Newsletter from the Center for Digital Welfare - February 2024
Welcome to the February Newsletter...!
We have entered a new year, which means we are ready to lift the veil for a restructuring of the center - a CDW 2.0 you might call it! We have a lot in store for you for 2024, so sit tight. In this edition of the newsletter, you can catch up on:
  • Short news from the Center for Digital Welfare
  • New publications, press releases, past and upcoming events & activities
  • Presenting CDW 2.0 - a new management model, Center Representative & center structure

We suggest you fetch a coffee/tea, lean back and enjoy the read!
 
Sincerely,
Line & The Management Team

 
Short News
The month of December was filled with a lot of strategic work behind the scenes in the CDW management team a long with general illness and Christmas holidays, which had it's effects on the center's events and activities. We did manage to pull off one event, CDWxADD Christmas Event on December 14, where invited researchers and practitioners explored 'digitalization styles' across 4 cases of Danish public digitalization in a collaborative workshop. The CUPP project, led by Associate Professor, Vasilis Galis, held an international conference on the topic of predictive policing at the IT University of Copenhagen on January 29-30 titled: "The Discreet Charm of Prediction: Critical Understandings of the Digitalization of Policing". On February 1, 12:00-13:00, the CDW invited all members to participate in a virtual info meeting about the new center structure and management model. Due to budget cuts, we are unfortunately closing down the CDW Distinguished Speakers Series as of December 2023. We are happy to welcome HK Kommunal as new members of the CDW and sadly have to say goodbye to Danmarks Tekniske Museum, Digital Psykiatri and Kommunernes Landsforening. 



 

Picture of Søren Skaarup, post.doc at ITU, talking in a microphone. Around him, young people are sitting at long tables listening.
Presenting CDW 2.0!
After 4 years of operation, some internal reflection, a steering commitee meeting, and  following evaluation rounds from our external and internal members in the Fall, the CDW management have decided to rethink and reiterate the CDW concept to fit the needs and ressources of it's members, researchers and also daily management and administration of the center. Therefore, the CDW has implemented 2 major organizational changes:

1) CDW management model: From a hierarchical management model to a distributed management model governed by a management team that distributes the strategic decision-making and management of the center between the former working group leaders: Irina, Sisse, Louise & Cancan, who are now "co-leads" of the CDW. The management team is assisted by a Strategic Project Manager who oversees the daily operations, and a Center Representative role, that secures the daily management and sparring with the Strategic Project Manager and represents the center outwards. The intention is to circulate the Center Representative role between the members of the management team to equally distribute the ressources needed in this position. This means that Irina Papazu is stepping down as Head of Center, but will continue as part of the management team. Irina is passing on the baton to Cancan Wang, who is stepping in as the CDW Center Representative. Cancan is Associate Professor the at ITU Business IT department, where her research focuses on management of societal transformations, incl. digital transformation of the public sector, ESG and sustainable transition of industry and public procurement. She has also been the developer of the CDW masterclass concept. Very warm welcome to Cancan!

2) From closed working groups to open 'emerging themes' and activities
The managament team has decided to close down the working group structure and replace it with thematic activities open to all members. This change is also motivated by the evaluations performed in the Fall, where the working group structure was deemed too inflexible and not adaptable to the ongoing research. As of January 2024, the center will replace this structure with a thematic approach organized around ‘emerging themes’ that represent more dynamic, emerging research topics in a field that is constantly developing. This thematic approach has been tested especially in Sisse Finken’s working group, Digital Citizenship, as well as the Center's focus on Youth & Inclusion. The center will therefore adopt this approach as a center-wide structure and organize center activities around themes instead of working groups. As with the working groups, there will be 2 activities pr. theme pr. semester and they run for 1 year at a time. The CDW will also host Center-wide events (e.g. conferences, research workshops, etc.) that transcend the more thematic focus and which are intended to be co-created with the wider ecosystem, researchers and external stakeholders/members. These will be arranged 1-2 times pr. semester. The ambition is to enhance co-creation with our members in the development and design of activities and events, as well as communication and policy initiatives, and in this way ensure that the CDW delivers on its mission of being a prime research center within its field and to actively contribute excellent research to academia, public debate, and decision-makers. Here, it is important to emphasize CDW as being a mutual knowledge-sharing hub and that showing up for thematic activities, engaging with the CDW researchers and other members on common projects, sharing experiences, insights and critique are essential in making the CDW a success. On behalf of the management team, we hope that this more flexible and open structure will increase knowledge-sharing and research collaboration across sectors, so no one is confined to a specific working group, but can pursue new ideas, research proposals and collaborations within the knowledge and practice network that is CDW. You can read more about the 'emerging themes' of 2024 on CDWs website here.



