#ICYMI: Forget about #algospeak, some of us are still trying to get our heads around the appropriate use of #emojis. An irreverent must-read for those who remember the heady days of #IRC and #Internetslang.
economist.com/business/2026/…
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Shefali Virkar
299 posts
Shefali Virkar
@S_Virkar
Assistant Professor, WU (Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien) Austria. A political scientist working at the interface of digital technologies, government and society.
Vienna, Austria Katılım Nisan 2013
157 Takip Edilen112 Takipçiler
#POV In the old days, #Lego was all about developing #learning, #creativity, and #problemsolving through #play. Supercharged by #artificialintelligence and #socialmedia,this iconic #toy seems to have become a vehicle for highly sophisticated #propaganda.
bbc.com/news/articles/…
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#PublicationAlert My lovely colleagues from @GovPubman , @AngelaSamuel and @MrJurgenWillems, have just #published a new #researcharticle! Do #citizens hold the #publicsector more #accountable for #failures in #crosssectoral #collaborations? Find out more!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pa…
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Understanding how #youngpeople use #AI is vital. But the gap isn’t just about #technology, it is also about #awareness. Without open #conversations and #curiosity, parents' assumptions could expose children to #psychologicalharm or stifle #creativity. BBC: shorturl.at/BvZO7
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"War is a place where young people who don't know each other and don't hate each other, kill each other, based on decisions made by old people who know each other and hate each other, but don't kill each other." - Anon.
#StopWar #NotInMyName #BringBackDiplomacy
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#CfP #EDDY2026, 21-22 Sept. 2026 (tutorial day,23 Sept.)
📍WU (Vienna University of Economics and Business)
📅Deadline: 03 June 2026
🔗 Submit here: tinyurl.com/eddy-subm
🌐 More info: tinyurl.com/eddy-2026
👥Jan Maly, Arianna Novaro, Frederik Van De Putte, Shefali Virkar
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#OnThisDay It is exactly a decade since #AlphaGo defeated 9-dan #Go champion #LeeSedol in a best-of-five encounter, the first time an #AI defeated a top-ranked human professional in a full-sized #boardgame. Was this the symbolic start of the modern AI arms race?Time will tell.
New Scientist@newscientist
It's been 10 years since Go champion Lee Sedol lost to DeepMind's AlphaGo. Has the technology lived up to its potential? #Echobox=1772960275" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">newscientist.com/article/251845…
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The battle for control over #AI systems is seemingly turned on its head.Indeed, companies should call for greater #oversight and #safeguards, if #Washington pushes these aside.Sounds strange? As the article says, this is a maverick government, and AI is an unorthodox #technology.
The Economist@TheEconomist
With a normal government and a normal technology, a dispute like the one between the Pentagon and Anthropic would surely have been quickly sorted out. But the Trump administration is not a normal government, and AI is not a normal technology economist.com/leaders/2026/0…
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🚨 #CfP: #IFIP #EGOV2026 in #Athens, #GreeceTrack 8 #SmartCities(#Government, #Districts, #Communities & #Regions)📜Track info: tinyurl.com/egov-conft📅 Deadline: 16 March 2026 ✍️30 Aug-3 Sept 2026 Track Chairs: Shefali Virkar, Manuel Pedro Rodriguez Bolivar, Joep Crompvoets
Shefali Virkar@S_Virkar
📢The #IFIP #EGOV2026 CfP is out! Delighted to be chairing the #SmartCities track (tinyurl.com/egov-conft) with @ManuelPedroRod1 and Joep Crompvoets. 📅Deadline: 16 March 2026 🔗 Submission: tinyurl.com/egov-subm✍30 Aug-3 Sept 2026. Join us in #Athens, #Greece this summer!
Dansk
For those who grew up with the #socialbrainhypothesis and #DunbarsNumber: new research on #cephalopods suggests larger brains don't necessarily imply a larger number of social connections.#Dunbar, too, appears to think that his theory applies more to #mammals than other species.
