1st Summer School in the Security and Governance of Collective Digital Infrastructures (SGCDI)
July 14-16, Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy, Bochum, Germany
Digital infrastructures are increasingly assisting roles traditionally associated with institutions, such as coordinating collective action, allocating shared resources, and enforcing rules. As they do so, they expose conceptual blind spots in existing models of system design and analysis. Much of current systems security research assumes relatively stable authority structures, clear boundaries between users and operators, and well-defined enforcement mechanisms. By contrast, research on collective governance in socio-technical systems shows that authority can be intentionally distributed through code, social norms, and economic incentives. As such, governance itself becomes a dynamic, contested process rather than a fixed layer.
The Summer School in the Security and Governance of Collective Digital Infrastructures (SGCDI) is a space for dialogue and agenda setting between technical and social scientists, that bridges technical expertise in security and privacy with analytical frameworks and empirical knowledge from social science to reason rigorously about institutions, power, and collective action. Participants will jointly explore what new problems emerge when designing technology in a collective setting, and sow the seeds for new interdisciplinary collaborations on research projects.
Program
The 3-day program includes a diverse mix of academic lectures, discussions with industry practitioners, networking events, and a final-day research hackathon, where participants will get to work hands-on on project ideas that arise during the summer school.
We have invited area-leading scientists and discourse leaders in Computer Science, Social Science, and Digital Infrastructures. You can check out the full list of confirmed speakers here!
Target Group
We welcome applicants with various backgrounds to apply for the summer school: Master's and PhD students/Post-Docs in academia, as well as applicants with industry expertise, at NGOs, and state- or community-level policy-makers are encouraged to apply. More information about the registration process and selection criteria can be found here.
Highlights
- Interdisciplinary summer school at the intersection of social science and computer science
- Fully funded, including accommodation in the center of Bochum at no cost for all external participants. Additional support for traveling to/from Bochum is available for a limited number of students
- Get to know world-leading experts such as Michel Bauwens, founder of the P2P Foundation, and Carmela Troncoso, leading researcher of the DP-3T COVID-19 tracing protocol team
- Includes a full-day hackathon to work on your own project idea with the speakers and other participants of the summer school