Which public values – such as privacy, freedom, solidarity and meaningful work – are under pressure in our increasingly digital society and what can we do to protect them? This question is the focus of the work of the Interdisciplinary Hub for Digitalization and Society (iHub) at Radboud University. iHub also designs and develops technology that embeds and protects public values.
Protecting public values
Digital technology influences our lives in many ways. More and more of our behaviour is converted into data and an increasing share of social traffic runs through the infrastructure of large technology companies like Apple and Google. Governments and social institutions are also increasingly relying on digital technology. These developments make society more and more dependent on digital systems. This raises the question: how can we reconcile societal digitisation with our fundamental public values?
This question is the focus of the work of the Interdisciplinary Hub for Digitalization and Society (iHub) at Radboud University. Its research is focused on the identification of those public values which are threatened by digitisation and what can be done legally and through the development of appropriate policies to protect these values. iHub also designs and develops technology that embeds and protects public values.
The group’s research has already yielded important results. For example, iHub has extensively studied the consequences of the growing influence of large technology companies such as Amazon, Google and Apple in the public sector. Such issues as, what are the risks to society as technology companies become more and more active in healthcare? Will they soon control the datasets and infrastructure that are indispensable for medical research? In what ways do their values clash with those of medicine and how do they impact on and transform clinical and research practice? To explore these trends further, iHub developed a conceptual model to understand digitisation processes. The researchers also designed a digital open-data tool that shows how the role of tech companies changes per sector over time by means of just a few clicks.
"Discrimination by AI is an important concern, but digital developments usually run ahead of regulations."
Another breakthrough has occurred in iHub’s research into algorithms and the inclusive society. The team investigated how the increased use of artificial intelligence (AI) could undermine the inclusiveness of, for example, healthcare, education and the legal system. The recent scandal around child benefits in the Netherlands shows that there can be unintended consequences from the use of AI. Discrimination by AI is an important concern, but digital developments usually run ahead of regulations. There is, therefore, a constant need for legal and moral catch ups: are the new possibilities desirable and how do we use the new technology responsibly?
iHub plans to use the money from the Ammodo Science Award to deepen current research and investigate new, topical questions, for example around the increased digital control during the coronapandemic through tracking apps, wastewater monitoring and the digital corona pass. These technologies may be useful in enabling us to get out of a lockdown, but may also involve extra surveillance. iHub investigates which ethical and legal values are at stake in such developments. Do these digital technologies normalise new forms of public and private surveillance, and what is their lasting impact?
"Do digital technologies such as the Covid-19 QR code normalise new forms of surveillance?"
The research group distinguishes itself from other digitisation research by taking public values as its starting point. Within iHub, there is also cross-fertilisation between researchers from a very wide range of disciplines, including philosophers, linguists, historians, social scientists, computer scientists, legal scholars and educationalists. Their research is in the forefront worldwide. iHub researchers regularly sit on international advisory committees on government and science policy, such as the Cyber Security Council, and they also advise the Council of Europe on digitalisation issues.
The digital age involves a far-reaching transformation of society. The questions posed by iHub are therefore of great social importance. iHub is unique in digitisation research worldwide in that it gives humanities scholars a key role within a multidisciplinary group of researchers. Challenges around digitisation seem new because digital technologies are new, but at their core are old issues such as power, democracy, freedom and what it means to be human. Humanities scholars have been researching these topics for centuries. That makes the Humanities-based focus of iHub crucial and very promising for the future.
Denise Celentano (1987) is universitair docent Ethiek en Politieke Filosofie aan de Radboud Universiteit. Ze promoveerde in 2019 aan de École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales aan de Universiteit van Catania. Hierna werkte zij als postdoc bij het Centre de Recherche en Éthique in Montreal en was als Berggruen Postdoctoral Fellow in Philosophy verbonden aan New York University. Haar onderzoek ligt op het grensgebied van de filosofie van werk en de ethiek van technologieën, waarbij ze bestudeert welke vormen van werk binnen organisaties de voorkeur verdienen en hoe technologieën ingezet kunnen worden om sociale samenwerkingen eerlijker te maken.
Bernard van Gastel (1983) is universitair docent Duurzame Digitalisering bij de iHub aan de Radboud Universiteit en doceert bij informaticaopleidingen. Hij is gepromoveerd aan de Open Universiteit op de duurzaamheid van software, waarbij hij nieuwe methoden heeft ontwikkeld om software te analyseren op energieverbruik, geheugenverbruik en correctheid. Sindsdien werkt hij aan systemen waarin publieke waarden zoals privacy, democratie en duurzaamheid verankerd zijn. Dit combineert hij met maatschappelijk georiënteerd beveiligingsonderzoek – zo heeft hij fouten gevonden in de versleuteling van twee derde van de wereldwijd geproduceerde opslagschijven. Centraal staat de invloed van digitalisering op onze maatschappij, waarbij hij vaak samenwerkt met wetenschappers uit andere disciplines.
