On 20th of August, 9.30-12.00 we will meet up with internal and external CDW members to embark on an expedition to KCX – a new ‘light technical’ (lysteknisk) and welfare technological lab under Region H's 'Kommunikationcentret' in Ballerup. The purpose of the lab is for citizens to live-test assistive devices and applications, rehabilitation solutions and lighting – to make possible coherent solutions and reduce the risk of failed investments.

The event is also open to prospective CDW members. If you are interested in joining, please contact our Strategic Project Manager, Laura, at laju@itu, and she will provide more info.

NB! RSVP August 5th at the latest.

On August 15th, we are hosting an open forum that will investigate the implication of new digital approaches to emergency communication in the Nordic welfare states.

We - the Digital Emergency Communication (DIGeMERGE) project and the Center for Digital Welfare (CDW), would therefore like to invite you – researchers, practitioners, and other stakeholders to discuss the infrastructural, institutional, and relational outcomes of these processes, and how they contribute to social and cultural change in the Nordic countries.

The full-day program consists of keynotes and discussion panels at ITU during the day, and dinner at the nearby hotel Zoku in the evening. See the detailed program and register by July 26th via this Eventbrite link.

On May 29, CDW invited all members for a round-table discussion on Digital vs. People-first Perspectives as part of the CDW Theme #3: “Future Implications of Technological vs. Social rationality in organizational settings", led by Associate Professor at ITU and co-lead of CDW, Louise Harder Fischer. Researchers and practitioners alike, delved into the more philosophical assumptions behind concepts like Industry 5.0, human-centered design, and 'digital vs. human first' narratives. The discussion gave rise to questions about the interaction between man and machine, which is rapidly developing, and how this shapes and changes the workplace and the future of work. How might a people-first perspective in a digital-first reality play out? How does this affect our way of theorizing and practicing leadership? What responsibility does the entrance of AI into the workplace place on HR-managers, IT departments, unions, etc.? These were just some of the questions being raised. Read more about the event here.

On April 26, CDW celebrated the combined launch of the book "Digitalization in Practice" edited by Jessamy Perriam & Katrine Meldgaard Kjær, and the research project "DIGI-FRONT: Transnational Collaboration at the Digital Frontier", led by Irina Papazu, funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark, with a panel discussion with the authors of the book, presentations from the work packages, and a reception. Read more about the event here. 

On March 14, CDW invited all members to attend a meeting on the topic of "Representation & Generative AI" as part of the emerging theme 'Automation within the health, care, and social sectors' led by Associate Professor, Sisse Finken. Participants from across civil, academic and private sector heard presentations from Sunniva Sandbukt, Assistant Professor at ITU and Asbjørn Ammitzbøll Flügge, Implement Consulting Group. Read more about the event here.

Friday, February 9, 09:30-12:00, the CDW invited all members for a seminar titled "Nordic Exceptionalism in Digitalization", where participants discussed the implications and consequences for Danish citizens and public agencies of the Danish state’s strategical positioning as a leader of public digitalization on a global stage. The seminar was part of the CDW 'Emerging theme' #1: "Global comparisons and collaborations in digital welfare" running throughout 2024.

On February 1, 12:00-13:00, the CDW invited all members to participate in a virtual info meeting about the new center structure and management model, as well as an introduction to the upcoming events of the Spring semester. Here, CDW's Strategic Project Manager and the newly constituted management team, presented the 3 'emerging themes' of 2024, as well as the motivation behind changing the hierarchical management model of the center to a distributed management model. If you are interested in learning more, find more info in the February newsletter or contact liny@itu.dk for the event recording. 

This December, the Center for Digital Welfare invited researchers and practitioners for a collaborative workshop exploring 'digitalization styles' across 4 cases of Danish public digitalization. The workshop included presentations on:

1) The digitalization of the Danish police through the platform POL-INTEL by Assistant Professor at ITU, Vasilis Galis
2) Responsible Management of AI at Scale in the Danish Business Authority by post.doc at ITU, Per Rådberg Nagbøl
3) Digitalization and automation of welfare fraud control by post.doc. Benjamin Schwarz from the Danish Institute for Human Rights
4) The Danish e-ID systems NemID and MitID by Professor Torben Elgaard Jensen from Aalborg University.

The event was developed in collaboration with the Algoritmer, Data og Demokrati - ADD projektet, and marks the beginning of a new partnership and hopefully more fruitful collaborations in the future. This event concluded the year for the center and we can't wait to invite our members for more exciting events in 2024!

The first Center for Digtal Welfare Masterclass event focused on IT governance as a global concept. Public IT governance concerns the distribution of IT decisions and accountability in the public sector. While governments across the world made efforts to implement appropriate IT governance to ensure alignment between the digital and the social needs, public digital services do not always serve policy objectives or prioritize citizen’s well-being.

We invited researchers, IT professionals, and alike to participate in a workshop, where the key take-aways were 1) a broad understanding of IT governance and its relevance, 2) a tool that can be applied by public employees and researchers to understand the connection between daily IT operation with policy, IT and other business departments, and citizens’ needs, and 3), a tool that can be applied to communicate IT decisions in public organizations to the public stakeholders

Inequalities in access to and skills in managing digital technologies have been researched and discussed in quite a bit of depth over the past two decades. These inequalities often reflect historical inequalities between countries and between people from different socio-economic and socio-cultural backgrounds. This talk will discuss two topics that are less well researched. First, unlike attention grabbing headlines a more nuanced approach will be taken to look at inequalities in who benefits and suffers socially and psychologically from digitisation. Secondly, we will look at inequalities in the participation in digital spaces and the ways that people experience these.

Ellen Helsper is Professor of Digital Inequalities in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE, where she also serves as Programme

Director for the MSc Media and Communications (Research). Her current research interests include the links between social and digital inequalities; mediated interpersonal communication; participatory immersive digital spaces (VR, ER); and quantitative and qualitative methodological developments in media and communications research.

Algorithmic relations refer to the processes through which algorithmic culture emerges by people establishing and maintaining human-machine connections. It is not enough to ask what algorithmic systems are doing to us; we must also consider what we are doing to algorithms. This talk engages with ‘the feel of algorithms’ outlining how the analysis of algorithmic folklore and related emotional responses provides new perspectives on algorithmic relations. By examining the affective infrastructure, we can identify various modes of presence and participation in algorithmic culture, ranging from enthusiasm and ‘mild paranoia’ to irritation and frustration.