How do smart city concepts contribute to the development of sustainable and liveable networked cities? At the invitation of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), philosophy professor Wolfgang M. Schröder (University of Würzburg), scientific member of the Charter Board, spoke about technical and socio-ethical aspects of this question at the KIT Science Week 2023.
The framework for this was an interdisciplinary and international public two-hour panel discussion on 15.10.23. Technical, urban planning and software-related perspectives were represented on the panel by the following scientists: Prof. Dr. Johannes Orphal (Institute Director at KIT and Head of Division IV/Natural and Built Environment since 2020), Prof. Dr. Iris Belle (Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Architecture and Design), Dr. Martin Memmel (Head of the SmartCity Living Lab at DFKI), Pr of. Dr. Dirk Engelke (Professor of Spatial Development at the OST Ostschweizer University of Applied Sciences) and Dr. Radostina Radulova-Stahmer (Institute of Urban Planning at Graz University of Technology).
The well-attended event at the KIT-Triangel in Karlsruhe’s city center achieved a double goal: It combined an informative exchange of opinions between the scientists on the podium with a lively dialogue with the audience. In the end, the consensus was that functioning smart cities need trustworthy technology and smart citizens in equal measure!
(For more information: https://www.scienceweek.kit.edu/veranstaltungskalender.php/event/50383)
Shortly afterwards, Schröder took part in an event organized by the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OEAW) in Vienna. As part of the “Colloquium Digitale: Digitalization, People and Society” series, an international symposium and workshop was held there from 17 to 18.10.23 on the topic of “Convergence? Interfaces of the Digital and the Living”.
The latest international research projects at the interface of biosciences and computer sciences were presented and discussed. Together with computer science professor Astrid Weiss (TU Vienna), Schröder led a session on “Robot Rights & Human-Robot Interaction” in the workshop part of the conference. The focus was on the potential and ethical-legal challenges of the increased integration of robotics and AI-based systems into society. The results of the workshop session were then presented to the conference plenary and debated across disciplines.
(For more information: https://www.oeaw.ac.at/convergence2023/)