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Modelling, Simulation, Optimization – the Digitalization of our Energy Supply Network

Our everyday life is built on the certainty that electricity will be reliably available at all times. Fluctuations or even failures are not foreseen. When we are not dealing with disaster prevention or imagining doomsday scenarios, we rarely think about how vulnerable we are in our dependence on energy supply. Especially gas grids are not only huge and complex, but they change and require permanent readjustment and stabilisation. Further developing and optimising the energy grid with a view to new energy sources and changing priorities, monitoring its function and making it resilient to a multitude of risks is a highly complex task: we not only want to understand how different energy sources interact, but we also need to make reliable predictions and must be able to react immediately if something unexpected happens. This requires physical models, mathematical methods and data analysis – also in real time. Simulations and calculations take into account developments on the global energy market, the weather and the condition of the pipelines as well as the quality of energy sources or the consumption of industry and private households. How do you make this multi-dimensional system manageable?

Prof. Dr Alexander Martin is a mathematician. He heads the ADA Lovelace Center for Analytics, Data and Applications at the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS and is founding vice president of the Technische Universität Nürnberg. In his work, he deals with modelling and simulation in optimisation issues and brings “Artificial Intelligence” into application. In this episode of Digitalgespräch, the expert explains how our energy network is structured and what considerations underlie the models and methods with which he and his colleagues work. He describes the benefits of digitalisation, what data is needed and where AI can come into play. With hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring Martin discusses which objectives and political debates influence the development of the gas network – and which economic and ecological costs are associated with the collection, storage and use of data.

Folge 41: Digitalgespräch feat. Alexander Martin of Technische Universität Nürnberg, 19 September 2023
Further informationen:

Link to the profile of Alexander Martin on the webseite of the Technische Universität Nürnberg: To the profile of Alexander Martin on the website of the Nuremberg University of Technology: https://www.utn.de/person/prof-alexander-martin/

Link to the website of the ADA Lovelace Center for Analytics, Data and Applications at the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS: https://www.scs.fraunhofer.de/en/focus-projects/ada-center.html

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

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The Digital Euro – “CBDC” and Online Payments

A new money is entering the world: central bank digital currencies, known in technical jargon short as CBDCs. The probability that we will have and use such money in a few years is quite high: in the Eurosystem this would be the so-called digital Euro. But what such CBDCs are for, is often unclear.

We rarely think about what happens underneath when we hold our devices or cards up to the payment device or click on this or that payment option on the Internet. But in order to get an idea of the potential of a CBDC, it is worth taking a look behind the scenes..

In this episode, eFin & Democracy takes a closer look at digital payments and gets to the bottom of the argument that a digital euro secures European sovereignty and independence. The historical background of today’s monetary system, the first steps of digital payments in the post-war period and how Europe differs from the United States when it comes to digital payments are addressed by Frankfurt-based economic sociologist Barbara Brandl. The fact that the prominent payment service providers and main drivers of digital innovation are seated in the United States has recently raised skepticism. At the same time, new global players are entering the scene. China is also working on setting up its currency as an attractive digital payment infrastructure. In this context, the “digital euro” project is particularly important, explains Carola Westermeier, who researches financial infrastructures, geopolitics and security from the perspective of political economy.

The Digitalgelddickicht discusses which needs Europe might specifically have with regard to payments. Since we use a global payment network on a daily basis, with 1. no significant major European player around and 2. with only private providers to choose amongst: Is there a need for a European infrastructure or a public alternative?

Season Digital Euro – Episode 2 | 27 July 2023

Guests

Prof.Dr. Barbara Brandl is Professor of Sociology with a focus on Organization and Economy» at the Goethe-Universität Frankfurt. She is member of the ZEVEDI Project Group Tokenized Finance».

Dr. Carola Westermeier is a lecturer and researcher at the Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen». She co-leads the research project Financial Infrastructures and Geoeconomic Security» mit. She is involved with the discourse project„Democracy Issues of the Digitalized Financial Sectore“ and also a member of the ZEVEDI Project Group Tokenized Finance».

Cederic Meier is a researcher at the Department of State Theory, Political Science and Comparative Constitutional Law at the Georg-August University of Göttingen and conducts in-depth research on constitutional and monetary law issues related to digitalization. Under the working title “Constitutional Issues of the Digital Euro” he is working on his PhD with Prof. Dr. Florian Meinel.
> See also his contribution on the eFin-Blog (German only): Quo vadis digitaler Euro?»

