Think about the roads, bridges and electricity grids that make modern life possible. Without them, nothing works. Digital Public Infrastructure, or DPI, is the digital equivalent: shared technology systems that an entire country can build on.
The idea is straightforward. Instead of every government department building its own isolated digital system, you build a set of common foundations once and let everyone build on top of them. The result is faster, cheaper, more inclusive public services.
The building blocks

This week the DSA Observatory hosted the second DSA and Platform Regulation Conference in Amsterdam with many of our IViR staff involved in the organisation or as speakers. Ahead of the conference, the DSA Observatory's Paddy Leerssen, Magdalena Jóźwiak, and John Albert spoke with Ramsha Jahangir of Tech Policy Press to reflect on what has changed, and how the research landscape has evolved, in the two years since the DSA came fully into effect across the European Union.

Mehr als zehn Jahre lang hat ein internationales Forschungsteam den Nordhimmel mit dem Radioteleskop LOFAR beobachtet. Die Ergebnisse dieser Himmelsdurchmusterung sind nun in der Fachzeitschrift „Astronomy & Astrophysics“ veröffentlicht.

aau/MüllerHow should public bodies be treated for tax purposes when they compete with private companies? At the University of Klagenfurt, Ann-Catherine Pointecker is conducting research on the taxation of bodies governed by public law from an international comparative perspective and analysing the need for reform in Austria.

Viren haben im Vergleich zu anderen Organismen sehr kleine Genome. Ihr Erbgut reicht nicht aus, um einen eigenen Stoffwechsel aufrechtzuerhalten, Proteine herzustellen oder sich selbständig zu vermehren. Deshalb kapern sie die biologischen Prozesse ihrer Wirtszelle.  

Rückblick: Talk im Turm zu Desinformation und Algorithmen

Join us for a DMRC Visitor Seminar on Tuesday 24 February, led by visiting fellows Sandrine Chausson & Tom Bidewell from the University of Edinburgh, who will outline their research interests and introduce the Social Media Analysis and Support for Humanity (SMASH) research group at the University of Edinburgh, of which Sandrine and Tom are members. They will discuss the group’s research agenda and highlight some of its key members.
 
TIME: 2pm – 4pm
DATE: Tuesday 24 February 2026

Join us at the upcoming DMRC Visitor Seminar on Wednesday 18 February, led by visiting fellow Dr Yangliu Fan from Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society, who will be presenting a talk that aims to advance the ongoing discussion on how to better leverage the analytical possibilities of digital trace data (DTD) to deepen our understanding of complex communication processes.
TIME: 2pm – 4pm
DATE: Wednesday 18 February 2026
LOCATION: QUT Kelvin Grove, Z9 Block, Level 6, Room 607

Politicians have high hopes for data sharing, from faster administrative processes to scientific and economic innovations. At the same time, European data policy is navigating a geopolitical landscape that is shaping its direction. In our twelfth podcast episode, we take a closer look at this and ask: What exactly does a European path to digital sovereignty look like? What criteria does it follow?

We address the areas of tension in which politics operates with the goal of digital sovereignty and look at the role data trustees play in European digital policy.

And that’s a wrap on the 2026 Summer School.

Workshops galore on the final day, with topics including network mapping, cross platform digital ethnography, discursive-digital analysis, academic writing, and participatory design methods.

We ended formal proceedings with a Bake Your Thesis – Cake Decorating session, and rounded out the social activities with a movie night.

Thank you to delegates and presenters for your attendance and contributions. We hope you found the sessions engaging, valuable, and fun.

NEW DELHI, February 17, 2026 — Today, at the India AI Impact Summit held at Bharat Mandapam, the Datasphere Initiative released its flagship report, “Sandboxes for DPI: Co-creating the blocks of digital trust.” The publication establishes the first analysis and global mapping of sandboxes specifically designed for Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI).

27 febbraio 2026 | JOHANNES WALTER (IU University of Applied Sciences)
The post Longevity by Design: AI, Data and Healthy Ageing appeared first on Nexa Center for Internet & Society.

Um dem Artenverlust in den oft eintönigen Wirtschaftswäldern Europas entgegenzuwirken, setzen Forstwirtschaft und Naturschutz auf mehr Strukturvielfalt. Die Strategie: Durch das gezielte Schaffen von Lichtungen und die Anreicherung von Totholz sollen die Bedingungen natürlicher Wälder nachgeahmt werden. Diese Maßnahmen gelten als positiv für die Biodiversität, da sie Lebensräume für viele Pflanzen und Tiere schaffen.

KKStudent protests in Chile, social movements in Latin America and green start-ups in Europe: social scientist Camila Ponce investigates what motivates young people to become politically active – and how emotions, protest and innovation drive social change.

The Policy Innovation Lab at Stellenbosch University (SU), in partnership with the Technical University of Munich (TUM) Think Tank and the Global Network of Internet and Society Centres, recently hosted a hybrid workshop to explore how regulatory sandbox approaches could support South Africa’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI).
Hosted at SU’s School for Data Science and Computational Thinking, the workshop brought together senior South African government officials, international experts, academics and policy practitioners.

La professeure Catherine Régis est co-chercheuse d’un important projet de recherche international dirigé par la doyenne de Queen’s Law, Colleen M. Flood, qui a obtenu un financement de 355 000 $ des Instituts de recherche en santé du Canada (IRSC).