Every year, as part of the ECSS program, Informatics Europe organises a joint Award ceremony with ERCIM, where the winners of three awards are presented:

• The Best Practices in Education Award recognising educational initiatives across Europe that improve the quality of Informatics teaching and the attractiveness of the discipline.

• The Minerva Informatics Equality Award recognising best practices in departments or faculties of European universities and research labs that encourage and support the careers of women in Informatics research and education.

• The Cor Baayen Young Researcher Award recognising a promising young researcher in computer science and applied mathematics. The award was created in 1995 to honour the first ERCIM President.

The award winners have the opportunity to present their achievements in a short talk during the Awards session.

Following members and participants request for more opportunities for interaction and discussion, Informatics Europe organizes the parallel Working Sessions as a part of ECSS 2019 program. 

Main topics of the ECSS 2019 working sessions will be announced soon. 

More details about the past ECSS 2018 working sessions can be found on the past Summit web-page.  

The 15^th European Computer Science Summit – ECSS 2019 – is calling the participation of the community and in particular of:

• Heads (deans, chairs) of Academic Informatics /Computer Science /IT Departments (Schools, Faculties, Institutes);
• Research Directors and Managers of Research Centres, Institutes and Labs, both in public institutions and in industry;
• Faculty members and researchers from both academia and industry;
• Members of funding and governmental agencies at European, national regional and local level;
• Experts, advisors and thinkers of numerous key issues like ethics, the relation between Informatics and other sciences, the discipline’s future and its influence on the academic world and society.

The European Computer Science Summit is the meeting place for anyone interested in issues of research, education and policy in Informatics. The annual summit is a unique opportunity to meet some of the prominent decision makers and discuss critical issues for the discipline.

The ECSS 2019 will be held in Rome, Italy, October 28-30, 2019 at the Hotel NH Collection Roma Centro. The conference in 2019 will have a renewed and enriched format consisting of a main summit of three days composed of a number of complementary events and sessions.

The conference opens on Monday with a Workshop for Leaders of Informatics Research and Education, and a Workshop of the WIRE working group. The program continues with keynote addresses and a thought-provoking discussion panel on the central theme “Social Responsibility of Informatics”. An array of interdisciplinary topics regarding the interplay between Informatics and Ethics, Law, Privacy as well as Responsible Research and Innovation and Artificial Intelligence will be addressed by a selection of distinguished speakers from all over Europe. Rounding up Tuesday’s program, we will have the Informatics Europe and ERCIM Awards Ceremony, the Dialogue with Members Session and the Informatics Europe Annual General Assembly where key topics of relevance to the community and the development of the organisation will be actively discussed. We want to encourage a closer dialogue and an even more active participation from our members. The program will include a Creative Coffee Break and a Members' Voice track where members will have the opportunity to actively contribute and discuss ways to implement their ideas. The Summit is concluded on Wednesday with a very special workshop on Bridging the Digital Talent Gap in Europe organised by Informatics Europe in partnership with the European Commission’s DG CONNECT. The workshop will bring together leaders from Universities, Industry and the European Commission for an open, transparent and productive conversation on the complex, pervasive and pressing issue of the digital talent gap. 

The Summit is co-chaired by Enrico Nardelli, Informatics Europe President, University of Rome "Tor Vergata" and Gianfranco Basti, Pontifical Lateran University, with organisational support by Alessandro Mei and Tiziana Catarci, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Paolo Atzeni, Roma Tre University and Roberto Basili, University of Rome "Tor Vergata". Program Chairs include Elisabetta Di Nitto, Politecnico di Milano, and Paola Mello, University of Bologna; Geraldine Fitzpatrick, TU Vienna and Gregor Engels, University of Paderborn; Erika Abraham, RWTH Aachen University, Lejla Batina, Radboud University, and Alexandra Silva, University College London; Fabrizia Benini and Alexander Riedl, European Commission (DG CONNECT).

The information about the venue, coordinates and logistics is available on the Venue webpage.

An advance detailed schedule is also available on the ECSS 2019 website. For further information about the events and sessions, you can access directly the information concerning each specific session:

• Leaders Workshop,
• WIRE Workshop,
• Keynotes and Panel on Social Responsibility of Informatics,
• Informatics Europe ERCIM Awards Session,
• Informatics Europe Sessions,
• Talent Gap Workshop.

