What if artificial intelligence is not simply a better tool, but the beginning of a different kind of mind? The expression “alien mind” may sound like science fiction, yet it increasingly offers a useful way of describing something very real: AI systems whose intelligence does not develop along the same path as human intelligence, whose […]
6G is envisioned as one of the key digital infrastructures of the future: a backbone for increasingly interconnected societies and an enabling infrastructure not only for the exchange of information. As the technological infrastructure itself is being designed, potential applications are also being envisaged across different sectoral areas such as healthcare, agriculture, energy and many […]
Intellectual property comes in several kinds, and public argument about AI has settled on one of them. Copyright covers expression, which is where the fight over training data has taken place. Patents cover inventions, granting twenty years from filing in exchange for disclosing how the invention works. Trademarks cover the signs that tell a customer […]
Why does sustainability still struggle to take hold, despite decades of innovation, policy attention, and growing public awareness? A common answer points to technology gaps, costs, or regulation. But this misses a deeper issue: sustainability challenges are rooted in culture—specifically, in the system of values that shapes how we produce, consume, and define progress. […]
In a data-driven society, healthcare is no exception. The datafication of the healthcare system can generate value for the individual patients themselves, known as the “primary use of health data”, when data is used for direct patient care and healthcare operations; but it can also create benefits at a societal level, boosting scientific research, innovation, […]
Artificial intelligence is increasingly entering clinical pathways. It supports diagnosis, helps monitor patients, assists decision-making, organises complex clinical data, and promises a more personalised form of medicine. This development is particularly relevant in areas such as dementia, frailty, and ageing, where early detection, continuous monitoring, and decision support can significantly improve care. At the same […]
Traditionally, technology development has been viewed as an “experts-only” activity. This is especially considered true for cutting-edge fields like Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, and 6G. In these environments, modeling, coding, and deployment are often seen as a purely technical pipeline, a way to “engineer” user needs while navigating complex technical hurdles. However, this perspective ignores “the […]
“Human-centred.” “Autonomy.” “Accuracy.” These words appear in almost every AI ethics framework, every responsible innovation charter, every design methodology worth its name. They signal a commitment to the person over the system, to dignity over efficiency, to truth over convenience. In the landscape of AI development, they function as a kind of ethical common ground, […]
In late 2025 and early 2026, communities in Arizona were mobilising against data center expansion, filing lawsuits, packing town halls, and pressuring state legislators to end tax incentives for facilities that would draw hundreds of millions of gallons a year from local water supplies. In Virginia, a community group that had already voted out town […]
Over the past few years, organisations operating in the EU have had to contend with a rapidly expanding body of digital regulation. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) marked only the starting point. Since its adoption, a wide range of additional legislative instruments has entered into force, addressing areas such as data protection, online platforms, […]
In today’s digital society, identity is more than a credential: it is the key that unlocks access to services, rights, and opportunities. This simple truth raises a profound question – who truly controls our identity? The TRUSTED project is built on a clear response: my identity belongs to me. This principle is at the heart […]
Two billion people checked Facebook this morning. Not social media in general, checked Facebook specifically, the actual blue app or website, along with Instagram (2 billion) and WhatsApp (another 2 billion, with some overlap obviously, but still). If you’re reading this, you probably contributed to at least one of those numbers. I certainly did. I […]
Let’s say you have a box where you put a bunch of names — but instead of showing the whole list every time, you want to prove that one specific name is inside, without opening the box. An RSA accumulator is like a magical digital box. You throw in a bunch of elements (like numbers […]
Digital identity is becoming critical infrastructure. From finance to healthcare, more and more interactions hinge on proving who we are. Assigning identity is never neutral: it is an act of power, because the boundaries of one’s identity define what one can and cannot do, what one may access, and ultimately which rights one may enjoy. […]
The transformative impact of ICTs is today most frequently associated to their digital dimension. While the importance of the digital dimension is unquestioned, less attention is often attributed to the information and communication aspects: as unique human dimensions, information and communication contribute to create the uniqueness of ICTs transformative potential on society. The aim of […]
We live in an age where our personal data is constantly being collected, shared, and analysed. Often, we don’t even have the chance to notice or intervene. In the complexity of this digital landscape, talking about privacy means much more than just discussing rules or regulations. Privacy is, in fact, a fundamental human right, a […]
A Concrete Introduction Each of us, at least once in our lives, has found ourselves telling a so-called “white lie.” If we were to rephrase this expression, we would say it is a lie that conceals a benevolent intention. For example, imagine a family member bakes a cake for us with great effort, but the […]
Ransomware is one of the most frequent types of cyberattacks: it involves taking control of data and demanding payment to restore access (i.e., a ransom). This type of attack is evolving into a sophisticated form of extortion, leveraging cybercriminal organizations that provide infrastructure and services (i.e., ransomware-as-a-service) to exploit vulnerabilities in target entities (e.g., industries, […]
The Implementation of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare, particularly for Early Diagnosis, Prevention, and Treatment of Dementia and Frailty, requires ethical frameworks that address both universal principles and specific contextual challenges. Within the COMFORTage project, CyberEthics Lab. is developing and applying a comprehensive methodology that combines complementary approaches to evaluate and support the implementation of AI […]
In the rapidly evolving landscape of smart cities and digitalisation, cybersecurity becomes more and more important. As technology becomes more embedded in our daily lives, IoT devices are increasingly integrated in urban services as well as in our daily routines. IRIS project is not only pursuing robust cybersecurity solution for infrastructures – such as urban […]
Every scientific research has impacts on the people involved and on society as a whole, which is why it is crucial to have a clear mapping and reflection on the ethical criteria adopted during the conduct of research. This requirement is even more stringent when the research concerns the health sector and involves the participation […]
Current AI systems need to be held to ethical standards in order to be used safely and responsibly in society. At the same time, standards cannot be verified by repetition experiments (reproducibility), so an iterative process of verification and validity needs to be established on the basis of the continuous evolution of the system and new information that may emerge.
