The Ethics of Digitalization

Led by the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG), the Berkman Klein Center, and the Digital Asia Hub, and in collaboration with the Global Network of Internet & Society Centers (NoC), the ”The Ethics of Digitalisation: From Principles to Practice” project advances dialogue and action at the intersection of science, politics, digital economy, and civil society. 

Digitalization efforts are rapidly proliferating across sectors, prompting new and large-scale ethical challenges that arise from technological development and deployment that have important rights and justice implications. The project will engage interdisciplinary networks of scholars and students, as well as civil society groups, policymakers, and other stakeholders in order to advance research outputs with social relevance in application-related and practice-based contexts such as content moderation, tech-assisted learning, or well-being. 

In 2019, during a panel discussion hosted by the Berkman Klein Center, German Federal President Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier described his efforts to promote a global dialogue about our responsibility for the future and how digital transformation will dramatically reshape industry, government, and society. The newly-announced project builds upon this past event and draws on the NoC’s unique interdisciplinary expertise, geographic reach, diversity of perspectives, and established history of fostering collaboration across borders and boundaries. 

With the German President as patron and the support of Stiftung Mercator, the project is hosting a series of research sprints, interdisciplinary clinics, workshops, and other activities in Europe, the US, and Asia.