Registrations will open by the end of June.  Follow the ECSS 2019 website and our Twitter with hashtag #ecss_2019 for up to date information.

Conference Chairs

• Enrico Nardelli, Informatics Europe, University of Rome "Tor Vergata"
• Gianfranco Basti, Pontifical Lateran University

with organisational support by

• Paolo Atzeni, Roma Tre University
• Roberto Basili, University of Rome "Tor Vergata"
• Alessandro Mei and Tiziana Catarci, "Sapienza" University of Rome

Chairs of the Social Responsibility of Informatics Sessions

• Elisabetta Di Nitto, Politecnico di Milano
  
• Paola Mello, University of Bologna

Chairs of the Leaders Workshop

• Gregor Engels, Paderborn University
• Geraldine Fitzpatrick, TU Vienna

Chairs of the WIRE Workshop

• Erika Abraham, RWTH Aachen University
• Lejla Batina, Radboud University
• Alexandra Silva, University College London

Organizers of the Talent Gap Workshop

• Fabrizia Benini, DG CONNECT, European Commission
  
• Alexander Riedl, DG CONNECT, European Commission
• Enrico Nardelli, Informatics Europe, University of Rome "Tor Vergata"
• Cristina Pereira, Informatics Europe

Organisational Committee

• Cristina Pereira, Informatics Europe
• Svetlana Tikhonenko, Informatics Europe

To register to ECSS 2019:

• Go to the ECSS 2019 Registration Site and create an account there.
• Activate your account by clicking on the link you will receive in the e-mail address you have indicated during the account creation.
• Login with your credentials on the ECSS 2019 Registration Site and register for the conference by clicking on the REGISTRATION menu item

If you don’t receive the e-mail within 15 minutes please check your spam folder before trying to register again (and double check the email address you indicated during the account creation). For persisting problems please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Registration Fees

The registration fee of the ECSS 2019 (28-30 October) covers:

• Participation in all activities of the Summit (including the Leaders Workshop/WIRE Workshop and Talent Gap Workshop)
• Coffee breaks, lunches
• Conference Welcome Reception on Monday, 28 October*
• Conference Dinner on Tuesday, 29 October*
• Conference materials

Prices**

Early Bird registration (before September 15):

• € 350,00 (Member of Informatics Europe)
• € 450,00 (Non-Member)

Normal registration (after September 15):

• € 450,00 (Member of Informatics Europe)
• € 550,00 (Non-Member)

Participants from institutions which are not yet member of Informatics Europe can profit of a special offer. See more details here.

 *Companion invitations for the Welcome Reception and Dinner are available for purchase (Extra Tickets). They are not included in the registration fee.

** Please note that the amount of the bank transfer will have to include any bank fee related to the transfer and/or processing.

ECSS 2019 was held at:

How to reach the ECSS 2019 Venue

The Hotel NH Collection Roma Centro is located in the heart of Rome, in the Prati/Vatican City area. The closest Metro station is Lepanto.

From the Airport:

• Taxi: 33 minutes ride for around 60 EUR.
• Aerobus shuttle: Departs every 30-45 minutes and costs 6 EUR. Drop off at Stazione Termini and from there take Metro A direction Battistini for 5 stops, get off in Lepanto walk few meters. Alternatively, you can drop off at Rome Vatican (via Crescenzio, 28) and walk around 800 meters (10 minutes) to the venue. 

From Train Station Termini: 

• Metro A direction Battistini for 5 stops, get off in Lepanto, walk few meters.

Click here for a Rome Metro map.

By Car:

• The hotel's GPS Coordinates: 41.90977640000001°N 12.468713999999977°E
• Parking: Offsite. The parking is owned by a 3rd party and is 25 EUR/day.

For more information about public transportation in Rome and ways to reach the Conference Venue, you can visit www.atac.roma.it.

The Conference Dinner (Tuesday, October 29, 19:30-22:30) was held at:

How to reach the Conference Dinner Venue

Les Étoiles panoramic roof garden restaurant is located in the heart of Rome, in the Prati/Vatican City area and gives a unique view of The Vatican City and surroundings. The closest Metro station is Ottaviano.

