Digitalisation Research Seminar: Exploring Digital Freedom

Am CAIS in Bochum diskutierten Doktorand*innen und Postdocs beim Digitalisation Research Seminar (DigiSem) im Oktober zum Thema “digitale Freiheit”. In der englischsprachigen Podcastfolge stellen wir die Konferenz und ausgewählte Projekte vor.

What does digital freedom mean, and how can we shape it? The DigiSem underscored vital components: conducting research, sharing results, and collectively expanding ideas.

Digital Freedom: Opportunities, Challenges, Autonomy

Academics from different countries, disciplines and research areas presented their projects at DigiSem. What are the opportunities for digital freedom, what are the challenges and what about our autonomy? Does digitalisation promote democratization and enhance personal well-being?

Researchers and Their Projects

Rainer Rehak, researcher at the Weizenbaum Institute in Berlin, talked about civic tech projects and the framework conditions that influence their success.

Dr. Marco Lünich, researcher at the Chair of Communication and Media Studies at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, explores technostress among students related to generative AI.

Fay Carathanassis and Steliyana Doseva, both research associates at the Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation, investigate insults on social media and explore the question of whether affected individuals report these incidents and the reasons behind their choices.

Convening Institutions

DigiSem is held biennially and is organized by four leading German institutions in digitalisation research: In addition to the Leibniz Institute for Media Research I the Hans Bredow Institute, these are the Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation, the Center for Advanced Internet Studies, and the Weizenbaum Institute. Through a call for participation, the organizers invite researchers to submit an abstract that aligns with the seminar’s theme.