New Scientist@newscientist
A popular idea suggests a link between big brains and a rich social life, but octopuses don't fit the pattern, which suggests something else is going on #Echobox=1770719814" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">newscientist.com/article/251233…
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#ThatsMe Delighted to share that I have joined the European Digital DemocracY Network (EDDY) as part of the Core Committee (eddy-network.eu/about/who-we-a…)! My first task is to co-host the network's flagship #conference, #EDDY2026, in #Vienna later this year. Watch this space!
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With the #AIImpactSummit2026 underway, all eyes are on host nation #India,and the implications of holding the event in the #globalsouth.India could emerge as a strong advocate of #AIforsocialgood,and a more #peoplecentric approach to #AI #development and #implementation. Will it?
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Bought this book quicker than you could say" #PrinceAndrew". This #ValentinesDay, let's remember the #survivors of #trafficking, #exploitation,and #abuse across the world, and stand with them as they rebuild their lives.#EpsteinFiles #GrokAI #GiselePelicot #Weinstein #MohdAlFayed
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#ThatsMe Last November, I had the honour of being featured as part of the @IdealEngage Project’s Women in ICT series. It has been three years since I joined the team at @GovPubman, and I have grown both as a person and a professional. Grateful always for life's many blessings.
IDEAL Democracy@IdealEngage
🔦 Spotlight on @S_Virkar. Shefali opened our Women in ICT interview series in the IDEAL project. Her insights are powerful, and her advice is inspiring. Don’t miss it! 📰To read the whole interview, visit the link below idealdemocracy.eu/post/play-bold… #Citizendeliberation #WICT
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An outright #ban on #socialmedia is less the act of a confident #government,and more a scramble to regain #control over a #technology and an #industry in the wake of a #failure of traditional top-down #policymaking. #Regulation involves #stakeholderconsensus and #digitalliteracy.
Oxford Internet Institute@oiioxford
Following legislation introduced by the Australian government to stop young people from using major social media services, the OII's Dr @VickiNashOII weighs in on whether the under-16 social media ban is the right course of action: ox.ac.uk/news/2026-01-2…
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📢The #IFIP #EGOV2026 CfP is out! Delighted to be chairing the #SmartCities track (tinyurl.com/egov-conft) with @ManuelPedroRod1 and Joep Crompvoets. 📅Deadline: 16 March 2026 🔗 Submission: tinyurl.com/egov-subm✍30 Aug-3 Sept 2026. Join us in #Athens, #Greece this summer!
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How does #language shape the way we #perceive and interpret the world? What are the #consequences for the life-changing choices we make? How can we take back the use of language to protect the most #vulnerable in #society? Today's #WUMattersWUTalks event made me stop and think.
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#Deliverable writing on a wintry afternoon in an empty office for the @IdealEngage project. This, the second #report of WP1, focuses on #politicalparticipation from the perspective of experts and beneficiaries. So satisfying to see raw data turn into text! #researcher #worklife
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Now is the time to examine how students engage with #ArtificialIntelligence tools in both academic and non-academic settings, explore the cross-over of competencies, and to harness this deeper understanding to support traditional teaching methods and foster critical thinking.
Times Higher Education@timeshighered
More than two-thirds of European universities say their PhD students are using artificial intelligence in the course of their research, according to a major survey, which also found that doctoral education leaders see “more opportunity than challenges” in the rise of AI tools. @sehra852 reports timeshighereducation.com/news/two-third…
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✍ Two weeks to go until the #dgo2026 submission deadline! If you work at the intersection of digital government and computational methods, submit to Track 6. We - @LoniHagen , @kellytonbrito, @xalexopoulos, @neo_matrix_, @S_Virkar, and @ Corey Kewei Xu - await your contribution!
Digital Government Society@DGSociety
#DGO2026 Please join us @ Track6 Application of Artificial Intelligence, Computational Methods, and Data Science for Public Value Creation! #track6" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">dgsociety.org/dgo-2026/call-…
#JingZhang @HMarijn, #Yu-CheChen @MilaGasco @LoniHagen @TomaszJanowski @IdaLindgren3 @gabiviale @gpuron #HelenLiu English