From the Airport:

• Taxi: around 35 minutes ride for around 60 EUR.
• Aerobus shuttle: Departs every 30-45 minutes and costs 6 EUR. Drop off at Stazione Termini and from there take Metro A direction Battistini for 6 stops, get off in Ottaviano, walk few meters.

From Train Station Termini: 

• Metro A direction Battistini for 6 stops, get off in Ottaviano, walk few meters.

Click here for a Rome Metro map.

From the ECSS 2019 Venue:

• The restaurant is around seven-minute walk from the ECSS 2019 Venue (Hotel NH Collection Roma Centro).
  

For more information about public transportation in Rome and ways to reach the Conference Dinner Venue, you can visit www.atac.roma.it.

Oct. 28           Oct. 29           Oct. 30 

  Monday, 28 October 2019

08:30-09:00 Registration

09:00-09:15 Conference Opening

09:15-11:00 Leaders Workshop - Session 1 'Leadership Models - On Being a Leader' [Slides]   ¦ in parallel ¦  WIRE Workshop - Session 1 'The Computer Science Career Journey'

11:00-11:30 Coffee Break

11:30-13:00 Leaders Workshop and WIRE Workshop - Joint Session 2 'Unconscious Bias - Promoting Diversity' [Slides] 

13:00-14:00 Lunch

14:00-15:45 Leaders Workshop - Session 3 'Getting Practical - You as a Leader' [Slides]  ¦ in parallel ¦   WIRE Workshop - Session 3 'Best Practices, Industry, EU Policy'

15:45-16:15 Coffee Break 

• 16:15-16:30 Luciano Floridi - University of Oxford 
  •              "Ethics of AI"  [Video Talk]  
    

• 16:30-17:15 Virginia Dignum - Umeå University 
  •             "Responsible Artificial Intelligence"  [Slides]  

17:30-19:30 ECSS 2019 Welcome Reception at Hotel NH Collection Roma Centro Bar

   Tuesday, 29 October 2019

Room: Trinita' Dei Monti

08:30-09:00 Registration

09:00-11.45 Keynotes on Social Responsibility of Informatics

Session Chair: Markus Püschel, ETH Zurich

• 09:00-09:45 Mireille Hildebrandt - Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Session Chair: Hélène Kirchner, Inria

• 09:45-10:30 Tony Belpaeme - Ghent University
  

10:30-11:00  Coffee Break

• 11:00-11:45 Bernd Stahl - De Montfort University

11:45-12:45 Panel on Social Responsibility of Informatics

12:45-13:30 Lunch

Best Practices in Education Award (sponsored by Microsoft)

• 13:30-13:50 Winners Announcement by Letizia Jaccheri, NTNU (Award Panel Chair). Short talk by Winners   [Slides, Winner 1]   [Slides, Winner 2]

• 13:50-14:10 Winner Announcement by Dana Petcu, West University of Timișoara (Award Panel Chair). Short talk by Winner   [Slides]

ERCIM Cor Baayen Award (sponsored by ERCIM)

• 14:10-14:30 Winners Announcement by Jos Baeten, CWI (ERCIM President). Short talk by Winners [Slides, Winner 1]   [Slides, Winner 2]

• 14:30-14:40 Informatics Europe Higher Education Data Portal - Svetlana Tikhonenko [Slides]
• 14:40-14:50 Informatics for All - Michael Caspersen  [Slides]  
• 14:50-15:00 Report  Ethical/Social Impact of Informatics as a Study Subject - Paola Mello  [Slides]  
• 15:00-15:10 Report The Wide Role of Informatics at Universities - Susan Eisenbach  [Slides]  
• 15:10-15:20 Women in Informatics Research and Education - Erika Ábrahám  [Slides]  
• 15:20-15:30 Q&A

15:30-16:00 Creative Coffee Break  [Slides]  

19:30-22:30 Conference Dinner at 'Les Étoiles' Restaurant (Via dei Bastioni, 1, 00193 Rome)
                    

   Wednesday, 30 October 2019

Workshop "Bridging the Digital Talent Gap - Towards Successful Industry-University Partnerships”

Plenary Sessions Room: Trinita' Dei Monti

Download the document with more details about the workshop content and the parallel sessions.

