Creating Spaces for Digital Futures, Program
Day 1 – Thursday, 9 October 2025
08:30 – 09:15: Registration
09:15 – 10:10: Welcome & Keynote
Public Space
Welcome
Christiane Eilders, Tim Majchrzak & Josephine B. Schmitt (Center for Advanced Internet Studies, Bochum, Germany)
Keynote: Digital Futures-in-the-Making: Challenging Regimes of Anticipation
Juliane Jarke (University of Graz, Austria)
10:10 – 10:20: Coffee Break | Basement
10:20 – 11:50: Presentations
Public Space
REIMAGINING PUBLIC SPACES: PARTICIPATION, DESIGN, AND EVERYDAY INNOVATION
Chair: Dennis Frieß, HHU Düsseldorf
Creating New Spaces for the Public: User Perspectives on the Public Spaces Incubator
- Henning Eichler (Hochschule RheinMain / Hessischer Rundfunk, Germany)
- Bernadette Uth (University of Vienna, Austria)
- Vanessa Kokoschka (Hochschule Darmstadt, Germany)
- Hannah Oetting (University of Münster, Germany)
Makerspaces as Digital Public Spaces: Hacking the Public Sphere or Reinventing It?
- Martin Rolf Herbers (Zeppelin University, Germany)
Co-Creating Our City – Insights from an International Citizen Science Project on Digital Opportunities for Youth Engagement and the Shaping of Democratic Spaces in Local Politics.
- Anna Soßdorf (SCI:MOVE – Science on the Move, Germany)
- Christine Hübner (d|part – Think Tank for political participation)
Learning Space
LEARNING SPACES IN TRANSITION: HUMAN-AI COLLABORATION, PERCEPTION, AND PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICE
Large Language Model as a Writing Buddy? A Classroom Study of Secondary School Student Approaches to Revision of AI-Generated Academic Texts
- Anna Radtke (Center for Advanced Internet Studies, Bochum, Germany / Ruhr University Bochum, Germany)
- Astrid Wichmann (CAIS / Ruhr University Bochum)
- Nikol Rummel (CAIS / Ruhr University Bochum)
Contrasting Students’ and Lecturers’ Perceptions of the Likelihood and Severity of Damages from Academic Performance Prediction in Higher Education
- Marco Lünich (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany)
Far Superior to the Old Canary: Perceptions of AI Applications in the Mining Industry in a Museum Context
- Alisa Maksimova (Center for Advanced Internet Studies, Bochum, Germany / Ruhr University Bochum, Germany)
- Valentina Nachtigall (Ruhr University Bochum)
- Nikol Rummel (CAIS / Ruhr University Bochum)
Data Space
DATA SPACES IN THE MAKING: CO-PRODUCING KNOWLEDGE, CULTURE, AND OPPORTUNITY
Chair: Tim Majchrzak, CAIS
Co-Creating Social Media as Future Public and Data Spaces
- Hendrik Heuer (Center for Advanced Internet Studies, Bochum, Germany)
- Aditya Kumar Purohit (CAIS)
Unlocking Data’s Potential for Socially Robust Knowledge Production and Innovation: From Classical to Cross-modal Research Data Management with Living Labs as Experimental Cases
- Stefan John (RWTH Aachen, Germany)
- Julia Backhaus (RWTH Aachen)
- Gabriele Gramelsberger (RWTH Aachen)
On the Margins: Digital Technologies (DTs) and Entrepreneurial Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Edlyne Eze Anugwom (University of Nigeria / Leipzig University, Germany)
11:50 – 12:00: Coffee Break | Basement
12:00 – 13:00: Lightning Talks
Public Space
NAVIGATING PUBLIC SPACES: INCLUSION, INEQUALITY, AND EVERYDAY PRACTICES
Chair: Jasmin Baake, CAIS
Inequalities in Interplay: Online Political Information Among Young Men From Underprivileged Backgrounds in Kolkata (India)
- Basak Subham (University of Oxford, UK)
The Context of Online Content – The Concept of Digital Streetwork as a Key to Creating a Safer and Inclusive Public Space
- Christina Dinar (Katholische Hochschule für Sozialwesen Berlin, Germany)
Learning Space
LEARNING SPACES AT WORK: DESIGNING COLLABORATION, REFLECTION, AND REMOTE INNOVATION
Chair: Fabian Hoose, RUB
From the laboratory to the field: Fostering interprofessional collaboration skills in digital collaboration settings through collaborative reflection
- Sebastian Strauß (Center for Advanced Internet Studies, Bochum, Germany / Ruhr University Bochum, Germany)
- Isis Tunnigkeit (Ruhr University Bochum)
- Julia Eberle (Paris-Lodron-University Salzburg, Austria)
- Arlind Avdullahu (Ruhr University Bochum)
- Marlena Block (Ruhr University Bochum)
- Markus König (Ruhr University Bochum)
- Nikol Rummel (CAIS & Ruhr University Bochum)
Data Space
DATA SPACES IN CONFLICT: ACTIVISM, AUTOMATION, AND COMMUNICATION UNDER PRESSURE
Chair: Tetiana Gorokhova, CAIS
Unpacking the Blame Game? Opportunities and Barriers to Automated Detection of Blame Attribution in News Media
- Ahrabhi Kathirgamalingam (Center for Advanced Internet Studies, Bochum, Germany)
- Hendrik Meyer (University of Hamburg, Germany)
- Mike Farjam (University of Hamburg)
- Christiane Eilders (CAIS)
- Michael Brüggemann (University of Hamburg)
Towards Dataspace Politics: A Postphenomenological Perspective
- Gallit Wellner, HIT – Holon Institute of Technology, Israel
Free Technologies, Free Territories: Notes from Northeastern Brazil
- Bruna Távora (University of Münster, Germany)
- Paulo Victor Melo (ICNOVA – Instituto de Comunicação da Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal)
13:00 – 14:00: Lunch Break | Basement
13:45 – 15:45: Hands-on Futures: 3D Printing Workshop
14:00 – 15:30: Presentations & Workshops
Public Space
CONTESTED PUBLIC SPACES: AI, MISINFORMATION, AND THE POLITICS OF DIGITAL REPRESENTATION
Chair: Anne Goldmann, CAIS
‘Soft’ Fakes? – Deepfakes for election campaigning and their implications for public spaces
- Maria Pawelec (International Center for Ethics in the Sciences and Humanities (IZEW), University of Tübingen, / Institute of Political Science, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany)
Imagining Alternative Iran: AI-Generated Imaginaries as Contested Public Spaces
- Mitra Shamsi (Center for Advanced Internet Studies, Bochum, Germany)
Seeing is no longer believing: Do AI Video Filters and Avatars Complicate Deception Detection and Interpersonal Trust?
