Publication records

Citizen Science (CS) projects involve members of the general public as active participants in research. While some advocates hope that CS can increase scientific knowledge production (“productivity view”), others emphasize that it may bridge a perceived gap between science and the broader society (“democratization view”). We discuss how an integration of both views can allow Citizen Science to support complex sustainability transitions in areas such as renewable energy, public health, or environmental conservation. We first identify three pathways through which such impacts can occur: (1) Problem identification and agenda setting; (2) Resource mobilization; and (3) Facilitating socio-technical co-evolution. To realize this potential, however, CS needs to address important challenges that emerge especially in the context of sustainability transitions: Increasing the diversity, level, and intensity of participation; addressing the social as well as technical nature of sustainability problems; and reducing tensions between CS and the traditional institution of academic science. Grounded in a review of academic literature and policy reports as well as a broad range of case examples, this article contributes to scholarship on science, innovation, and sustainability transitions. We also offer insights for actors involved in initiating or institutionalizing Citizen Science efforts, including project organizers, funding agencies, and policy makers.

With permission of Elsevier

The article examines the legal qualification of state-led information operations that aim to undermine democratic decision-making processes in other states. After a survey of the legal attitudes of states towards such operations during the Cold War, the impact of the digital transformation on the frequency and quality of information operations is explained. The article then assesses scholarly responses to the outlined paradigm shift regarding the prohibition of intervention, respect for sovereignty and the principle of self-determination. The study then inquires whether it is possible to detect a change in how states qualify adversarial information operations by tracking recent state practice and official statements of opinio juris. The survey concludes that there is insufficient uniformity to allow for an inference that the content of the analysed rules of customary international law has already shifted towards more restrictive treatment of foreign interference. As a possible way forward, the article ends with a proposal to focus on deceptive and manipulative conduct of information operations as the most viable path to outlaw such state behavior in the future. Instead of attempting to regulate the content of information, this approach is better suited to safeguard freedom of speech and other potentially affected civil rights.

© Cambridge University Press and The Faculty of Law, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 2020

This compact case describes an incident between an aspiring manager and an employee, related to an interpretation of expected engagement of the latter in a planned Agile Boot Camp—an event designed to bolster the transfer of the organization towards new ways of working. Alexander, the main case protagonist, overhears Victor, his employee, say that he will take only a passive part in the event since it is classified by Human Resources (HR) as training, and not as a workshop, in terms of how working time for such an activity is accounted for. Alexander, for whom the Boot Camp is very important, feels the urge to engage in the conversation (which he does in part B of the case).

Key teaching/learning objectives
1. Explore the influence of perception, cognitive dissonance, and communication on employee choices
2. Explore students' reactions to situations where their authority and intent are challenged (overtly or covertly)
3. Discuss resistance and reluctance to change

This compact case describes an incident between an aspiring manager and an employee, related to an interpretation of expected engagement of the latter in a planned Agile Boot Camp—an event designed to bolster the transfer of the organization towards new ways of working. Alexander, the main case protagonist, overhears Victor, his employee, say that he will take only a passive part in the event since it is classified by Human Resources (HR) as training, and not as a workshop, in terms of how working time for such an activity is accounted for. Alexander, for whom the Boot Camp is very important, feels the urge to engage in the conversation (which he does in part B of the case).

Key teaching/learning objectives
1. Explore the influence of perception, cognitive dissonance, and communication on employee choices
2. Explore students' reactions to situations where their authority and intent are challenged (overtly or covertly)
3. Discuss resistance and reluctance to change

Our work as educators and researchers, we’ve noticed that two issues are more salient for #youngtalent than for many leaders at top companies: global warming and gender diversity. How can companies understand young people’s perspectives and gather their creative ideas for driving business and doing good?

Am 4. März 2020 war das Digital Society Institute der ESMT Gastgeber der Konferenz Digitale Identitäten 2020, die unter der Schirmherrschaft des Bundesministeriums des Innern, für Bau und Heimat sowie des Bundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und Energie an der ESMT ausgerichtet wurde. Ziel der Konferenz war es, gemeinsam mit Stakeholdern aus Politik, Wissenschaft und Wirtschaft der Frage nachzugehen, wie eine sektorübergreifende Strategie für digitale Identitäten aussehen kann. Im Plenum und in vier sektoralen Workshops – in den Bereichen Bildung, Gesundheit, Mobilität und öffentlicher Verwaltung – diskutierten die Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmer über Anforderungen an digitale Identitäten, innersektorale Strategien zur Flächendeckung innerhalb des Sektors sowie über eine Strategie für eine sektorübergreifende digitale Identität.

The challenges that the EU faces with 5G go beyond cyber and national security threats. For Europe, the rollout of the 5G infrastructure has become a geopolitical test on several levels. Will Europe be a shaper or taker of 5G technology and the new era of industrialization it promises to propel? How will it be able to control the security and reliability of such key digital infrastructures in the long-term? Eventually, how should EU member states manage their dependencies on foreign technologies and strengthen their “technological sovereignty” – a political priority of the incoming EU Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen? The latter might be the most important strategic issue the EU will need to tackle in the long-term and will be decisive for the Union’s ability to shape its own future in the digital age.