08:30-09:00 Registration and Coffee

09:00-09:15 Welcome and Opening

• Enrico Nardelli, Informatics Europe
• Fabrizia Benini, European Commission
  

09:15-10:10 Plenary Session "Setting the Scene"

• 09:15-09:50 Discussion Panel "The Digital Talent Gap in Europe"

Moderator: Fabrizia Benini, European Commission

Panellists:

• • Paola Inverardi - University of L'Aquila
  • Anna Wypior - SAP University Alliances, SAP SE
  • Andrea Dal Piaz - Roma Tre University

• 09:50-10:10  Short Guidance for Breakout Sessions

• • Artificial Intelligence
  • Cyber Security
  • Software Engineering

10:10-10:40 Networking Coffee

10:40-12:45 Parallel Breakout Sessions 

Introduction and situation analysis | Brainstorming and identification of solutions in subgroups

• Artificial Intelligence (including Data Science) - Daniele Nardi, "Sapienza" University of Rome (Rapporteur)/Tanya Suarez, BluSpecs (Facilitator)

• Cyber Security (including Cyber Physical Systems and Privacy) - Javier Lopez, University of Malaga (Rapporteur)/Alexander Riedl, European Commission (Facilitator)

• Software Engineering (including Human Centred Engineering) - Gregor Engels, University of Paderborn (Rapporteur)/Alessandro Bogliolo, University of Urbino (Facilitator)

12:45-14:15  Networking Lunch

14:15-15:40 Parallel Breakout Sessions

Presentation of solutions from subgroups | Merging solutions from subgroups | Synthesis and identification of actions to be presented in the Plenary Session

• Artificial Intelligence (including Data Science) - Daniele Nardi, "Sapienza" University of Rome (Rapporteur)/Tanya Suarez, BluSpecs (Facilitator)

• Cyber Security (including Cyber Physical Systems and Privacy) - Javier Lopez, University of Malaga (Rapporteur)/Alexander Riedl, European Commission (Facilitator)

• Software Engineering (including Human Centred Engineering) - Gregor Engels, University of Paderborn (Rapporteur)/Alessandro Bogliolo, University of Urbino (Facilitator)

• Paola Inverardi - University of L'Aquila 

       "Ethics and Privacy in the Digital Societies: An Exoskeleton to Empower the User"

 16:20-16:55 Plenary Session "The Way Forward"

• Presentation Key Actions from the Parallel Breakout Sessions - Rapporteurs and Facilitators
• Closing remarks for Workshop and ECSS - Enrico Nardelli, Informatics Europe

16:55-17:30  Networking Drink

Every year Informatics Europe organises a special Workshop for Leaders of Informatics Research and Education, as part of the ECSS global program, to address specific challenges they encounter in their role. The workshop is a unique networking forum for leaders of Informatics institutions and research groups, and focuses on concrete issues and practical solutions.

Date & Main Theme

The 2019 workshop was held on 28 October (Monday), chaired by Gregor Engels, Department of Computer Science, Paderborn University and Geraldine Fitzpatrick, Faculty of Informatics, TU Vienna.  The central theme was Developing as a Leader in an Academic Context, with main focus on special skills and leadership training needed to play a leadership role at any level in an academic environment.

Content

ECSS is known to bring prominent and high calibre keynote speakers on stage. ECSS 2019 is no exception. 

The following speakers took part in ECSS 2019:

Tony Belpaeme

Ghent University

Virginia Dignum

Umeå University

Gregor Engels

Universität Paderborn

Geraldine Fitzpatrick

TU Vienna

Luciano Floridi*

University of Oxford

Mireille Hildebrandt

Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Paola Inverardi

University of L'Aquila

Bernd Stahl

De Montfort University

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• Tony Belpaeme

  Ethical/Social Responsibility Issues in Social Robots
  
  Abstract
  
  Social robots are poised to be the next revolution in robotics: while in the past developments in robotics mainly focused on manipulating the physical environment at a safe distance from people, new applications will require robots to operate amongst people. This will require these robots to be sensitive to the social environment in order to respond appropriately to us, humans. From self-driving cars assessing the intentions of human road users to social robots operating in the home, all will need revolutions in AI in order to correctly operate in a dynamic and human-first environment. With this come ethical and social responsibilities. These artificial systems will not just take in a neutral position in our daily lives, they will either by design or by their mere presence influence our beliefs and actions. This talk will give examples of the use of social robots in health care and education, and will show how simple social robots already can influence on us.
  
