stefan Stumpp, associate researcher at HIIG, inquires which areas of an organisation profit...
Codetermination, Allgäu-style
Co-creation, transparency and other forms of employee participation are becoming more and more of a necessity for enterprises – and that goes not only for upstarts, but increasingly for small...
Storm in a teacup: predatory journals are irrelevant
A team of investigative journalists has discovered so-called “Predatory publishing”. Since then media has quickly picked up the term “fake science”. Yet, the phenomenon is well-known to researchers and only...
Removals of online hate speech in numbers
Six months after a new German law – the Network Enforcement Act – has come into full effect, social media platforms are tasked to report on illegal hate speech. But...
The difficulty of regulating “fake news”
In early 2018, President Macron announced a law against fake news. This was triggered by the dissemination of false information during the election campaign and the general fear that they...
Is there (digital) life after death?
Yes, at least for your digital persona according to the German Federal Court of Justice [1]. The judges found that a social media account is hereditary. Social media accounts are to be...
What is digital constitutionalism?
Over the past few decades, the incessant development of digital technology and its disruptive impact on contemporary society have affected the relative equilibrium of the constitutional ecosystem. A series of...