Event Details

Speaker: Prof. em. Dr. Lorenz Hilty, University of Zurich
Title: The Creeping Disempowerment of Users in the Digital Transformation and its Connection to (Un)Sustainable Development
Date: Thursday, June 5, 2025
Time: 15:30 – 16:30 (with drinks & snacks afterwards)
Location: Theater 8 NU-4C47, NU Building, VU Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1111, 1081 HV Amsterdam

Register here to reserve your spot.

About the Speaker

Prof. em. Dr. Lorenz Hilty is a computer scientist known for his interdisciplinary research into the opportunities, risks, and actual impact of digital technologies on sustainable development. Until his retirement in 2024, he held a professorship for Informatics and Sustainability at the University of Zurich, where he also served as the Sustainability Delegate. As professor emeritus, he continues his work on sustainable technology design in interdisciplinary contexts.

Talk Overview

The digital transformation of society holds both opportunities and risks for the goals of sustainable development. For decades, specialized scientific communities have been discussing the question of how these opportunities can be seized and the risks mitigated. In the first part of the presentation, I will outline the usual perspective from which the sustainability impact of digital technology (including today’s AI) is analyzed. In the second part, I will look at the development of digital technologies from the (ethical) perspective of user self-determination and discuss the connections to sustainable development.

We warmly invite you to attend this lecture and engage in the discussion.