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Digital Streetwork: Social Work in Digital Space

Cover Digitalgespräch Episode 61 mit Christina Dinar
Cover Digitalgespräch Episode 61 mit Christina Dinar

Chat forums, social media, online communities – the Internet offers many addresses and reference points that can be described as “digital spaces”. There you can meet like-minded people, get information, pursue your interests – or even identify and contact specific groups of people in a very targeted way. This is what social work does. Led by pioneers of “digital street work,” it has discovered the Internet as a means of reaching hard-to-reach or vulnerable target groups. And although small, specialized networks in particular value and support social workers as a complement and relief for (often volunteer) content moderators, outreach digital communication is not yet widely established in social work. Specific skills that “digital” social workers need to be credible and trustworthy in online communities are hardly part of their training. Political support and public demand are slow to emerge. However, the interests and business practices of large, commercial platforms are not necessarily compatible with the conditions for serious social work based on professional standards.

Christina Dinar is a social worker and cultural studies graduate. In her practical work and as a researcher and lecturer at the Catholic University of Applied Social Sciences in Berlin, she has established a focus on communities in digital spaces in social work. The expert and pioneer of “digital streetwork” explains in this episode of Digitalgespräch what professional online social work does and under what conditions it succeeds, how far the professionalization of digital social work online is today, and what skills digital streetworkers need. She describes different concepts and approaches of this form of social work and the position of digital streetwork in relation to content moderators and platform operators. With hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring, Dinar discusses who bears responsibility for socially acceptable, safe digital spaces, the importance of global platforms as infrastructure for social work today – and whether the funding logic for social projects that originated in the analog era applies to the digital world.

Episode 61 of Digitalgespräch, feat. Christina Dinar of Katholische Hochschule für Sozialwesen Berlin, 18 February 2025
Further informationen:

Link to Christina Dinar’s profile on the website of Katholische Hochschule für Sozialwesen Berlin: https://www.khsb-berlin.de/de/profile-personal/136265

Link to information on the “Digital Streetwork” approach of the Amadeu Antonio Foundation: https://www.amadeu-antonio-stiftung.de/good-gaming-well-played-democracy/digital-streetwork/

all episodes of Digitalgespräch

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The podcast is in German. At the moment there is no English version or transcript available.

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Much more than Technology: Understanding Search Engines

Cover Digitalgespräch Folge 60 mit Dirk Lewandowski
Cover Digitalgespräch Folge 60 mit Dirk Lewandowski

We take the use of search engines so much for granted in our daily digital lives that we rarely question their design, how they work, and most importantly, the results of our searches. In the early days of the WWW, successful Internet searches were a challenge for experts. Today, however, anyone can get useful hits from a search engine in a matter of seconds. What is behind this: a gigantic effort. Considering the amount of online content that search engines have to systematically collect and interpret for relevance, it is easy to see why there are only a few search engines – and why the effort is worthwhile for them, even though the external service, i.e. the search, appears to be free for users. To understand how search engines work and why the undisputed market leader, Google, is so successful, it is important to look beyond the technical systems to the business models. It is well known that users are not customers in these models, but rather a means to an end. And the taken-for-granted nature of Internet search easily obscures the cultural and political dimensions of the “search engine” complex. What are the consequences of the nature of the search engine market for the quality of search results and the plurality of perspectives on content on the Internet, which is increasingly becoming a reflection of society itself?

Dirk Lewandowski is Professor of Information Research & Information Retrieval at Hamburg University of Applied Sciences and a recognized expert on search engines and their function in the digital society. In this episode of Digitalgespräch, the scientist explains how search engines are technically structured, what significance they have for our use of the Internet, and how the business models of their providers interact with the interests of users and producers of Web content. He explains how Google’s market dominance came about, why it is detrimental to good Internet search, and what options are realistic for reviving real competition among search engines. With hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring, Lewandowski discusses how the way we all use the Internet affects the design and function of today’s search engines, how generative language models come into play, whether we need a European infrastructure for search engines – and whether we should (re)learn how to search for web content.

