During a crisis, a flood of uncoordinated digital tools from government, NGOs, and volunteers often creates more confusion than clarity. This phenomenon is examined in a new paper, referred to as the “solution trap.” Drawing on a two-year case study of the digital response to the Ukrainian refugee crisis in… Read More »Mind the “GaaP”: Identifying and Solving Solution Traps in Crises
Making sustainability measurable The global loss of biodiversity and the increasing water scarcity are among the most pressing environmental challenges of our time. This is where PanGeo Nature Risk GmbH comes in: Using scientifically grounded analyses of spatial environmental footprints and linking them to corporate locations, the team assesses how… Read More »Founding of PanGeo Nature Risk GmbH
For the fifth time, we are announcing the Project Call in the innovation program. We fund interdisciplinary and inter-university projects that address practical issues and societal challenges. Projects with novel or high-risk approaches, such as those where the path to implementation or the assessment of impact involves uncertainties, are explicitly… Read More »Call for proposals: 5. Project Call
In the third DSI Insights of the year, Noah Bubenhofer, Co-Director of the Digital Society Initiative (DSI), explains how artificial intelligence (AI) can help with writing texts and why it doesn’t always make sense to leave the writing of a text entirely to AI. “In the educational context, this raises… Read More »How AI is changing the way we write and think
Perception is a major challenge for robots operating in dynamic, human-centered environments. The YuRo project responds to this by developing the first intelligent real-time vision system for robotic manipulators based on neuromorphic technology. The system uses commercially available Dynamic Vision Sensors (DVS) which captures only the most relevant visual changes,… Read More »YuRo: Use of robots in care
False information and conspiracy theories are spreading rapidly. To counteract this, the Swiss Young Academy has published a position paper. It is based on assessments by experts from academia and media practice and contains specific recommendations on how to deal with fake news. Handout of the Swiss Young Academy On… Read More »Fake news, AI and the credibility of journalism
SAM (Simulated Assessment of Child Maltreatment Training Platform) is a joint research project of the ZHdK and the ZHAW. The aim is to improve diagnostics and interviewing in cases of suspected emotional abuse of children. https://youtu.be/o7H00YGm7mc The assessment of emotional abuse is challenging, especially the conversation with parents or caregivers.… Read More »SAM. A training platform for the assessment of emotional abuse of children
Roland Meyer, DIZH bridge professor at UZH and ZHdK, was a speaker at re:publica 2025 in Berlin and spoke about the power of generative AI in the context of right-wing image politics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZpi6Irzvd0 His analyses were picked up by various media: Kultur und Wissenschaft from May 28, 2025 (Deutschlandfunk): “re:publica:… Read More »Roland Meyer at the re:publica 25
At the 4th Apéro Digital, participants were asked what developments they would like to see in the tech world and what headline would fit. The answers formed the basis for “Blick into the future”, a speculative newspaper that outlines in an entertaining and provocative way what would have to change… Read More »Speculative newspaper “Algorithm Resistance”
When ethnology and computer science meet The video documents the project “Partners in the Trading Zone”, in which the disciplines of ethnology and computer science interact with each other. The focus is on embroidery – both machine-programmed and done by hand – as a connecting element (boundary object) between cultural… Read More »Between craft and code