  Short Bio
  
  Tony Belpaeme is Professor at the University of Ghent and Professor in Robotics and Cognitive Systems at Plymouth University, UK (20%). He is a member of the IDLab at Ghent, of imec, and of the Centre for Robotics and Neural Systems at Plymouth. At Ghent and Plymouth he leads a team studying the science and technology of cognitive robotics and human-robot interaction. He was the coordinator of the H2020 L2TOR project, a large-scale European project bringing 7 partners together to study how robots can be used to support the learning of a second language to children. He coordinated the FP7 ALIZ-E project, which studied long-term human-robot interaction and its use in paediatric applications. And he is PI in the FP7 DREAM project, studying how robots can be used to support Autism Spectrum Disorder therapy.

  Starting from the premise that intelligence is rooted in social interaction, Belpaeme and his research team try to further the science and technology behind artificial intelligence and social robots. This results in a spectrum of results, from theoretical insights to practical applications. The theoretical insights, in which he argues that interaction is central to natural and artificial cognition and that robots and machines should be sensitive to language and paralinguistic social mechanisms used by people, has drawn considerable academic attention. He complements this work by applying these insights in the design and implementation of robots and robotic applications. This work has been picked up by industry and has been taken up in clinical and educational practice, where robots are used to support and tutor children.

  His research is used as a showcase of research success by various funding agencies, most recently the Research Councils UK, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the European Commission. Belpaeme’s research was exhibited at the Wellcome Trust, the London Science Museum, the Natural History Museum and the National Space Centre. His work often features in the international press (Le Monde, the Guardian, Sunday Times, Scientific American …) and media. In 2013, Research Councils UK chose his work as one of “ten life changing ideas under research at UK universities”, and in 2014 the Big Ideas for the Future report of RC UK and Universities UK mentioned his research as “20 new ideas from UK universities that will change the world”.

  Read More

• Virginia Dignum

  Responsible Artificial Intelligence
  
  Abstract
  
  Artificial Intelligence (AI) has huge potential to bring accuracy, efficiency, cost savings and speed to a whole range of human activities. Increasingly, AI systems will be taking decisions that affect our lives, in smaller or larger ways. The awareness that AI has the potential to impact our lives and our world as no other technology has done before, is rightfully raising many questions concerning its ethical, legal, societal and economical effects. However, AI is not magic. As computer science academics and educators, we have the responsibility to form coming generations of practictioners that are aware of this impact, and to contribute to the public awareness of what AI is, can be, and should be. In this talk, I will discuss the meaning of responsible AI and the means to ensure everyone involved in the design and development of autonomous and intelligent systems (A/IS) is educated, trained, and empowered to prioritize ethical considerations so that these technologies are advanced for the benefit of humanity.
  
  Short Bio
  
  Virginia Dignum is a Professor at the Department of Computing Science at Umeå University, Sweden where she leads the research group Social and Ethical Artificial Intelligence. She is a Fellow of the European Artificial Intelligence Association (EURAI) and also an associated with the Faculty Technology Policy and Management at the Delft University of Technology.

  Given the increasing importance of understanding the impact of AI at societal, ethical and legal level, Virginia is actively involved in several international initiatives on policy and strategy guidelines for AI research and applications. As such she is a member of the European Commission High Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence, of the IEEE Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous Systems, the Delft Design for Values Institute, the European Global Forum on AI (AI4People), the Responsible Robotics Foundation, the Dutch AI Alliance on AI (ALLAI-NL) and of the ADA-AI foundation.

  Read More

• Gregor Engels

  Leaders Workshop: Developing as a Leader in an Academic Context
  
  The Workshop for Leaders of Informatics Research and Education addresses specific challenges they encounter in their role. The workshop is a unique networking forum for leaders of Informatics institutions and research groups, and focuses on concrete issues and practical solutions.
  The central theme is Developing as a Leader in an Academic Context, with main focus on special skills and leadership training needed to play a leadership role at any level in an academic context.
  This will be a highly interactive workshop, based on evidence-based leadership research, with a series of discussions/knowledge sharing/exchange in both large and smaller groups and summarising presentations that point to current research and practical guidelines.
  To get more details about the content and topics covered, visit the Leaders Workshop web page.
  
