How is technology changing the way we work and our employment opportunities? What new opportunities does digitalization offer entrepreneurs? And what is the impact of digitalization on, for example, the distribution of wealth, the way governments and businesses make decisions and the dividing line between work and private life? The digital (r)evolution has changed our lives in ways we could not have predicted. What once seemed impossible is now a reality - from remote working to automated business processes. But while the opportunities are great, enormous challenges are also upon us. “Digitization has undeniable advantages, but it also brings gigantic challenges, and these are often simply not addressable from one science or discipline,” says Koen Swinnen, Academic Director of the SSH-Breed Sector Plan. He looks back on the first year of this groundbreaking Sector Plan at Erasmus University Rotterdam and shares his vision for the future.
The SSH-Breed Sectorplan is a unique project aimed at exploring the societal impact of digitization.
“Over the past year, we have built a network in which six faculties (Erasmus School of Law, Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication, Erasmus School of Philosophy, Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, and Rotterdam School of Management) work closely together on research and education.” Swinnen explains: “The great thing about SSH-Breed is not only that we have appointed 36 FTE UDs, but also that we have managed to build a community of now more than 100 members, coming from very diverse sections of the EUR (think professors and lecturers, policy officers, grant officers, PhDs), all working together to study the effects of digitization on work, prosperity and entrepreneurship. And this community is still expanding every day with colleagues who are interested in this topic and are signing up to contribute to the sectorplan.”
“The challenges arising from digitization are often so large and complex that we cannot study them from one discipline,” Swinnen states. “It is essential to identify the social, economic, legal, psychological, business aspects of digitization, among others, and - very importantly - also to confront and connect them. Only when we do so we can effectively address these challenges.” Thus the goal of SSH-Breed is clear: to encourage collaboration across School boundaries and optimally harness the power of multidisciplinary research.“A collaboration on this scale did not exist on campus Woudestein before. That is unique, and we are proud of that,” Swinnen says.
“The first contours of cooperation are becoming visible.”
The past year was all about connecting, Swinnen explains. “Such a large sector plan requires an infrastructure in which cooperation between Schools can be established.” He explains how they started from scratch and have already achieved quite a lot in the first year.“Researchers are starting to find each other more easily,” Swinnen points out, and with that collaboration across Schools is beginning to take shape.“We are already starting to see concrete results, such as teaching modules being developed and made available to other Schools. And we are also seeing joint research proposals getting off the ground.” Specifically, Swinnen highlights the example of the module that Alberto Quintavalla, co-director of the Erasmus Center of Law and Digitalization and Associate Professor of Innovation of Public Law at Erasmus School of Law, is developing with colleagues from Erasmus School of Law and Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication to create awareness among staff and students about cyber risks and which will be available for use by all Schools. “I think this is a really good example of what we mean by working together across School boundaries.”
Open doors and looking outward
Swinnen emphasizes that SSH-Breed aims to create a new kind of culture on campus Woudestein. “A sector plan is, as the word says, aims to get an entire sector moving, in this case, the social sciences and humanities sector, SSH for short.
As part of this, we are working to create a campus where SSH Schools and their staff can easily find each other and where multidisciplinary collaboration is not the exception but something very common. It is important to emphasize that SSH-Breed is not limited to researchers, but is open to anyone on our campus who is concerned with the topic of digitization. To be involved in the community it is also not necessary that you have been appointed to it or invited to become a member: everyone who wants to contribute to SSH-Breed is very welcome and can easily apply via our website”, Swinnen explains.
Moreover, the SSH-Wide Sector Plan is not limited to campus Woudestein. Within the sectorplan there is cooperation with the University of Twente, the Open University and TU Eindhoven. Swinnen emphasizes that the connection with society within SSH-Breed is essential. “As a knowledge institute, we have a responsibility to share knowledge and insights gained with society. We also have to involve relevant parties from society and the professional field already during our research. This is how we create solutions that can have real impact.”
The annual SSH-Breed conference
On March 7, the first annual conference of the SSH-Breed sectorplan will take place. “It promises to be an exciting and inspiring day,” according to Swinnen. “With approximately 130 registrations and 30 speakers from just about every Dutch university, we are ready to show the outside world what Erasmus University Rotterdam is doing with the SSH-Breed sectorplan and look forward to further expanding our network and strengthening cooperation.”
More information about the conference can be found here.
- More information
Do you want to learn more about the SSH-Breed sector plan, the conference, or join the community? More information can be found here.
