Back

Q&A

Digital Trust  | 

Why is stimulating digital skills key to mitigating the gender gap, with Cecilia Castaño

"Although it is not necessary for all women to be computer scientists or engineers, it ...

Citizen empowerment to tackle disinformation in Brazil, with Fabro Steibel

“Media literacy must be addressed, and it goes far beyond how much internet access you ...

Jesús Hernández on the relevance of innovation in accessibility

"Teams of tech developers should have people with disabilities among their ranks”

Data and Algorithms are changing the automotive sector, with Carlos Buenosvinos

Carlos Buenosvinos is the Head of Data Office SEAT S.A.

Changing our behaviour for the future of cities, with Philipp Rode

"We need a behavioural change from those at the top. This is is very important ...

The future of digitalization of urban nodes, with Dr. Alfonso Vegara

Dr. Alfonso Vegara, Founder and Honorary President of Fundación Metrópoli

The Digitalization of tourist destinations, with José Juan Lorenzo

The Canary Islands lead a sustainable tourisme project.

How can we investigate Cybercrime? With Escarlata Gutiérrez

"There is a type of organized crime specialised in cyber attacks in which criminals hide ...
Digital Trust  | 

Malware is resurfacing

We saw specific malware resurface after years – like the Cerberus banking Trojan – adapted ...

New markets of Fact checking, with Peter Stano

“The European Digital Media Observatory [...] will increase the scientific knowledge available on online disinformation ...

A hacker is not a cybercriminal with José Manuel Ávalos

"A hacker investigates, driven by curiosity, the computer systems in search of any flaw and ...

Gear up against disinformation, with Carmela Ríos

"Today, it is impossible to be a journalist without verification methods."
Digital Trust  | 

An overview of cybercrime worldwide, with the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center

"IC3 received a record number of complaints from the American public in 2020: 791,790,with reported losses exceeding $4.1 billion".
Digital Trust  | 

Platforms, monopolism and polarisation, with Jonathan Wareham

"It is only recently that Facebook and Twitter have enacted bans of former US President ...

Do big platforms hold up innovation? with Doh-Shin Jeon

“[...] Vertically-integrated platforms have a strong incentive to hold up innovations of their business users ...

Going digital and joining forces, key for SMEs with Eduardo Elorriaga

"[Small] businesses must stop working individually and organize themselves on technologically advanced platforms".
Digital Trust  | 

Can platforms shape mindsets?, with José L. Fernández

"Informed and critical citizens [...] put a stop to those who, under the guise of ...

Do cryptocurrencies foster innovation?, with Francisco Álvarez Molina

"Right now there are more than 7,000 [cryptocurrencies], although ten are amongst the most known."
Security and Data  | 

The gamification of life, with Raian Ali

“Most technology design methods are industry-driven, where the aim is to increase productivity and achieve ...
Digital Trust  | 

Can blockchain replace banks? By James Angel

“We are in the midst of a financial revolution that may replace institutions with protocols.”
Networks/Connectivity  | 

Limiting screen time, a mistake? With Ángel Turbi

"Setting limits on screen time is a mistake [...] trying to teach our childre to ...

Digital game adiction, prejudice or reality? With Daniel Aranda

"[young people] prefer physical interaction over staying at home and playing online. Perhaps we should ...
Digital Trust  | 

Can algorithms pose a threat to free speech?

“[...] a handful of companies and countries moderate and regulate speech for most of the ...
Security and Data  | 

Supercomputers to study the effect of drugs by Artur García from the Barcelona Supercomputing Center

"Supercomputers can simulate the behavior of a new drug on a given receptor, without performing ...

The cloud, cable, 5G and state sovereignity

Is there a cold war for the control of key data and infrastructures worldwide?
Security and Data  | 

Governing data for the benefit of all, by Christoph Steck

Christoph Steck, Telefonica's Public Policy Director: "I use and value a lot many digital services ...