Dr. Jonas Gross is an economist with expertise in the field of crypto assets and central bank digital currencies». He has written his PhD at the Universität Bayreuth on Monetary Economy and Digital Currencies. He is Co-Founder and Chairman of the Digital Euro Association (DEA), Co-Host of the Podcast Bitcoin, Fiat & Rock’n Roll as well as Chief Operating Officer at etonec, a company offering blockchain based payment solutions.

> Particularly recommendable and informative with regard to the digital euro is his podcast interview with Jan Ceyssens, Head of Unit in the Directorate General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union of the EU Commission, on the European Commission’s legislative proposal (German only): https://www.bfrr.de/der-gesetzesvorschlag-der-eu-kommission-zum-digitalen-euro-interview-mit-jan-ceyssens/ (10 July 2023).

Weiterführende Informationen und Quellen:

Proposal by the European Commission for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the European Council on the Establishment of the digital euro», 28 June 2023.

Page on the „Digital Euro Package“ of the European Commission: https://finance.ec.europa.eu/publications/digital-euro-package_en

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Teaching and Learning after the Pandemic: The Difficult Transformation of Digital Schooling

Digitisation in public sector institutions takes place under different conditions than digital innovations in the private sector or at home. There is a great gap between what has obviously been technically possible for a long time and what is being implemented in public schools, for example. Also great: The resentment that some people feel about this situation. And when it comes to children’s education and future opportunities, improving the status quo seems particularly urgent. The pandemic has shown that under the pressure of school closures – and with exceptions and special regulations in place – suddenly a great deal was possible where nothing had moved for decades before. However: privacy, data protection and data sovereignty are still important values. Our society cannot and should not simply give them up – even if, at first glance, digitally enhanced teachingworks better with Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, Zoom and Co. than with data protection-compliant open source solutions and our own data centres. How do we get out of this dilemma?

Jan Marco Leimeister is Professor of Business Informatics at the Universities of Kassel and St. Gallen. The expert for change management and innovation processes has his eye on the Hessian schools as well as the workplace and adult education. In this episode of Digitalgespräch, he talks about insights from his observations – as a scientist who identifies structures and lines of conflict, and also as a father who has experienced a high level of digitalisation in all areas of life while being abroad with his children in Singapore. With hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring, he discusses how digitisation can actually enhance teaching, where the responsibility for these transformation processes lies – and whether Singapore can serve as a model for us when it comes to digitisation in schools.

Episode 39 of Digitalgespräch, feat. Jan Marco Leimeister of Universität Kassel, 18 July 2023
Further informationen:

Link to the report and guidelines “Einführung eines DSGVO-konformen Videokonferenzsystems an hessischen Schulen.” from the project by the same name, which is discussed in the podcast: https://kobra.uni-kassel.de/handle/123456789/14514

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

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Daily newspapers: How are they changing in the digital transformation?

A good printed daily newspaper confronts its readers with a deliberate and carefully compiled range of information. Those who engage with it encounter surprising perspectives, new subject areas, previously unknown debates. Behind the newspaper are publishers and an editorial team. They present what is currently important to know and discuss. In principle, news could work the same way in the digital world: Where algorithms and personalised news feeds do not compile the articles, digital versions of “newspapers” – such as ePapers or online portals – also deliver largely curated or researched information, analyses and commentaries. However, there is a difference: The printed newspaper makes it easy to delve into articles and interviews in a concentrated way – due to its style and handling. Digital news, however, quickly competes with other information for the attention of the person in front of the screen. And: Digital content often seems to be “free” – we “only” pay with the data we generate clicking and reading. Not all people therefore see the point of paying for digital newspaper content – for example, in the form of a subscription or for individual articles. But free content on the net devalues journalistic work.

Newspaper houses are feeling the pressure of growing competition with other media. They have to become creative in order to survive in the battle for attention and interest – measured in clicks and likes. And at the latest when users no longer visit specific offers of newspapers and media houses, but only come across individual contributions in news feeds or posts, serious topic setting and journalistic standards have to be brought together with economic considerations that demand to maximise the reach. Here, one sometimes walks a fine line.

Carsten Knop is co-editor of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and responsible for the renowned paper’s digital offerings. As a journalist, he has been commenting on developments in the field of digital technologies and transformations for years and also takes an international perspective. In this episode of Digitalgespräch the expert uses the example of the FAZ to describe the relationship between newspapers and digitalisation. He explains how newspaper editorial offices react to challenges of the digital information and entertainment market, what new formats and ways of working are emerging and how serious journalism can use opportunities of new digital technologies sensibly. With hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring, Knop discusses what relevance digitalisation topics (should) have in reporting, how the exchange between journalists and readers has changed and what role daily newspapers have in the struggle for democratic shaping of digitality.

