Presented in 2024 during the Board of Trustees meeting of the Nexa Center
This report was mainly curated by Giovanni Garifo, Giacomo Conti and Valeria Bergantino,
with the contributions of the Nexa Staff, Directors and Community
June 2024
Foreword
This year marks the 17th anniversary of the Nexa Centre, a milestone that invites both reflection on our journey and anticipation of the future. As we navigate through another year, we once again find ourselves at the centre of tremendous technological developments, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence and, in particular, generative AI. These developments are not just technical, they are shaping societal structures and human interactions on an unprecedented scale.
Amidst our technological aspirations, the global geopolitical landscape presents a worrying picture, with ongoing conflicts such as those in Israel-Palestine and Ukraine exacerbating a shift towards an increasingly fragmented world. This shift has seen a decline in globalisation trends, accompanied by increasing efforts to control and censor information. We sought to be at the forefront of these new challenges, particularly with our new research focusing on internet censorship, reflecting our commitment to understanding and influencing the policy frameworks that govern digital spaces.
Our annual conference on 15 December 2023, entitled “Digitali Possibili: Resistenza, Immaginazione e Attivismo nell’epoca degli algoritmi” (“Digital Possibilities: Resistance, Imagination and Activism in the Age of Algorithms”) addressed the often controversial aspects of digital technologies and explored alternative technology designs, settings and narratives that reimagine the digital ecosystem and its interactions with our society.
2024 saw the new edition of the “Biennale Tecnologia” in Turin, “Utopie Realiste”, to which Nexa contributed with several speeches, highlighting the crucial role of technology in all areas of life – from democracy and health to geopolitics and the economy – and proposing a visionary exploration of how technology and society can co-create a sustainable future.
Education remains a cornerstone of the Nexa Center. The continuation of the Nexa-based courses “Politica e Tecnica”, “Responsible AI”, and “Data Ethics and Data Protection” at the Polytechnic, as well as new courses at the University of Turin focusing on International Copyright and Intellectual Property Law, underline the Center’s commitment to providing students with a thorough understanding of the intersection between technology and law. We continue to see these efforts as crucial to cultivating an informed and critical-thinking education that will equip students to navigate and hopefully shape the future legal and digital landscape.
Looking to the future, the Nexa Center remains steadfast in its interdisciplinary approach, addressing the complexities of technology and its social impact, with a special focus on the new generations and their struggles for peace, social justice and the environment. Our collaboration with various academic institutions and our proactive involvement in European and global research initiatives continue to strengthen our resolve and ability to make a meaningful contribution to the discourse on technology and society.
Finally, we thank our partners, colleagues, and the vibrant community that supports our mission. Together, we strive to advance our understanding and chart a course that respects human values and promotes the common good in our increasingly digital world.
Juan Carlos De Martin, Marco Ricolfi and Maurizio Borghi – Faculty Directors