Slacktivism works and is necessary

"Social media help reach an audience and achieve a critical mass that are essential to ...

Can online activism change the world? With Maribel Tellado

Maribel Tellado García, Campaigns for Mobilization Deputy Manager at Amnesty International: "Online activism can mean ...
Digital Trust  | 

Should we get paid for our data? By Anne J. Flanagan

"[...] companies have been able to monetize the data they acquire so the question arises ...

Post-truth and the danger of disbelief, by Lee McIntyre

"Post-truth has followed the blueprint of science denial, but it is much more dangerous. Belief ...

8M: Verónica Peinado, women take us to Mars

"I believe that diversity is key in all fields of research".
Digital Trust  | 

Could we live without our data? With Colin Koopman

"The question for us today cannot be whether this [autocratic regimes accessing untold stores of ...

China’s climate challenge: coal and a mindset shift with Yao Zhe

"Coal and other types of fossil fuels count for more than 80% of China’s energy ...
Networks/Connectivity  | 

Cities and mobility, key to prosperity in the world, by Shahrukh Wani

"Greater Kampala losses $1.5 million every day due to traffic congestion. That is over 4% ...
ethics  | 

10 years to shape the future, by Gerd Leonhard

“We are at a fork in the road and the next 10 years will decide ...
employment  | 

The need for economic alternative systems, by Peter Flemming

"There are ways of organizing economic activity that do not sacrifice everything to endless expansion, ...

Robots, AI and human dignity, John Tasioulas, Director of the Institute for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence, Oxford University

"In a world of anthropomorphic robots powered by AI the danger exists that we begin ...

Care workers, big demands and little rights by Borja Arrue Astrain

We need to talk about ageing and about the fact that age should never determine ...
Digital Trust  | 

Robots will be tools for older adults and care givers in the future, by MIT Media Lab researcher Anastasia Ostrowski

“Robots will also be “helpful companions”, meaning they will collaborate with older adults to reach ...

Fair societies need digital rights, by Minda Moreira, co-Chair of the Internet Rights and Principles Coalition

"Some apps can even keep tracking after users have uninstalled them."

Ethical platform economy alternatives, by Ricard Espelt and Melissa Renau

"Models such as Coopcycle, Cotabo or Equal Care Co-op try to offer a more ethical ...
Digital Trust  | 

The world’s reaction to the first pandemic of the digital era, by Chad Gaffield

"It is imperative that knowledge about the past provides a foundation for decisions today."

Technology to rebuild the bond of communities, by Nextdoor’s Nick Lisher

"The neighbourhood is the most important community in our lives"

We can reduce the carbon footprint of the net, by Benjamin Tincq

"We know how to decarbonise the power grid with nuclear energy and renewables"

How big data can help ideas thrive, by Irene Arias Hofman, Interamerican Development Bank

"The availability of data can lead to survival and progression of people."
Digital Skills  | 

Nigeria and the Social Change Emerging from Digital Activism, by Gbénga Ṣẹ̀san

Gbénga Ṣẹ̀san advocates for digital rights in Africa: "It is extremely important to ensure that ...
Security and Data  | 

Honor and dignity in a digital society, by Wolfgang Kleinwächter, co author of the Charter of Fundamental Digital Rights of the EU

"We need to face the fact that new technologies have a disruptive potential."

Age will be irrelevant in the upcoming digital society, by Manel Domínguez

"We must stop talking about age and empower the human being with an active mind."
Security and Data  | 

The impact of COVID19 tracing and surveillance in our lives, by Gabrielle Berman from UNICEF

"Children will have to live with a society that has experienced a restriction of civil ...
Security and Data  | 

Content moderators and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder with Janine Berg

"Most of the leading technological companies use microtasking platforms for specific aspects of their work, ...