Episode 60 of Digitalgespräch, feat. Dirk Lewandowski of Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, 28 January 2025
Further informationen:

Link to Dirk Lewandowski’s profile at HAW Hamburg: https://www.haw-hamburg.de/en/university/employees/detail/person/person/show/dirk-lewandowski/

Link to Dirk Lewandowski’s book “Understanding Search Engines”: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-22789-9

Link to the Open Search Foundation website: https://opensearchfoundation.org/en/

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The podcast is in German. At the moment there is no English version or transcript available.

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How Occupations are changing due to Digitality

Digitalgespräch Folge 59 mit Britta Matthes
Digitalgespräch Folge 59 mit Britta Matthes

The way we work is changing in the digital age and through digitality. New tasks and professions are emerging, others are changing radically or disappearing, both simple and complex tasks can be or are being transferred to machines. We are all affected, whether we are reluctant to embrace new technological opportunities or curious to integrate them into our working lives – assuming we have a choice. Whether companies value the needs and skills of the people who work for them and involve them in change processes, or whether they view anonymous employees as labourers who must follow instructions, not only makes a big difference to the acceptance of change in the workplace, but also determines how digital working environments are shaped. And in our society, where younger generations are few in number and career starters generally have many options, the question of how we want to work and where our strengths lie takes on new significance.

Dr Britta Matthes, a sociologist and biologist, is head of the department “Occupations in the Transformation” at the Institute for Employment Research at the Federal Employment Agency. In this episode of Digitalgespräch, the expert explains the mechanisms at work in the transformation of job profiles and labour market structures, and how the digital transformation of the world of work can be researched. She explains the new conditions and requirements that will shape our working lives in the future, how different professional fields are integrating digitality into their processes, whose expertise is important, what hurdles stand in the way and what room for manoeuvre there is. Together with hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring, Matthes discusses the special features of the German labour market in the implementation of digitalisation, what constitutes the core of a profession in the face of constant change, how we as individuals can shape our professional lives – and whether the ideal of working in “one’s” profession all of one’s life is still appropriate.

Episode 59 of Digitalgespräch, feat. Britta Matthes of the Institute for Employment Research at the Federal Employment Agency, 26 November 2024
Further informationen:

To the Job Futuromat of the Institute for Employment Research: https://job-futuromat.iab.de/en/

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The podcast is in German. At the moment there is no English version or transcript available.

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‘Digitalchecking’ Laws and what follows: Getting Administration ready for Digitisation

Cover
Cover

The digitalisation of government and administration will continue at a rapid pace – and high demands are being placed on digital solutions to fulfil public tasks. Digital government is not an end in itself, but should make processes more efficient, clearer and more accessible. In addition to a multitude of specific, demand-driven software solutions based on the analogue status quo, strategies are needed to establish digitality as the new default in the long term. This also means developing methods to ensure that regulations, laws and processes are compatible with the needs of the digital society and the requirements of the digital state from the outset. One organisation that will help to tackle this major task is the German government’s DigitalService GmbH, which was established in 2020.

IT manager Stephanie Kaiser is chief product officer at DigitalService, the German government’s central digitisation office. In this episode of Digitalgespräch, the expert in software development and IT projects describes the tasks of this unusual department, how it works and what innovations are created in the process. She explains what it means to make rules or processes ready for the digital age, who is involved and how citizens and civil servants benefit. Together with hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring, Kaiser discusses how working methods from the private sector can be applied in the public sector, which mediation work is helpful in this process – and how it is possible to provide high-quality digital solutions for the interfaces between the state and citizens on a long-term and large-scale basis.

Episode 58 of Digitalgespräch, feat. Stephanie Kaiser of DigitalService GmbH, 5 November 2024
Further informationen:

The blog post mentioned in the interview with a practical example of a “Digitalcheck” on electricity tax law: https://digitalservice.bund.de/en/blog/current-example-of-digital-ready-legislation-the-german-electricity-duty-act

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The podcast is in German. At the moment there is no English version or transcript available.