Episode 37 of Digitalgespräch, feat. Carsten Knop of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 6 June 2023
Further informationen:

Link to the paper “Befunde aus dem Reuters Institute Digital News Survey 2021: Aktuelle Entwicklungen bei der Nachrichtennutzung in Deutschland“ of the Leibniz-Institut für Medienforschung | Hans-Bredow-Institut: https://www.hans-bredow-institut.de/uploads/media/default/cms/media/q1mweh9_2111_Hoelig_Behre.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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Preserving Digital Works of Art: A Challenge for Museums

What is the value of our cultural heritage created in the early days of digital technology, in digital form? If you look at the resources society allocates to the preservation of digital art, you might think: Not much. It is true that the digital age began with digital art. And recently, NFT art has revolutionised the market with record prices, stunning and upsetting those who had been considering themselves experts. But all this does not mean that the public recognises the value of digital cultural assets. At the very least, too little is being done to prevent its loss: Preserving, restoring and archiving digital art professionally, as we naturally do with analogue cultural assets – only a handful of people are even capable of performing those tasks. And for many works that are created and made accessible in the digital space today, strategies for restoration and archiving are completely lacking. Here, art has similar problems as science and administration: the analogue is durable, the digital – still – fragile.

Margit Rosen heads the Department Wissen – Collections, Archives & Research at the ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe. In this episode of Digitalgespräch, the expert explains the challenges for museums that hold digital collections and are responsible for them. She describes movements in the art scene, describes debates, discourse spaces and actors and shows how urgently society needs to become aware of the transience of its digital culture. With hosts Petra Gehring and Marlene Görger Rosen discusses the concrete questions arising in the process, how relevant the incursion of blockchain technology into the art and museum scene is in this context – and to what extent social media are also art media.

Episode 38 of Digitalgespräch, feat. Margit Rosen of ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, 27 June 2023
Further informationen:

Link to the website of ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe: https://zkm.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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“Modern Talking” – Contemporary History and Video Portraits on the Digitalized Finance Sector

Oberstaatsanwältin Jana Ringwald im Interview mit Rainer Lind

Video Screening & Panel Discussion

Tuesday, 16 May 2023, 18:00 CEST
Haus der Geschichte, Darmstadt


Opening: Dr. Peter Engels
Chairman of the Historische Verein für Hessen e.V.
Introduction: Dr. Philipp Gutbrod
Director of Mathildenhöhe Institute Darmstadt

In his video interviews, Rainer Lind creates portraits of people whom he meets unassumingly, gives space to and often elicits astonishing things from. As Mercator-Journalist in Residence» within the project „Democracy Issues of the Digitalized Finance Sector“» in March and April 2023 he is now once again bringing a colourful variety of people in front of the camera. Their lives, hobbies or professions have brought them into direct contact with the abysses and hopes associated with an increasingly digitalised financial world: from the crypto-enthusiast of the Bitcoin-Stammtisch in Darmstadt to the senior public prosecutor in Frankfurt, Jana Ringwald (photo), who fights cybercrime on a daily basis. By openly looking at a very specific subject of the present as well as the narration and everyday life of his interviewees, Rainer Lind always captures a piece of (Hessian) contemporary history at the same time. It has long been impossible to imagine the Darmstadt art scene without Rainer Lind.

Rainer Lind will present excerpts of his work in a short video screening. In the subsequent panel discussion, Prof. Dr. Petra Gehring (ZEVEDI / TU Darmstadt), academic director of the project, will discuss with Rainer Lind and Dr. Philip Gutbrod. The event is being held in cooperation with the Historischer Verein für Hessen e.V..

The event is held in German.

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Hacker Attacks and IT Management: Insurance against Cyber Risks

The number of attacks on IT systems has been increasing for years. They target small as well as big companies, state institutions as well as private individuals. The damage they cause can be enormous, not only in financial terms: in digital-ised environments, resilient IT is a key requirement for trustworthiness. Effective and reliable operation of production and supply chains depend on it and so does the data security of customer, patient and business partners. Everyone who consciously engages with digitality knows this and is aware of associated risks. Nevertheless – as studies show time and again – in many cases too little is in-vested in IT security. And although there are insurances specifically against “cyber risks” on offer by now, by no means do all companies whose integrity depends on IT security purchase them.