Platforms and the distribution of value towards US and China with Nick Srnicek

"[Riders] are also having companies surveil their social media activities for possible union support."
Security and Data  | 

Platform work, a booming economy of unknown scale with Agnieszka Piasna

"Hanging phones on trees by Amazon riders is one manifestation of how this business [platform ...
Gender Gap  | 

When the welfare algorithms forget women with Cristina Pombo

“Seatbelts, headrests and airbags in cars have been designed mainly based on data collected from ...
Digital Trust  | 

Cyberattacks on laboratories and cyberwar, new global threats with Javier Tobal

Javier Tobal: "If we are not already in a cyberwar, we are undoubtedly in a ...
Society  | 

Do digital welfare systems treat different genders equally? With Christiaan van Veen, UN advisor

“If we let men build systems that women use it is likely that the outcome ...
Digital Trust  | 

The elderly in the digital era with Marcello Ienca

“Too many older people in the world do not have access to adequate care”.

How to preserve humanity in a technological health system with Francesc García Cuyàs

"Technology should not make us forget that we need to talk to and explore patients for accurate diagnosis". 
Digital Trust  | 

Welfare in Estonia, the world’s most digitised country with Florian Marcus

“In Estonia, having an electronic ID is compulsory."
Decision Making  | 

Digital welfare services and gender stigmatisation with Kristin Heffernan

"With the tech industry dominated by young white men, I believe these biases will persist".
Security and Data  | 

Politics and the Internet with US expert in political comms, Jess Reis

“The biggest spreader of disinformation in the United States is President Trump.”

Citizen participation and transparency with Silvia Saavedra, Madrid City Council

"Decide Madrid has democratised the participation of citizens in city affairs."
Security and Data  | 

How does social media influence our vote? Pew Research Center

"Social networks use computer algorithms that classify and prioritize posts based on interests."

Tech to take sovereignty back to the citizen with Ismael Peña López

“The poor are more at risk of disinformation.”

The climate emergency with Tim McPhie, Spokesperson for Climate Action and Energy at European Commission

“We should stop thinking about technological products as being disposable.”

Ethical electronics with Miquel Ballester of Fairphone

"In 2019 the world generated 53.6 megatons of e-waste, an average of 7.3 kg per ...
Digital Trust  | 

Tackling climate change with machine learning with Claire Monteleoni

“We have used machine learning for detecting avalanches, forecasting tropical cyclone tracks, and predicting extreme ...

The climate impact of big tech with Juantxo López de Uralde

"We cannot afford big tech companies contributing to climate change".

Should big tech be held accountable for their content? With Joan Barata, Stanford

“The connection between objectionable speech and the business of private data seems to exist.”
Digital Trust  | 

The influence of social media on democracies, with Harvard researcher Laura Manley

“Social media companies have a profoundly negative effect on democracies”.
Digital Trust  | 

This is how advertising tech promotes hate and disinformation, with Nandini Jammi

“Thousands of brands are inadvertently advertising on disinformation efforts across the web.”

Digital tools to mitigate poverty with Anna Schrimpf, with the Nobel Award winning J-PAL

"M-PESA helped lift 194,000 mostly female-headed Kenyan households out of extreme poverty.”

New approaches for international development by Alex Amouyel of Solve, a MIT initiative

"We will not achieve the SDGs if we only continue with existing solutions."

Big data to reduce poverty, by Kam Morshed of BRAC, the world’s largest NGO

"The 'data revolution' is now needed more than ever in development." 

Can technology mitigate poverty? Raquel Bernedo, member of Red Cross

"Organisations must make sure that the technologies implemented in the field are sustainable."

The tech climate emergency with Ravi Rajan, Greenpeace Board of Directors

"Things like cobalt are really the blood diamonds of today."

Are universities lagging behind in AI research? Oriol Vinyals

"More breakthroughs will be required for us to get closer to our own learning capabilities."