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Dynamic Digital Strategies for the European Broadcaster ARTE

The ARTE television channel is a project that aims to promote understanding and cultural exchange between the countries of Europe. The channel, and in particular its media library, is renowned for its carefully curated programme of art, entertainment, information and education. Not only the so-called linear television, i.e. the classic programme broadcast according to a fixed schedule, but also the presentation of content in the digital world is carefully put together by experts to meet the needs of a European audience. ARTE has fans who specifically seek out and appreciate its carefully prepared programming, but just like all public broadcasters, the Franco-German channel faces challenges: the highly dynamic nature of digitality requires clever strategies and a willingness to take different paths to reach target audiences. Technological innovations offer great opportunities – as long as they can be used in line with the public mandate and the broadcaster’s own self-image.

Kemal Görgülü is Chief Technology Officer at the ARTE GEIE headquarters in Strasbourg, where he is responsible for the development and implementation of digital strategies, in particular the use of artificial intelligence. In this episode of Digitalgespräch, the expert in technological innovation in the field of editorial work describes the strategies ARTE is pursuing, the considerations and values that are decisive in this regard, and what it means that the broadcaster arte sees itself as an explicitly European ‘content boutique’. It shows where there is great potential for the use of AI systems – both visible to the audience and behind the scenes – and where they are already being used as a matter of course. Together with hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring, Görgülü discusses how public broadcasters can respond to new media habits in the interest of the general public, which cooperation partners are available for this task, where the limits lie in terms of what individual broadcasters and media organisations can achieve – and where decision-makers and politicians should also rethink in the face of digital realities.

Episode 57 of Digitalgespräch, feat. Kemal Görgülü of ARTE GEIE, 15 October 2024
Further informationen:

Link to the ARTE website: https://www.arte.tv/en/

Link to the Beyond Platforms Initiative website: https://beyond-platforms.org/

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The podcast is in German. At the moment there is no English version or transcript available.

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Tokenisation of Carbon Credits: Blockchain for Climate Action?

Cover des Digitalgesprächs Nr. 56
Cover des Digitalgesprächs Nr. 56

Major efforts are needed to protect the climate, both to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. And even if the urgency of action is recognised in principle, targeted guidelines and incentives are needed to motivate companies to participate. One instrument that has been used for a number of years is CO2 certificates. This new construct has created a complex field of obligations and rules, voluntary commitments and international cooperation. Both public and private actors are involved. Not only is it difficult to keep track of, but the possibility of issuing, buying and selling certificates has created its own markets in which these certificates almost fulfil the function of securities. Whether they should be treated as such in the eyes of the law – i.e. regulated – has not yet been conclusively clarified.

One idea to make carbon trading easier and more trustworthy would be to use a blockchain. This step is possible, perhaps even obvious – in any case, it would make carbon trading cheap, fast and, presumably, transparent. The first examples of ‘tokenised carbon credits’ already exist. This new development is of interest not only to computer scientists, economists and companies, but also to the world of Law. What decisions are important here and why are international experts looking with interest at the European legal area and its efforts to regulate markets for crypto assets?

Dominik Skauradszun is a professor of civil law, civil procedure and corporate law at the University of Applied Sciences in Fulda and a judge at the Oberlandesgericht Frankfurt am Main. He also researches and teaches at the University of Bielefeld and Nottingham Trent University, and advises on procedures and institutions at national and EU level. In this episode of Digitalgespräch, the expert on the legal aspects of tokenisation explains what CO2 certificates are, what the differences are, what the markets for trading these certificates look like and which participants fulfil important functions. He will explain why blockchain is a suitable technical environment for this and what the consequences of this digitalisation step will be. Skauradszun discusses with hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring which problems can be solved, which will remain, whether the high level of transparency in the transactions is an advantage or a disadvantage from a corporate perspective – and why it is necessary for lawyers to research the tokenisation of CO2 certificates.

Episode 56 of Digitalgespräch, feat. Dominik Skauradszun of Hochschule Fulda
Further informationen:

Link to Dominik Skauradszun’s profile on the Fulda University of Applied Sciences website: https://www.hs-fulda.de/wirtschaft/ueber-uns/professuren/details/person/prof-dr-dominik-skauradszun-llm-2-483/contactBox

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The podcast is in German. At the moment there is no English version or transcript available.

