Inauguration of the UNESCO Chair on Digital Humanism

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TU Wien Informatics launches the first UNESCO Chair on Digital Humanism to address the ethical, societal, and political challenges of digital technology.

Technology profoundly shapes the world we live in. From AI and automated decision-making to surveillance, fake news, digital sovereignty, challenges of sustainability, and more. Digital Humanism uncovers the changes and disruptions digital technology inflicts on our society and environment.

The UNESCO Chair on Digital Humanism aims at shaping the development of digital technologies and policies toward human rights, democracy, participation, inclusion, and diversity. The Chair fosters interdisciplinary collaboration and establishes strong links with partner universities, especially in the global south, through research and education. Moreover, it aims to develop teaching curricula reflecting the topics of Digital Humanism; to include interdisciplinary methods into technical courses at TU Wien; to develop and adopt ethical research policies following UNESCO’s Recommendation on Ethics of Artificial Intelligence; and to organize recurring events to exchange and develop research agendas with related research initiatives. The chair will further act as a networking hub, connecting partners and activities of the international Digital Humanism initiative of TU Wien and the Center for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (CAIML).

With this event, TU Wien is celebrating the inauguration of the UNESCO Chair on Digital Humanism at TU Wien Informatics and the appointment of Peter Knees as Chairholder and Julia Neidhardt as Co-Chairholder.

Welcome Address and Statements
Sabine Seidler - Rector of TU Wien
Martin Polaschek - Austrian Federal Minister for Education, Science and Research
Gabriela Ramos - Assistant Director-General for the Social and Human Sciences of UNESCO (video message tbc)
Christoph Thun-Hohenstein - Ambassador and Head of Directorate General for International Cultural Affairs, Ministry of European and International Affairs
Michael Wiesmüller - Head of Department for Key Enabling Technologies for Industrial Innovation, Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology
Veronika Kaup-Hasler - Executive Vienna City Councillor for Cultural Affairs and Science
Inauguration

UNESCO Chair on Digital Humanism
Peter Knees and Julia Neidhardt
Chairholder and Co-Chairholder

Panel Discussion
“Progress at the Cost of Humanity? How to reclaim Humanism in the Digital Age.”

Input statement by John Shawe-Taylor
Director IRCAI, UNESCO Chair in AI
On the panel:
John Shawe-Taylor - Director IRCAI, UNESCO Chair in AI
Christiane Floyd - Professor Emeritus of Software Engineering at Universität Hamburg, Honorary Professor at TU Wien Informatics
Martin Fritz - Secretary General Austrian Commision for UNESCO
Antonio Casilli - Professor of Sociology at Télécom Paris
Peter Knees - UNESCO Chair on Digital Humanism

The event & panel discussion will be moderated by Gerti Kappel, Dean of TU Wien Informatics.

We are happy to host the Amai Quartet, who will accompany the event musically.