Tecnoethics to preserve democracy with Karen Joisten

"Technology can lead to the dissolution of democracy."
Digital Trust  | 

Digital colonialism with human rights and technology expert, Renata Avila

"Do we want our children to be educated, scored, classified by systems we cannot audit?"
Digital Trust  | 

Can tech change the way we love? Omri Gillath

"Technology has both positive and negative impacts on close relationships."

Digital training and equality with Elisa Martín, CTO at IBM

"If we want equality, we must make sure every one has access to online training."

The power of open data to change society with Rufus Pollock

"The human genome project is one of the most successful open data projects ever".

The corporate digital divide with Robert Siegel

"If a company doesn’t digitally evolve, it will perish".

EdTech, education and self-regulation with Cristóbal Cobo, World Bank.

"Children learn that they need to self-regulate in a way that allows them to coexist." 

Makers and the open economy with César García

"The coronavirus makers produced over 850,000 visors."
Digital Trust  | 

Digital wellbeing with Joan Amorós

“Mobile phones may already be changing the appearance of our skull and fingers."
Society  | 

Covid 19 and collaborative economy with Albert Cañigueral

"Thanks to open data the way in which the pandemic is being fought is very ...
Digital Trust  | 

Sílvia Barrera, cybersecurity expert, on the online exposure of children during lockdown

"Abandonment of social skills [by teenagers and children] due to social media happens in many ...

Doreen Bogdan-Martin, ITU Director, on the Digital Gender Gap

"We are leaving the development of our future to an extremely narrow demographic."

Ethical algorithms, by Michael Kearns

"I think machine learning and statistical modelling clearly play an important role in pandemics."

The evolution of the economy under lockdown, by Belén Romana

"We will see many changes, like increased automation of production lines and even the development ...

Julio Cabero Almenara and the homes digital divide

"Disadvantaged students should be granted "Internet scholarships"

Seamus Nevin on new work policies after COVID-19

“The coronavirus pandemic is that it has opened up a conversation around whether a welfare ...

Why do we speak of infodemics, by Whitney Phillips

"Anxiety, depression, panic, trauma: all are amplified by the COVID-19 infodemic".

David Muñoz on the impact of COVID-19 on gig workers

"Riders are vulnerable and even more so in the current situation". 

Hala Hanna from Solve (MIT), on the Digital Gender Gap

"In the everyday workforce, AI is also being used to surface bias in hiring and ...

Mariagrazia Squicciarini, Head of Unit, OECD Directorate for Science Technology and Innovation

"[...] It is in economies with greater gender equality that females are most severely under-represented ...

Saniye Gülser Corat, UNESCO Gender Equality Director

"Amazon’s AI recruiting software was found to downgrade résumés that contained the word ‘women’s’".

Christopher Pommerening on the end of standardised learning

"Students are currently being prepared for a world that no longer exists."

Xavier Carrera, educational technology and digital responsibility

"Does technology favor a commercial vision of education, especially at a university level?"

Alexis Abramson and the importance of solidarity within science

"About half of the needs of our current workforce will no longer be necessary in ...

Ansgar Koene and the risks of the use of black box algorithms in HR

"Algorithms do not make moral judgements [...]. Humans decide how much to prioritize false-positives over ...

Jovana Karanović on how to support workers in the platform society

"Lots of unfair practices have been wired into the algorithm of these companies (e.g. Uber)."

Anant Agarwal and the democratization of education through technology

"By leveraging technology in the service of education, we have an opportunity to close the ...

Inés Sánchez de Madariaga on how urban planning shapes society

"When we talk about cities, physical planning is more important than the use of information ...
Digital Trust  | 

Rob Kitchin and the vulnerabilities of smart cities

"Hacking cities is very much a reality".

Marek Vogt, how to get citizens involved in urban planning

"In Deventer we enabled 300 small and medium-sized stakeholders to redevelop the area instead of ...