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IT Giants and Software Monopolies: The Universities’ Struggle for Digital Sovereignty

Cover des Digitalgesprächs Folge 55
Cover des Digitalgesprächs Folge 55

The dependency of companies and administrations on non-European technology providers has become very apparent in recent years. Large companies, which provide virtually indispensable software and hardware for everyday academic life with little or no competition, also appear to be deliberately exploiting their position vis-à-vis universities: They raise prices, impose complicated licensing models, force new product types into existing systems – and stabilise their presence in the everyday lives of users, almost automatically training students to become permanent customers of Google, Microsoft, Adobe & Co. Finding a way out of this dilemma is difficult because universities have little bargaining power. Their mission is ‘research and teaching’, and there is no provision for additional investment in expensive change processes. As a result, more and more of their limited budgets are being used to provide much-needed technology. Money for IT is starting to be scarce elsewhere, and the privacy standards and terms of use under which the IT giants offer their products are questionable in many places – a danger to free research and teaching. There are alternatives, such as open source solutions or European products that could be used on more favourable terms, but switching all staff and systems to previously untested innovations would be complex, almost impossible to implement in day-to-day operations, and not without risk for individual institutions. Does joining forces help? Do politicians need to act – in a different way? And do all those involved understand what is at stake?

Ramin Yahyapour is Professor of E-Science and Practical Computer Science at the Georg-August Universität in Göttingen and Director of the Gesellschaft für wissenschaftliche Datenverarbeitung mbH Göttingen, which serves the university and the Max Planck Society as a computing centre and IT competence centre. A renowned expert in high-performance computing, cloud applications and data management, he has been an advocate of digital sovereignty for many years. In this episode of Digitalgespräch, Yahyapour describes the current situation of universities as customers of technology providers, categorises developments and explains the importance of digital sovereignty for universities. He also outlines the measures that can be taken to break the dependency and the obstacles that stand in the way. Together with hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring, Yahyapour discusses who needs to take action and which strategies could gradually create some room for manoeuvre as awareness of the problem grows and courageous steps are taken.

Episode 55 of Digitalgespräch, feat. Ramin Yahyapour of Georg-August Universität Göttingen and Gesellschaft für wissenschaftliche Datenverarbeitung mbH Göttingen, 3 September 2024
Further informationen:

To the profile of Ramin Yahyapour on the website of the University of Göttingen: https://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/635175.html

To the website of the Gesellschaft für Wissenschaftliche Datenverarbeitung mbH Göttingen (GWDG): https://gwdg.de/

To the brochure ‘Sicherstellung der digitalen Souveränität und Bildungsgerechtigkeit. Empfehlungen zur Ausgestaltung von Rahmenbedingungen für die Nutzung von Cloud-basierten Angeboten im Bildungsbereich’ by ZKI: https://www.zki.de/fileadmin/user_upload/ZKI-Digitale_Souveraenitaet-2022-V2.pdf

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The podcast is in German. At the moment there is no English version or transcript available.

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Infrastructures in Space for Digitality on Earth

We use space for our lives on Earth. The expansion of digital infrastructures on the earth’s surface also means that more and more technical objects are being transported into space. Navigation without GPS is nowadays almost unimaginable. Telephone services and weather apps also use space technology – and the data streams in an internet of the future will probably no longer be routed mainly through long cables, but by means of constellations of thousands of satellites arranged around the globe. In the meantime, however, our planet is being orbited mainly by remnants of broken space technology, which are massively obstructing the increasingly dense traffic of important probes and satellites. It is an unintended consequence of human space travel that space debris actually jeopardises the future use of space. Added to this is the “weather” in space: digital infrastructures that ensure the security of systems on Earth are also increasingly affected by this. Who takes care of these problems? And how can we ensure that space flight can continue to supply the digital society with satellites?

Dr Holger Krag heads the ESA Space Safety Programme at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC), which also deals with space debris and space weather. In this episode of “Digitalgespräch“, the expert describes the scene around our globe and describes how the challenges facing space travel have changed in recent decades, particularly as a result of the digital transformation. He names strategies for dealing with new safety risks and regulatory requirements, describes technical solutions and open research questions. Together with hosts Petra Gehring and Marlene Görger, Krag discusses whether the global political situation also poses a threat to space travel safety, what influence private players have on the development of space travel and what is at stake if the current problems cannot be solved.

