Be a Game Changer – Exploring the Impact of DigitalTransformation around SDG 16
WS 2023/24 - In-person Meeting - 19.10-23.10.23
Digital Transformation has changed not just work places but societies immensely in the last decades, and will likely do so even more in the coming decades as speed and extent of digital transformation is predicted to keep accelerating. These changes have been or can be beneficial to societies and nature, but can also have harmful impacts on them. In this course we will explore the impacts of digital transformation on and their potential to embrace SDG 16 “Peace, Justice and strong institutions”. Students will work in interdisciplinary and international teams to create a Game Prototype around these issues.
Examples where digital transformation and SDG 16 meet:
+ For example, consider how the development of the Internet (a digital tool) has helped millions of people to have access to the latest news or organize changes to enhance democratic structures in their countries. Think of the open source digital tools that made it possible to exchange ideas to help people in need (beginning of Covid19 pandemic).
- At the same time, even when intended to have a positive impact, digital tools can be used to destabilize peaceful societies. Consider, for example, the spread of misinformation and disinformation through social media (a digital tool). Or think about algorithms that shape laws and societies, but at the same time discriminate against people based on ethnicity, age, gender, etc. (target SDG16.b).
Teamwork:
Students from universities in Germany, Venezuela, Finland, Latvia and the Netherlands work in interdisciplinary teams (IT, journalism, social sciences/nursing, engineering and game design) during the attendance week in Heilbronn and develop serious game prototypes.