Bart Jacobs (1963) is hoogleraar Security, Privacy and Identity aan de Radboud Universiteit en codirecteur van iHub. Hij studeerde Wiskunde en Filosofie in Nijmegen en promoveerde in de Theoretische Informatica. Hierna werkte hij onder andere in Cambridge, Utrecht en Amsterdam. Hij is lid van de nationale Cyber Security Raad en van de Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen. Hij heeft verschillende subsidies en prijzen ontvangen, zoals een prestigieuze ERC Advanced Grant, de Huibregtsenprijs voor zijn baanbrekend onderzoek naar digitale beveiliging, en de Stevinpremie. Hij is tevens benoemd tot Officier in de Orde van Oranje-Nassau.
Berber Pas (1973) studied Communication Science at the University of Amsterdam and then worked as an organisational advisor and manager. In 2007 she decided to return to science and in 2011 she obtained her PhD from Radboud University Nijmegen, Faculty of Management Sciences, on the topic of ‘career motivation of female doctors and maternity ideologies’. Since 2016, she has been an associate professor of Strategic Management. Her current qualitative ethnographic research focuses on the impact of digitisation on the organisation of work and the influence of data governance on collaboration between organisations. She has been able to raise money for this from various external funds in recent years.
Wolter Pieters (1978) studied Computer Science and Philosophy of Technology at the University of Twente and obtained a PhD at Radboud University on the controversy surrounding digital voting in elections. He then worked at the University of Twente and Delft University of Technology on various research projects on cyber risks, cyber ethics and cyber secure behaviour. Since 2021, he has been Professor of Work, Organisations and Digital Technology at Radboud University in the Faculty of Social Sciences. He focuses on (digital) safety and privacy in work environments and the impact of digitisation on work behaviour.
Hanna Schraffenberger (1983) is a creative researcher who builds bridges between human-centred design and cryptography. She studied Audiovisual Media at the Hochschule der Medien in Stuttgart (BEng, 2008) and subsequently completed her MSc (Media Technology, 2011) and PhD (Augmented Reality, 2018) at Leiden University. She works as an associate professor in the Digital Security group at Radboud University and is affiliated with iHub. She researches privacy-enhancing technologies and is committed to making cryptographic applications user-friendly. She is also a volunteer with the Privacy by Design Foundation.
Tamar Sharon (1975) studied Political Theory and History at Paris VII University and at Tel Aviv University. She obtained her PhD in 2011 on the ethics of bio- and enhancement technologies. Since 2020, she has been Professor of Philosophy, Digitalisation and Society at Radboud University. She is codirector of iHub and chair of the Ethics and Political Philosophy department. Her research focuses on the ethical and social consequences of new technologies. She is a member of the Young Academy of Europe. For her research, she has received grants such as Rubicon, Veni and Vidi, and an ERC Starting Grant.
Wyke Stommel (1977) is senior lecturer in Language and Communication at the Faculty of Arts at Radboud University. She holds an MA in Dutch Language and Culture (Utrecht University) and a PhD in Sociology (University of Frankfurt). Her research focuses on digital interaction (video, chat, e-mail, online platforms) in health care, prevention and counselling and youth care. Through conversation analysis, she investigates the impact of digital communication on professional relationships, tasks and goals. She also contributes to the ethical debate on language, and social science research on social media data. She has received grants from NWO, MIND and ZonMW.
Pieter Wolters (1987) is senior lecturer in Civil Law at Radboud University. He studied law at Radboud University (where he obtained his PhD in 2013), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. His research focuses on the border area of cybersecurity, privacy and private law. Among other things, he conducts research into the cybersecurity obligations of companies and the legal requirements for the reliability of digital information. These projects have been funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy and the Cyber Security Council, among others.
Frederik Zuiderveen Borgesius (1973) studied law at the Open University (bachelor) and the Institute for Information Law (IViR) of the University of Amsterdam (master). He obtained his PhD from IViR in 2014 on the subject of Privacy Law and Behavioural Advertising. He spent research semesters at Hong Kong University and New York University. After acquiring his PhD, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at IViR and Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Since 2019, he has been Professor of ICT & Law at iHub, Radboud University Nijmegen. His largely interdisciplinary research focuses mainly on the intersection of human rights and new technology.
