Data reading group

The Blockchain Society & Policy group organises a Data reading group, which assembles every 6 weeks weeks on Wednesday. Members in the group currently include people from various backgrounds, including academics, people from NGO or persons with a background in regulation and policymaking. The texts we discuss revolve around several different disciplinary approaches to digital data governance (see topics indicated below). These texts are usually retrieved from our repository in which every member can drop their suggestions for the group to read (for the repository please see https://pad.riseup.net/p/DigitalDataCommonsReadingGroup-keep).

During the session, we discuss two works (articles/bookchapters/policy papers, legislative proposals, etc). Each work is introduced by one of the members, which is followed by a group discussion.

We’re open to new members! If you’re interested in joining our discussions, please contact Heleen Janssen (h.l.janssen@uva.nl).

Meetings are usually scheduled on Wednesdays (13:30 – 15:00):

  • 28 April 2021
  • 9 June 2021
  • 21 July 2021
  • 1 September 2021
  • 6 October 2021
  • 17 November 2021

Topics to discuss that have been proposed include:

  • Data intermediaries (incl. data commons, data trusts, data cooperatives)
  • Legal implications of data intermediaries
  • Digital Governance Act (EU proposal)
  • Tech-legal governance frameworks
  • Legal and political cultures in data governance design
  • Cultural values in data governance design
  • Legislation entailing consequences for current data governance frameworks (e.g. new institutions, repurposing existing institutions, risk-based governance approaches)
  • Municipal, national and EU data governance models and approaches
  • Checks and balances in data governance frameworks
  • Trade-offs of existing and emerging data governance models and what makes a model appropriate in particular context, sector, or use 
  • Whether power be democratised in data intermediary data governance models, while respecting preferences of minorities
  • Data governance and workers rights; relations between data, capital and labour in the digital economy-
  • Political economy of data (and the role of law)
  • Tried & tested models of data governance & alternative forms of data governance, especially collective forms and building capacity around it (i.e. data commons;
  • Data community ownership; data collectivisation; data as infrastructure
  • Breaking down what we mean by ‘governance’ (in data governance);
  • Who has the legitimate power to govern
  • How data governance works in on-personal data ecosystems