  Short Bio
  
  Gregor Engels is Professor of Informatics and leads the Database and Information Systems Group in the Department of Informatics at Paderborn University, Germany. He holds degrees in Computer Science, with a focus on model-based software engineering, human-centric computing, and more recently, the impact of the digital transformation on the Future of Work. He leads two interdisciplinary Graduate Schools on Work 4.0 and Crowd Working, where around 20 PhD students study novel technologies as adaptive assistance systems, novel styles of cooperative work, as well as novel ways of digital leadership. He has extensive leadership experience in academic, research, and industry sectors in Germany and the Netherlands. He heads the Software Innovation Campus Paderborn (SICP), a technology transfer institute at Paderborn University, where research groups and industrial partners study aspects and impacts of novel digital technology. He is a co-founder of Informatics Europe and currently member of the Executive Board of Informatics Europe.

  Read More

• Geraldine Fitzpatrick

  Leaders Workshop: Developing as a Leader in an Academic Context
  
  The Workshop for Leaders of Informatics Research and Education addresses specific challenges they encounter in their role. The workshop is a unique networking forum for leaders of Informatics institutions and research groups, and focuses on concrete issues and practical solutions.
  The central theme is Developing as a Leader in an Academic Context, with main focus on special skills and leadership training needed to play a leadership role at any level in an academic context.
  This will be a highly interactive workshop, based on evidence-based leadership research, with a series of discussions/knowledge sharing/exchange in both large and smaller groups and summarising presentations that point to current research and practical guidelines.
  To get more details about the content and topics covered, visit the Leaders Workshop web page.
  
  Short Bio
  
  Geraldine Fitzpatrick is Professor of Technology Design and Assessment and leads the Human Computer Interaction Group in the Informatics Faculty at TU Wien. She holds degrees in Computer Science, with a focus on socio-technical and people-centred perspectives of computing, and more recently, Applied Positive Psychology/Coaching Psychology with a focus on academic leadership. She is an ACM Distinguished Scientist, an ACM Distinguished Speaker and an IFIP TC-13 Pioneer Award recipient. She has extensive leadership experience in academic research, and industry sectors in Austria, the UK and Australia. She also has leadership experience in clinical contexts, having been in charge of operating theatres and other hospital departments as a nurse/midwife in Australia. She hosts the Changing Academic Life podcast series and is passionate about how we can craft better academic cultures, running workshops and programs for academics at all levels. For more information see http://igw.tuwien.ac.at/hci/people/gfitzpatrick and http://www.changingacademiclife.com

  Read More

• Luciano Floridi*

  Short Bio
  
  Luciano Floridi is the OII’s Professor of Philosophy and Ethics of Information at the University of Oxford, where he is also the Director of the Digital Ethics Lab of the Oxford Internet Institute. Still in Oxford, he is Distinguished Research Fellow of the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics of the Faculty of Philosophy, and Research Associate and Fellow in Information Policy of the Department of Computer Science. Outside Oxford, he is Faculty Fellow of the Alan Turing Institute and Chair of its Data Ethics Group; and Adjunct Professor of the Department of Economics, American University, Washington D.C.
  His research concerns primarily Information and Computer Ethics (aka Digital Ethics), the Philosophy of Information, and the Philosophy of Technology. Other research interests include Epistemology, Philosophy of Logic, and the History and Philosophy of Scepticism. He has published over a 150 papers in these areas, in many anthologies and peer-reviewed journals. His works have been translated into many languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Lithuanian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.
  His lifetime project is a tetralogy (not his term) on the foundation of the philosophy of information, called Principia Philosophiae Informationis.
  His most recent books are: The Fourth Revolution – How the infosphere is reshaping human reality; The Ethics of Information (volume two of the tetralogy); The Philosophy of Information (volume one of the tetralogy); Information – A Very Short Introduction. He has edited many volumes, including The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Computing and Information; The Cambridge Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics; and The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Information. His previous books include Scepticism and the Foundation of Epistemology – A Study in the Metalogical Fallacies; Internet – An Epistemological Essay; Philosophy and Computing: An Introduction; and Sextus Empiricus, The Recovery and Transmission of Pyrrhonism.

