Einladung: #DigHum2026 Digital Humanism Conference

Ausgangspunkt dieser an diesem Tag beginnende DIGITAL HUMANISM CONFERENCE Konferenz ist erneut das im Mai 2019 von der Digital Humanism Initiative veröffentlichte

Zur Einleitung 2026 heisst es:

Orientation in turbulent times

This moment is shaped by competing and intensifying dynamics: on the one hand, escalating narratives of existential technological risk, and on the other, waves of economic speculation and hype around AI; alongside deepening geopolitical fragmentation, trade conflicts, and even open war. In this context, digital technologies are at the centre of attention, they have become central infrastructures through which power, knowledge, security, and economic value are organised. This convergence creates both urgency and ambiguity, demanding new forms of orientation that move beyond critique toward grounded practices of shaping technology in line with democratic and societal values.

This year’s Digital Humanism Conference does not respond with abstraction or diagnosis alone. It turns toward action. It asks not only what is at stake, but what is already being done, by whom, and under which conditions, what we can do, what we have to demand from our institutions. It foregrounds practices that seek to reclaim technological development as a matter of public concern and collective responsibility.

Revisiting the core questions of Digital Humanism, the conference reopens debates on the meaning of sovereignty, democracy, and solidarity in a digital age.
– What does security mean when infrastructures are globally entangled and privately controlled?
– How must democratic institutions evolve when political agency is increasingly mediated by digital systems?
– And how can solidarity be sustained in environments shaped by platform economies and extractive data practices?
– What is the role of science in this?
– How can we build strong and resilient knowledge institutions?

The conference situates these challenges within ongoing efforts to responsibly build, govern, and maintain digital systems differently. It brings together actors from academia, public institutions, civil society, and industry who are actively engaged in shaping alternatives: from public digital infrastructures and open technologies to new forms of participation, regulation, collective knowledge production, and social innovation.

In this sense, Digital Humanism is approached as a practice. It unfolds through design, through empowerment, through involvement and education, and through the everyday decisions that configure technological systems and their social effects. The conference therefore highlights the often invisible work required to align digital technologies with democratic values, human rights, inclusion, diversity, and environmental responsibility.

Positioned within current global power shifts, the conference engages critically with existing governance frameworks while maintaining a forward-looking perspective. It explores how agency can be regained and redistributed, how dependencies can be reduced, and how public institutions can take on a more active role in shaping digital futures.

Over two and a half days in Vienna, the 2026 Digital Humanism Conference offers a space for exchange, reflection, and collective orientation. It invites participants to move beyond critique and toward concrete pathways for action, grounded in the recognition that the transformation of digital systems is already underway and that its direction remains open.

Erich Prem
Conference Chair

Katja Mayer
Programme Chair

Siehe dazu:
Erich Prem:
Principles of digital humanism: A critical post-humanist view

The paper concludes that digital humanism is to be treated as a technical endeavour to shape digital technologies and use them for digital innovation, a political endeavour investigating power shifts triggered by digital technology, and, at the same time, as a philosophical endeavour including the quest to delineate its scope and to draw boundaries for the digital.

Eröffnet wird die Tagung [1] mit der Vorführung dieses Films, im Beisein der Urheberin und Regisseurin Valerie Veatch