Florian Salm is an expert for cyber risks at Gothaer Allgemeine Versicherung AG and a lecturer at the University of Hamburg. Ulrich Greveler is Professor of Applied Computer Science at the Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences and, as an IT security expert, also a consultant and assessor for cyber risks. In this episode of Digitalgespräch, these two experts explain from a technical and insurance perspective what constitutes “well made” IT – and how companies can implement it. They explain how insurance companies help – not only in the event of an incident, but also in closing existing security gaps before something happens. With hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring, they discuss why IT security is still difficult to implement in many companies, who bears responsibility for the security of systems in a networked society – and what it means that some risks of future technologies and large IT projects are not insurable.

Episode 27 of Digitalgespräch, feat. Florian Salm of Gothaer Allgemeine Versicherung AG and Ulrich Greveler of Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, 27 September 2022
Further informationen:

Link to Ulrich Greveler’s website: https://www.ulrich-greveler.de/english
Link to survey “Gothaer KMU-Studie 2022: Cyberangriffe größte Bedrohung für Mittelständler”: https://presse.gothaer.de/pressreleases/gothaer-kmu-studie-2022-cyberangriffe-groesste-bedrohung-fuer-mittelstaendler-3182062

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

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Bitcoin – Gefahr oder Bereicherung für unsere Gesellschaft?

eFin & Democracy: Public Lecture & Discussion in cooperation with Kultur einer Digitalstadt e. V. (KeD)

9 August 2022, Atelierhaus auf der Darmstädter Rosenhöhe

The current debate about cryptocurrencies is polarized. It is worth taking a look at the first cryptocurrency: Bitcoin actually began as an apolitical project. For more than 13 years, it has practiced independence from the power and scope of existing institutions. Through its progressive growth, however, it increasingly interacts with our society and thus ultimately becomes a political phenomenon. But with what consequences? Is free digital money destroying the state because it is taking away its monopoly over the currency and thus its sovereignty and power? Or does it enrich our democracy because it opens up new opportunities for participation and co-determination? And what possibilities are there to intervene in this ongoing process? The Mercator Journalist in Residence, Friedemann Brenneis, will present the results of his stay at Centre Responsible Digitality (ZEVEDI) and put them up for discussion. The event takes place in cooperation with the initiative Kultur einer Digitalstadt (KeD), which, among other things, maintains an Artist-in-Science-Resident program.

The lecture will be held in German.
It is requested that masks be worn indoors.
The number of participants is limited, registration via efin [at] zevedi.de.

Tuesday, 9 August 2022, 18:00 CEST
Atelierhaus auf der Darmstädter Rosenhöhe
Ludwig-Engel-Weg 1

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Digitale Währungen auf dem Weg ins Establishment

Interdisziplinärer Workshop

19. August 2022, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main

Die ZEVEDI-Projektgruppe KI & Finance – Innovation, Resilienz und Verantwortung organisiert den Workshop “Digitale Währungen auf dem Weg ins Establishment. Perspektiven der Finanzmarktregulierung, des Währungsrechts sowie der Behavioral Finance”, der aus interdisziplinärer Perspektive Fragen zu digitalen Währungen erkundet.

Mit Beiträgen von
Prof. Dr. Lars Hornuf, Universität Bremen – Fellow der Projektgruppe KI & Finance
Prof. Dr. Roland Broemel, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
Prof. Dr. Oscar Stolper, Philipps-Universität Marburg

Freitag, 19. August 2022, 14:00 – 17:00 Uhr
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
House of Finance & online via Zoom

Programm

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Opportunities and Risks of Digital Transformation in Finance and Beyond

Conference

2 – 3 June, online and at Gästehaus Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main

The conference Opportunities and Risks of Digital Transformation in Finance and Beyond hosted by ZEVEDI project group AI & Finance will bring together renowned experts to discuss the latest research and case studies on the opportunities and risks of digital transformation in finance and beyond. The fairness of credit scoring models, the ramifications of human-AI collaboration, and the legal foundations of CBDC are just a small selection of topics that will be covered at this event.

  • Thursday, 2 June 2022, 16:00 – 18:00 CEST
    virtual panel via Zoom
  • Friday, 3 June 2022, 9:00 – 17:15 CEST
    in person conference at Gästehaus Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main

Registration for participation on-site is open until 12 May 2022. A conference fee will be charged for catering.

Registration for virtual attendance is open until 2 June. Virtual attendance is free of cost.

Registration via eventbrite»

If you do not wish to use eventbrite, please contact spiegel[at]jura.uni-frankfurt.de.

Programme Proceedings

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