- Nelson Navajas Fernández (Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Germany)
- Maurice Jakesch (Bauhaus-Universität Weimar)
Learning Space
WORKSHOP
Exploring Immersive Learning Spaces: Simulation Gaming in Virtual Reality
- Ulrike Mascher (Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany)
- David Fernes (Goethe University Frankfurt)
Data Space
WORKSHOP
Preserving Data Privacy – More Than a Technical Challenge
- Frederic Gerdon (Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES), University of Mannheim, Germany)
15:30 – 16:00 Coffee Break | Basement
16:00 – 17:45: Panel Discussion
Public Space
Keeping It Real(labor) – Living Labs as Platforms for Digital Transformation
The concept of Reallabore (living labs) has gained significant attention in recent years as a novel approach to addressing complex societal challenges through transformative research. The panel gives an overview of different perspectives on the concept and discusses current experiences with transdisciplinary research and the development of living labs.
- Markus Specht (FernUniversität in Hagen, Germany)
- Juliane Jarke (University of Graz, Austria)
- Mirko Schaefer (Utrecht University, The Netherlands)
- Moderation: Hendrik Heuer, Nikol Rummel & Christoph Bieber (Center for Advanced Internet Studies, Bochum, Germany)
19:00: Dinner, Networking & Party | CAIS, Konrad-Zuse-Straße 2a, 44801 Bochum
Day 2 – Friday, 10 October 2025
09:30 – 10:45: Panel Discussion
Public Space
Academic Freedom: Foundations for the Future
In an era of rising political scrutiny, shrinking research budgets, and contested access to data, the foundations of academic freedom are being tested. This panel brings together leading voices from science, policy, and civil society to discuss how academia can respond to these pressures. The discussion will also be extended by perspectives from individuals and communities who directly face external interference and restrictions in their academic work. From open data infrastructures to institutional safeguards, the panel will explore practical strategies to make science more resilient.
- Ina Brandes (Minister for Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia)
- Manfred Bayer (TU Dortmund University, Germany)
- Katrin Weller (Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Germany)
- Tim Majchrzak (Center for Advanced Internet Studies, Bochum, Germany)
- Moderation: Ahrabhi Kathirgamalingam (CAIS)
10:45 – 11:15: Coffee Break | Basement
11:15 – 12:45: Presentations & Workshops
Public Space
SECURING PUBLIC SPACES: PLURALISM, PROTECTION, AND DISCURSIVE INNOVATION
Chair: Christoph Bieber, CAIS
An AI Based Discussion Assistant for more Pluralistic Online Spaces – A Project Report
- Maike Behrendt (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany)
- Tobias Escher (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf)
- Dennis Frieß (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf)
- Viviana N.E. Warnken (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf)
- Marc Ziegele (HHU Düsseldorf)
Arguing Without Animosity? Theorizing and exploring the concept of discursive integration
- Viviana N.E. Warnken (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany)
- Marc Ziegele (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf)
- Dennis Frieß (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf)
- Tobias Escher (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf)
- Maike Behrendt (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf)
Improving cybersecurity levels among digital natives: Experimental studies based on protection motivation theory
- Alexander Johannes Wilke (Macromedia University of Applied Sciences, Germany)
- Florian Meissner (Macromedia University of Applied Sciences)
- Miglė Puikytė (Macromedia University of Applied Sciences)
Learning Space
WORKSHOP
Data Space
WORKSHOP
FAIR Data Principles in Interdisciplinary Digitalization Research
- Marco Waehner (Center for Advanced Internet Studies, Bochum, Germany)
- Johannes Breuer (GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Cologne, Germany)
12:45 – 13:15: Wrap-Up & Goodbye
Public Space
Wrap-Up & Goodbye
- Josephine B. Schmitt (Center for Advanced Internet Studies, Bochum, Germany)
- Christiane Eilders (Center for Advanced Internet Studies, Bochum, Germany)
13:15: Grab Your Lunch Bag | Basement