Digital Policy

German schools have been slower to embrace digital education than US schools over the past decade, due to concerns about the influence of commercial players and data protection. The Covid-19 pandemic has now significantly increased reform pressure in Germany.

Schools in the United States have placed a lot of faith into the possibilities of education technology for improving both access and learning outcomes. But the pandemic has revealed that most technology is used to replicate traditional school routines.

Schools made a quick pivot to online teaching in spring 2020 as the pandemic sent kids home to learn. But educators soon faced a host of data sharing issues, as classrooms moved to platforms neither designed for education nor in compliance with privacy laws.

Zettabytes of data are being accumulated worldwide every year and could be applied towards improving public health and the environment. But instead the majority is unused – and there are still numerous hurdles for sharing and donating it

Recording of the event “Towards Secure, Sustainable, and Values-Based Supply Chains: A Transatlantic Conversation” on March 18, 2021

A new alliance of programmers, wealthy tech companies, and NGOs is forming to tackle global problems such as poverty, hunger, and climate change. But making a difference in people’s real lives is not quite that simple.

To get the transatlantic relationship back and on track and to ensure that it will remain relevant in the future, the United States and the European Union should prioritize putting forward concrete ideas and taking actionable steps on climate and energy, democracy and human rights, and digital technology issues.

The global pandemic became a linchpin for many health-tech startup companies that were struggling to find their purpose. In 2020, the industry saw record funding and attention – and the need to balance investor’s expectations with public health concerns.

Governments, the private sector and other organizations increasingly collect massive amounts of data, some for the public good, other times not. A consistent framework could ensure data use is both beneficial to the public interest and sufficiently protected against misuse.