Episode 54 of Digitalgespräch, feat. Holger Krag of the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC), 13 August 2024
Further informationen:

Link to the website of the European Space Agency ESA with reports and background information on space debris: https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Space_Debris
Link to the website of the European Space Agency ESA with reports and background information on space weather: https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Space_weather

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The podcast is in German. At the moment there is no English version or transcript available.

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Bonus episode »Shifting Perspectives«: In conversation with the makers of the Digitalgespräch

The first Digitalgespräch was broadcasted on May 26, 2021. Three years and 50 episodes later, the podcast has established itself as a space for open and scientifically informed discourse on topics relating to “digitality”. To mark this small anniversary, we would like to pause for a moment and reflect – which is why the two hosts of Digitalgespräch, Petra Gehring and Marlene Görger, have switched sides for this episode.

The aim of the Digitalgespräch is to shine a spotlight on complex fields of action so that “the fog of big buzzwords clears”. The method: Gathering specific knowledge from various fields of work and research perspectives in discussions with experts and slowly putting the pieces together. In this way, many diverse facets of the digital came onto the agenda: smart contracts, digital forensics, the restoration of digital works of art, the handling of sensitive research data or mourning and dying in the digital age.

Considering the complex field of the “digital”, is a picture beginning to emerge, a connection, a coherent insight? Or is the number of pieces growing faster than it is possible to put them together? In the bonus episode, the two makers talk to the two ZEVEDI science editors Eneia Dragomir and Konstantin Schönfelder in the small recording studio in Darmstadt. After 50 episodes of Digitalgespräch, where has the fog lifted and where did we hear about things that may only come to the attention of a wider public in the future? What went well, what didn’t go so well and what can we expect from the next 50 episodes?

Marlene Görger is a physicist and philosopher of technology and has been working at the Centre Responsible Digitality since 2020. Petra Gehring is Professor of Philosophy at the Technical University of Darmstadt and Scientific Director of the Center.

Bonus episode: Digitalgespräch with Petra Gehring and Marlene Görger, April 24, 2024.

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A “Virtual Human Twin” made from Personal Data? On the Way to the Future of Healthcare

The term “virtual twin” originates from engineering. There, it describes digital models that are used to map, optimise and simulate real technical systems or processes in what is known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Such models are widely used today. What has not yet been realised is the idea that, in addition to technical systems, individual people or groups could also have such virtual representations from which their “system states” can be read. Such a holistic model could be used to optimise the overall state of “health”, for example. A large amount of data and complex software would be required to create such a “twin”, maybe even including “behaviour”. Corresponding ideas exist, and some of the visions go so far as to imagine the digital image of an entire person with body data and mental characteristics. The hope is that it will be possible to predict the development of a person’s state of health or plan individualised treatment in the event of illness. A “virtual human twin” would also be able to provide behavioural advice for optimal bodily functions and performance. It would potentially accompany its human counterpart throughout its life, measure it and also shape it through its influence. Until now, such ideas have been regarded as mere pipe dreams by experts. However, the EU is now actually planning to introduce “European Virtual Human Twins” for the medical care of its citizens – in any case, the path for this opening up. Is such a vision compatible with our current data protection laws? And what does this mean for a socially just and democratic healthcare system if it is to respect different lifestyles and values?

Malte Gruber is Professor of Civil Law and Philosophy of Law at Justus Liebig Universität Gießen and specialises in information law and the law of the digital economy, as well as technology law and the law of life sciences. In this episode of Digitalgespräch, the expert describes which concepts of “virtual human twins” play a role in current debates and developments, what motivates the EU Commission’s initiative and which legal and social questions arise if corresponding visions are to be realised. Together with hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring, Gruber discusses realistic scenarios between hype and dystopia, which aspects are still receiving little attention in the current debate and what the vision of the future medical product “virtual human twin” reveals about our current relation to our bodies.

Episode 50 of Digitalgespräch, feat. Malte Gruber of Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, 16 April 2024
Further informationen:

Zur Ankündigung der “European Virtual Human Twins Initiative” der EU Kommission: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/virtual-human-twins

all episodes of Digitalgespräch

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The podcast is in German. At the moment there is no English version or transcript available.