The 15th European Computer Science Summit (ECSS 2019) is coming up and will be held in Rome from 28 to 30 October at NH Collection Roma Centro.

This year's edition focuses on the theme: 'Social Responsibility of Informatics'.

The conference this year will have a renewed and enriched format consisting of the main summit of three days composed of several complementary events and sessions. Among the main events are the Workshop for Leaders of Informatics Research and Education, the Workshop of the WIRE working group and the Workshop on Bridging the Digital Talent Gap in Europe, organized by Informatics Europe in partnership with the European Commission DG CONNECT.The conference will be co-organised by the International Research Area on Foundations of the Sciences of the Pontifical Lateran University and held at the Hotel NH Collection Roma Centro.

The Summit is the only event, once a year, where leaders and decision-makers in Informatics, research, and education in Europe gather to debate strategic themes and trends related to research, education, and policies in Informatics. 

The last years have clearly shown that Informatics is not anymore only a solid and pervasive scientific discipline with a huge potential for technological innovation, but it is also deeply affecting the fabric of our society. More and more, informatics systems automatically control our lives, regulate our personal and social relations, and take decisions directly affecting ourselves, other people and the whole society. This situation is often perceived completely only when something wrong happens. The literature includes a significant number of situations where technical problems, software bugs in many cases, have caused significant incidents with loss of money and human lives. Moreover, the experience is showing that the more we increase the power and autonomy of our informatics systems, the more the criticality of incidents increases.

Scientists and technologists cannot forget being first of all human beings, and - as such - cannot forget about the social impact of their science and technology. This has been true at least since Hippocrates introduced the Oath which became the reference code of ethics for physicians. Now Computer Scientists find themselves in a similar situation. In fact, while the increasing automation offered by informatics could allow humankind to achieve huge possibilities of progress, it could also dramatically affect not only everybody's quality of life but also the fundamental rights of individuals and society.

It is, therefore, becoming mandatory that our scientific community reflects on the "Social Responsibility of Informatics" and makes sure that this "social responsibility" perspective is more and more integrated into our teaching and research.

During the ECSS, prominent academics, industry leaders and decision-makers discuss the importance of responsibility assigned to us by unbelievably powerful technology, offering food for thought in state-of-the-art lectures, an engaging panel discussion and examples of successful stories.

Keynote Speakers:

Panelists:

Why attend?

Speakers

ECSS speakers are always among the world`s most distinguished academics, industry leaders and decision-makers in the field. The event never fails to inspire and stimulate the audience.

Workshops

Learn directly from your peers. Share best practices, common challenges and proven strategies for improving the quality of research and education in Informatics at the ECSS workshops (Leaders, WIRE and Talent Gap).

Network

Meet some of the leading decision-makers in Informatics research and education and discuss the critical issues of the discipline. Build valuable relationships with department heads, deans, policymakers, industry and other leaders in the field.

 

To learn more about this event, ECSS 2019 quick links: