Dear Readers,

Before the Corona outbreak, and with the help of Jose Ramos, the lead editor of an upcoming book about cosmo-local production, I had been reviewing the literature on historical rhythms and cycles to set the stage for the current ‘chaotic transition’ and ‘what comes next’. 

In short, I have come to two important conclusions: 

The Internet Archive has taken the brave step to release 1.4 million books online, arguing that public libraries are now closed. Unsurprisingly, the reactions from the publishing industry haven’t been too charitable. The following is republished from the Internet Archive.

Die Forscherinnen und Forscher an Universitätsklinikum und Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf arbeiten unter Hochdruck in Projekten, die bereits angelaufen oder schon konkret geplant sind.

Camus beschreibt in seinem 1947 verfassten Roman, wie in der Stadt Oran zu einem unbestimmten Zeitpunkt in den 1940er Jahren eine Seuche ausbricht. Die Stadt wird von der Außenwelt abgeschottet und so entsteht ein Krisenmikrokosmos, in dem sich verschiedene menschliche Charaktere mit ihrem Verhalten dazu positionieren. Gerling: „Es geht im Roman um altruistisches Engagement jenseits jeder Gewissheit.

Desde la Cátedra de Racismos y Migraciones Contemporáneas, María Emilia Tijoux y Eduardo Cardoza nos emplazan a que "momentos de crisis pueden ser pensados para superar dificultades centrándonos en lo fundamental: en el ser humano y en su derecho a vivir", planteamiento en el que estamos todas y todos, incluyendo a las y los migrantes que hoy forman parte de nuestra sociedad.Estamos viviendo días de profunda incertidumbre que nos hacen cavilar en la vida propia, en la de los nuestros y en la de quienes habitan este país y otros lugares del mundo. Nunca pens

Esta guía, preparada por académicos y académicas de las universidades de Chile, Magallanes y Católica de Valparaíso, recomienda priorizar lo que los estudiantes realmente necesitan aprender, aumentar la comunicación y chequear la disponibilidad de conexión de alumnos.Enseñar en tiempos de incertidumbre requiere creatividad y flexibilidad para apoyar a las y los estudiantes a alcanzar los aprendizajes centrales del curso en un ambiente virtual u online.

Junto a empresas como Samsung, Colun, Google, entre otras, la Casa de Bello destaca como una de las mejores evaluadas por las personas, ocupando el lugar 11 del ránking general y el número 1 entre universidades e institutos profesionales.Con el fin de promover el desarrollo sostenible y las buenas prácticas, Ipsos e INC Inteligencia Reputacional elaboraron el Estudio de Reputación Corporativa (ERC), con una evaluación global de empresas y organizaciones desde el punto de vista de las y los ciudadanos. En el ranking, la U.

Cierre de fronteras, períodos de aislamiento, cuarentenas, cercos sanitarios y eventuales toques de queda son parte del escenario que el país enfrenta en el marco de la pandemia originada por el coronavirus. Esta situación abre interrogantes sobre la suspensión o cancelación de diversos servicios que requieren la presencia física de las personas.

O Prof. Carlos Ragazzo, em parceria com o Instituto Propague, do qual faz parte o ex-aluno da FGV Direito Rio, Gabriel Dolabella, está promovendo uma série de lives para discutir as medidas econômicas que estão sendo anunciadas pelos governos brasileiro, americano e europeus para lidar com os efeitos do COVID-19. 

Amid the global spread of COVID-19, the exceptional strict confinement to our homes offers important lessons about the urgency of bridging the digital divide.

Where I live, in Osona (rural ​​Catalonia, northern Spain), 15 years ago there was no Internet access. Commercial operators said it wasn’t profitable. So, we set up a community network, Guifi.net, initially with radio connections, and in 2009 we deployed fiber optics. Today, we have connected many small towns and have more than 200,000 estimated users.

On Saturday 7th March 2020, the tenth Open Data Day took place with people around the world organising over 300 events to celebrate, promote and spread the use of open data.

During Bread&Net 2019, the MENA Digital Threats and Controls session discussed the most prevalent types of digital threats  and patterns in the region. Additionally, experts also explored the basic digital security controls that users can adopt to protect their digital existence.  Ali Sibai, technologist and Rapid Response Network coordinator revealed[...]

The social relevance of digital spaces for collective action is greater than ever. This article addresses acts of solidarity during corona pandemic and examines in what way they affect norms and analogue situations. An article by Tanja Fisse and Claudia Haas. For a long time, collective action referred to  a group of people meeting in…
The post COVID-19 and true solidarity on the internet appeared first on HIIG.

With the increasing use of algorithmic systems in all areas of life, the debate on the social impact of technology and the development of a "European pathway to artificial intelligence" has also gained momentum. Humane and trustworthy AI are the keywords with which political actors in Germany and at European level describe this path. A number of ethical guidelines for the design of AI have been published to make this possible.

Politicians, journalists, and even scientists these days like to use the metaphor of war to describe the efforts that will now be necessary against the novel corona virus: "Sars-CoV-2 is our common enemy. We must declare war on this virus. That means countries have a responsibility to do more, to arm themselves and to strengthen themselves." (António Guterres in a guest article for the Süddeutsche Zeitung, 15.03.2020) At first glance, this drastic choice of words seems to make sense if one considers the restrictions and changes that this pandemic is imposing on us.

The pandemic now sweeping the planet is one of those historic events that will change many basic premises of modern life. Let us act swiftly to deal with the emergencies, but let us also seize the opportunity to think about long-term system change. If there is one thing that the pandemic confirms (in tandem with climate change), it is that our modern economic and political systems must change in some profound ways. And we are the ones who must push that change forward. We’ve already seen what state officialdom has in mind — more bailouts for a dysfunctional system.

“May you live in interesting times“. A curse once assigned Chinese origin, now thought to be apocryphal, it’s deceptively mild until you realize you have no resistance to a novel, viral load of interestingness. We feel like we can’t blink, yet our eyelids are getting very heavy. We’re anxious, grateful, bewildered, hopeful, overwhelmed, empathetic, angry, sleepy and wired. Housebound in a springtime lockdown to hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and flatten the curve. 

Berlin, 01. April 2020 – The new European Science Press Service (ESPS) is an information platform for scientific findings in the field of internet and society research. The ESPS was initiated by the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) to promote Europe-wide networking and knowledge exchange between research organisations and the media.…