 
Coming Up!
On February 9, 09:30-12:00, CDW is invititing members for a seminar on "Nordic Exceptionalism in Digitalization" at the IT University of Copenhagen as part of the theme "Global comparisons and collaborations in digital welfare" led by Irina Papazu and Cancan Wang. 

On February 19, Simy Kaur Gahoonia, will defend her PhD thesis titled: "Technology Comprehension In-The-Making: Discipline-ing, Translating, Prototyping". Read more here.

On February 26, 10:00-14:30, the 'Algorithms, Data & Democracy' project, in collaboration with the CDW, is inviting for an Innovation Conference on the topic of AI and Social innovation for people with disabilities. Read more and sign up below. 

On March 8, 09:30-12:00, CDW is inviting members for a Round-table discussion titled: "The Open Prison of the Big Data Revolution: False Consciousness, Faustian Bargains, and Digital Entrapment", as part of the CDW 'emerging theme' "Future Implications of Technological vs. Social rationality in organizational settings" led by Louise Harder Fischer.

On March 14, 09:30-12:00, CDW is inviting members to a meeting on "Representation & Generative AI" with a case from Implement Consulting Group at the IT University of Copenhagen and online, as part of the CDW 'Emerging theme'  "Automation within the health, care, and social sectors", led by Sisse Finken.
 
If you are a member of the Center for Digital Welfare, you have already or will receive an invitation for these activities in your inbox shortly. If you would like to learn more about how to become a member, please find more information on our website or reach out to Strategic Project Manager, Line Johansen, at liny@itu.dk
 
New Publications
Papazu, I., Borch Rasmussen, N., Jagd Hermansen, J., & Rasmussen, K. F. (2024). Data og relationer i omsorgsarbejdet: Mellem datadrømme og virkelighed i kommunale sundhedsindsatser. Tidsskrift for Arbejdsliv, 25(4), 41-58. Link to publication here.
 
 
New Press Releases
Konference sætter fokus på politiets brug af data
Article in Prosabladet with Vasilis Galis, Associate Professor, CDW
Søren nægter at bruge MitID: »Jeg stoler simpelthen ikke på myndighederne«
Article in Ingeniøren.dk with Irina Papazu, Associate Professor, Co-lead, CDW
Din personlige ai bliver din tætteste kollega på fremtidens arbejdsplads. IT-forsker har en bøn til virksomheder
Article in Berlingske with Louise Harder Fischer, Associate Professor, Co-lead, CDW
Kunstig intelligens på jobbet udfordrer det menneskelige
Article in Berlingske Business with Louise Harder Fischer, Associate Professor, Co-lead, CDW
Dobbeltdrift og øgede udgifter: Gevinsten ved MitID smuldrer
Article in Ing.dk/Digitech with Irina Papazu, Associate Professor, Co-lead, CDW
Politiet bruger også algoritmer og AI - vi snakker bare ikke om det
Article in Prosabladet with Vasilis Galis, Associate Professor, CDW
Kunstig intelligens som din nye, nærmeste kollega
Article in Information with Louise Harder Fischer, Associate Professor, Co-lead, CDW
Vi må ikke udelukke repræsentation fra samtalen om det inkluderende digitale velfærdssamfund​​​​​​​
Commentary in ING.dk/Radar with  Sisse Finken, Associate Professor, Co-lead, CDW
 
Upcoming conferences
Innovationstopmøde: Hvordan kan AI skabe bedre livskvalitet for mennesker med særlige behov?
Innovation conference focusing on AI and social innovation for people with disabilities. Partnered with CDW, ITU, ADD, Ældre Sagen, a.o.

Date: February 26, 2024, 10:00-14:30 EST

Venue: TBA (Copenhagen)

Conference titel and date
Nordic societal security in times of crises
NordForsk is hosting a societal security event in Helsinki addressing current themes in the Nordic region.

Date: 27 February, 2024,08:30-13:00 EST

Venue: Hanaholmen Cultural Centre, Hanasaarenranta 5, 02100 Espoo, Finland

 
Accessibility
We are working on improving the accessibility of our newsletter. If you run into any issues while browsing the newsletter, or you have suggestions to make it more enjoyable, reach out to Strategic Project Manager, Line Johansen, at liny@itu.dk



 
Credit 
Line Nykjær Johansen | Cancan Wang | Irina Papazu | Sisse Finken | Louise Harder Fischer

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