Brooks Rainwater, expert in city innovation

"A smart city collects, aggregates, and analyzes real-time data through technology to improve the lives ...
Digital Trust  | 

Clare Garvie, Center on Privacy and Technology at Georgetown Law

"Over half of all US citizens are in a face recognition database used for criminal ...
Digital Trust  | 

Kade Crockford, preserving privacy in the era of face recognition

"A technology to track every place every person goes, with whom, and when is the ...

Francisco Doblas-Reyes, Barcelona Supercomputing Center

"We are in time to prevent the most serious consequences of climate warming."

Kate O’Neill, tech humanist

"Digitalization helps fight climate change because it allows greater interconnection between humans."

Daniel Abadie, e-governance expert

"Mi Argentina’ is the digital profile of a citizen in which the ID, driver's license ...

Lluïsa Marsal, Blockchain4Cities pioneer

"The evolution of Blockchain is very uncertain because the adoption is quite poor."
Digital Trust  | 

Catherine Lückhoff, AI and cloud innovation entrepreneur

"Facial recognition is being used in countless ways to streamline our daily lives and, in ...

Steve Boese, HR technology expert

"HR tech has put more information and data ownership in the hands of the employee."

Aviv Ovadya, researcher on information ecosystems and misinformation

“We need massive investment across industry, civil society and government, to understand and mitigate threats ...
Digital Trust  | 

Matthew Aylett, expert in speech synthesis technology

"The more critical we are the less likely a deep fake will fool us."

Maria Klawe

“Our language represents the biases of our culture.”

Elena Sinelnikova

“In some countries, it is within the law to only accept male candidates in a ...
Digital Trust  | 

Carlo Ratti

"Let’s use the data to better understand the city, to inform the design and to ...

Samer Hassan

“We cannot trust that the code implemented is always right because there are always bugs.”

Arancha Diaz Lladó

“Connectivity is our main ally in reducing the digital divide.”

Enrique Medina

"It is people that bring meaning to technology, not the other way around."

How governments are dealing with the rise of the gig economy with Carlota Marzo

"The relationship between Glovo and the riders is both complex and constructive"
Digital Trust  | 

Cindy Cohn

“We probably cannot future-proof technology. We need to future-proof society.”

Daniel Innerarity

In traditional voting there is a certain element of physical communication that I do not ...

Bill Dutton

“Being online is a relatively safe place to be”

Rodrigo García de la Cruz

“Regulators need to make sure they are protecting consumers, and not getting lost in the ...
Digital Trust  | 

Gry Hasselbach

“We don’t have to give up our privacy to have a digital life”
Digital Trust  | 

Saleem Alhabash

“We’re not realizing how much data is worth”
Digital Trust  | 

JoAnn Stonier

“Everything a company is doing around data should start with the individual and protecting that ...
Digital Trust  | 

Aimee van Wynsberghe

“Governments must create a context which forces technology companies to take ethics seriously”

Are governments prepared to regulate the tech sector? Natalia Olson-Urtecho

“The struggle between the private sector revolution and the regulation by the public sector should ...

Santiago García

“In the knowledge economy, learning is work and work is learning”

We need a synergy between robots and people skills with Judith Viladomat, Pal Robotics

“People need to focus on the skills where we are strongest. This means creativity”

How would you explain a sandbox to a layman? Nicole Sandler, Barclays

“Collaboration is key for innovation and education is essential”

Nnenna Nwakanma

«Que el 50% de la población utilice Internet quiere decir que el otro 50% no ...

Understanding the ethical dimensions of technology with Lorena Jaume Palasí, Ethical Tech Society

“Having less data is good for privacy but it’s not good for discriminatory issues”

When AI meets big data with Núria Oliver

"AI is at the core of the fourth industrial revolution”

e-Voting opens up new ways for direct democracy with Jordi Puiggalí, CSO Scytl

“New technology allows for a more direct democracy”

The digital revolution with Marta Arniani

“We will be delegating our decisions more and more to technology”