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2024, the final year of the LeADS project, kickstarted with an intensive three-day meeting packed with a wide variety of LeADS activities. Organized by the LeADS consortium, the activities took place in Brussels on the campus by LeADS beneficiary VUB.

During this packed three days, three distinct events took place, amongst them the Conference on Data Ethics and Governance: Unravelling the Complexities of Privacy, Fairness, and Access in the Digital Age.

During two separate sessions, ESRs presented their Working Papers which they have been writing in 2023. Each presentation was followed by a discussion with distinguished academics.

The first panel on ‘Challenges and Opportunities in Fair Machine Learning, Data Access, and Governance was initiated with opening remarks by Prof. Giovanni Comande’. The following three working papers were presented (i) The Flawed Foundations of Fair Machine Learning (ii) Measuring Data Access and Re-Use in the European Legal Framework (iii) Data Collaboratives with the Use of Decentralised Learning. The working papers were subsequently discussed by Dr Laura Drechsler (KU Leuven), Dr. Katarzyna Poludniak, Jagiellonian University, and Prof. Gabriele Lenzini, University of Luxemburg.

The second panel on ‘Data Privacy, Minimization, and Governance in Personal (and Sensitive) Data’ was chaired by Prof. Gianclaudio Malgieri (Leiden University) and consisted of the presentation of the following Working Papers: (i) Contribution to data minimisation for personal data and trade secrets (ii) Transparency and relevancy of direct-to-consumer genetic testing privacy & consent policies in EU (iii) From Data Governance by Design to Data Governance as a Service.

In a following Q&A session, Prof. Elwira Macierzyńska-Franaszczyk (Jagiellonian University), Dr Arianna (Rossi, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna), and Dr Afonso Ferreira (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) further discussed, challenged, and contextualized the work by our ESRs.

ESRs Fatma S. Doğan, Armend Duzha and Christos Magkos along with Manolis Alexakis attended the event organized within European Researchers’ Night on 29 September 2023 in Athens. The team welcomed visitors of all ages into their booth and presented details about the LeADS project. Given the project’s focus on the intersection of law and technology, explanatory sheets facilitated the conceptualization of these concepts. The majority of visitors expressed interest in AI developments, making the AI Act the central topic of most conversations. High school students were also intrigued by the backgrounds of the ESRs; the diversity of disciplines represented by the three ESRs captured their attention about potential future careers.

ESRs also had the opportunity to observe the scientific fair, where researchers from various fields presented their projects, proving to be inspiring. The connection with CERN labs stood out as a prominent example. The program provided a valuable chance for ESRs to engage with other researchers.

On January 11-12 2024, ESR Barbara Lazarotto presented her research at the interdisciplinary international conference on ‘Public Governance and Emerging Technologies: Values, Trust, and Compliance by Design’ in Utrecht, The Netherlands. The Conference explored the use of emerging technologies in public governance and how this deployment can be done in a legally, ethically, and socially acceptable way.

Prof. Barbara Prainsack gave a keynote at the Conference

Barbara presented her research on the topic of “The Role of Technology in Citizens’ Right to Good Administration: Examining the Impact of Smart Governments”. She explored the growing trend of “smart government,” where technology, including information and communication technologies (ICT) and artificial intelligence (AI), is extensively used to enhance public administration, collecting and processing large-scale data with the main objective of improving efficiency and reducing costs. Despite justifications based on the right to good administration, concerns arise regarding the impact on citizen autonomy and privacy. Her paper explores the concept of “smart governments,” analyzing common technological practices, such as nudging and sensorization of public environments.

Barbara’s work will be featured as a chapter in a book exploring the topic of technology and public governance to be published late in 2024.

ESR Aizhana Abdrassulova attended the 32nd International Conference on Business, Management, Education & Law (IBMEL-23) held in Istanbul from September 5-7, 2023. The conference was organized by the International Centre of Excellence in Education, Business, and Management.

During the conference, Aizhana presented a paper and made an oral presentation on the topic “Data ownership does not work?”. The article was already published, and Aizhana discussed the challenges and inconsistencies of the data ownership approach. Her presentation was well received by the audience, which included many professionals working with data.

Aizhana’s presentation focused on the modern approach to data ownership that prioritizes convenience for the data subject and control over their data. She expressed her views on the topic, highlighting the need for a better understanding of data ownership issues and the importance of ensuring data privacy and security.

The conference had an interactive format that allowed participants to engage in discussions and exchange their ideas and views on the topic. The conference was an excellent opportunity for Aizhana to connect with other professionals in her field and learn about the latest advancements and trends related to data ownership and management.

In 2022, our 15 ESRs completed the second year of LeADS. They had an intensive training schedule and attended a cross-disciplinary training program on four occasions. They explored their research topics in the four LeADS Crossroads, resulting in an interdisciplinary report on unsolved challenges in the data economy. This report provided the groundwork for their research activities in 2023.