1st Annual SSH-Breed Sectorplan Conference 'The Influence of Digitalisation on Work, Prosperity and Entrepreneurship'

The conference will feature a keynote speaker (to be announced), along with panel presentations and discussions organized around the five core themes of the EUR Sectorplan SSH-Breed. We welcome submissions related to the following themes:

• The Digital Society: The year 2025 will see the full implementation of the AI act, a milestone in shaping the societal impact of artificial intelligence. While the Act is ambitious in its scope, its real-world effects, particularly on various aspects related to democratic participation, remain unclear. For this panel, we invite submissions addressing how the AI Act influences various dimensions of democratic participation, including topics such as misinformation and hate speech; platforms and recommendation systems; technology and worker participation.
   
• Digitalisation and platformisation of work processes and products: Over the past years digitalisation has facilitated the rise of the platform economy. Platformisation can have substantial advantages, but also risks and unwanted side-effects. For instance, platforms offer a more flexible alternative to the traditional way of doing business, but they also represent an approach to trade that offers fundamentally less transparency, protection and reliability to consumers. 
  We welcome submissions that focus on the impact of platformisation on consumers from both a managerial and a legal perspective, addressing questions such as what measures should be taken by businesses to optimize the results that can be achieved by platformisation; how unwanted side-effects of platformisation can be avoided or minimized; and whether the current legal framework is adequate to facilitate platformisation and at the same time mitigate its risks.
   
• Digital decision support: Digital technology can be used to improve complex decision-making processes. However, it also raises major challenges, such as ensuring that the outcomes of using digital technology remain fair, explainable, and aligned with organizational and societal goals. Against this background, the goal of this panel is to explore innovative applications of statistical and behavioural science methods to address challenges in government, industry, and healthcare. We welcome papers focusing on how data-driven approaches and insights from behavioural research can improve decision-making, optimize processes, and enhance outcomes across these critical sectors.
   
• Digitalisation, new ways of working and the new employee: The impact of digitalisation and emerging technologies on the workforce is far-reaching, influencing aspects such as organizational governance and employee well-being. We invite submissions exploring the impact of digitalisation and new technologies on work, organizations and employees. Topics of interest include how digitalisation and AI influence organizational governance, leadership, and employment relationships; the effects of new ways of working (virtual, hybrid) on well-being and performance; sectoral differences in these impacts; and challenges related to algorithmic management, work design, and platformisation.
   
• Data and cyber harms at work: The rapid growth of digital technologies has heightened criminal and societal risks, particularly with the rise of digital surveillance practices. Emerging technologies can facilitate criminal or otherwise harmful activities, but they can also help mitigate these risks. For this panel, we invite submissions on the ethical, legal, and practical implications of large-scale consumer data collection by digital platforms and law enforcement, as well as the exploitation of low-cost labour within digital platform economies.