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• Mireille Hildebrandt

  Speaking Law to Computer Scientists and Other Folks
  
  Abstract
  
  Law is architecture. Lawyers build and rebuild the foundational architecture of modern society. They develop and sustain the choice architecture that binds individuals, companies and society as a whole. The Rule of Law means that no one, not even the legislature or the administration, is above the law. In this keynote I will explain how the GDPR relates to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU and how it speaks to computer science. I will argue - not prove - that the GDPR aligns with the methodological integrity of computer science and how it will contribute to a competitive advantage in the development of AI applications. Finally, I will conclude that text-driven law will have to ensure that legal norms are embedded in the architectures of computing systems, thus providing legal protection by design.
  
  Short Bio
  
  Mireille Hildebrandt is a tenured Research Professor on 'Interfacing Law and Technology' at Vrije Universiteit Brussels (VUB), appointed by the VUB Research Council. She works with the research group on Law Science Technology and Society studies (LSTS) at the Faculty of Law and Criminology. She also holds the part-time Chair of Smart Environments, Data Protection and the Rule of Law at the Science Faculty, at the Institute for Computing and Information Sciences (iCIS) at Radboud University Nijmegen.

  Her research interests concern the implications of automated decisions, machine learning and mindless artificial agency for law and the rule of law in constitutional democracies. She has published 4 scientific monographs, 21 edited volumes or special issues, and over 100 chapters and articles in scientific journals and volumes. In 2018 she has been awarded an ERC Advanced Grant for the fundamental research project ‘Counting as a Human Being in the Computational Law’ (CoHuBiCoL), on the cusp of law and computer science, see www.cohubicol.com

  Read More

• Paola Inverardi

  Ethics and Privacy in the Digital Societies: An Exoskeleton to Empower the User
  
  Abstract
  
  Software systems are increasingly autonomous in making decisions on behalf of potential users. The emerging digital societies are populated by such systems where often the power of self goes beyond the ability of substituting human agents operating on software systems and exceeds the system boundaries invading user prerogatives.
Privacy and ethical issues are at the top of the research agenda in (big) data management and AI, that offer a wide range of techniques often used as key (black box) components of autonomous systems. In this talk I discuss these issues from the software system’s developer perspective that uses such black box components and outline a new approach that empowers the user through a synthesized software exoskeleton that reflects her ethical preferences and accordingly mediates her interactions with the autonomous systems. The approach, behind technical challenges assumes that the user knows her ethical preferences and is fully aware of her rights. It will be evident that besides technology in favour of users, education here plays a central role in contributing to the making of the digital world citizen.
  
  Short Bio
  
  Paola Inverardi is a professor at University of L'Aquila, where she has been since 1994. From 2013 to 2019 she is Rector of University of L'Aquila. Her research interests are in the application of rigorous methods to software production in order to improve software quality. Her research interests mainly concentrated in the field of software architectures, automatic synthesis of connectors for heterogeneous systems, adaptive (mobile) systems. She has received a Honorary Doctorate in computer science at Mälardalen University Sweden and a Honorary Doctorate in engineering at Shibaura University, Tokio Japan. She has received the 2013 IEEE TCSE Distinguished Service Award. She is member of Academia Europea. 

  Read More

• Bernd Stahl

  Responsible Research and Innovation in ICT: Challenges and Opportunities
  
  Abstract
  
  The concept of responsible research and innovation (RRI) has been prominently adopted by the European Commission as a cross-cutting theme for the Horizon 2020 Research Framework Programme. It is also integrated into national funding schemes, for example in the Netherlands, Norway or the UK. But what does it mean to undertake research and innovation responsibly. The talk will outline the background and content of RRI, notably the AREA framework (Anticipation, Reflection, Engagement, Action) and the EU’s six pillars. Drawing on research undertaken in several EU and UK-funded projects, the current state of RRI is described which includes ways of integrating RRI principles and activities into research and innovation processes. The talk will discuss the degree to which this can contribute to ensuring that processes and products of research and innovation are socially acceptable, desirable and sustainable and which challenges RRI currently faces.
  
  Short Bio
  
  Bernd Carsten Stahl is Professor of Critical Research in Technology and Director the Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. His interests cover philosophical issues arising from the intersections of business, technology, and information. This includes the ethics of ICT and critical approaches to information systems.

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*remote participation