Week 50/2024
I think of us
When I was for an early evening run on Wednesday evening, I saw, by coincidence, the Ministry of Justice shining in purple. As I learned later then, this was a sign of inclusion on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, 3 December.
NSFW
It was not easy to find the right song for this week, as I have fallen - for whatever reason (Spotify will actually know why, but I don’t) - recently into a rabbithole of music from Barcelona and there are so many interesting things happening there. Finally I end up with suggesting Omar Enfedaque’s “Together Baby”.
Apart from the very sublime rhythm instrument used (how do you call this thing?), I like in particular how “easily” the whole song is arranged around one single tone (and its repetition).
YouTube:
I must say that I like (some of) his music more than his Instagram profile, but that’s probably a minority position. Almost 1 million followers on Instagram might have a different opinion. I had, however, never heard of him before this week’s recommendation playlist.
Retrospect
Graz
Friday brought me to Graz for a large medical congress on general medicine. I am always impressed of the audience size that is custom in medicine.
My gig was (as I had understood it) supposed to be about GDPR, AIA, EHDS and NIS2 and their impact on medical treatment and research in Austria. However, the audience was, as I learned on stage, primarily concerned about a recent change in Austria’s law in telemedicine (“Gesundheitstelematikgesetz”) that - finally - tries to get rid of the telefax in medical communication. The alternative will be (encrypted) E-Mail (as if it were 1995). I needed to reshape my input live on stage, which was “interesting”.
The compelling closing keynote was delivered by the former rector of MedUni Graz Prof. Dr. Hellmut Samonnig. Here, the topic was “Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Medicine - Risk or Opportunity?”. I was also and in particular impressed by two (unfortunately unnamed ) acting students who brought a fictious doctor-patient communication on stage - how it could be in 2030 after a tumor-diagnosis: lots of AI and data, little personal human interaction.
Brno
On Saturday, I was at the cyberspace conference in Brno - just like last year (last year’s report is in Weekly 49/2023 and I had also done a YouTube Short then).
We were, again, a nice group of nice people from the department and contributed to the programme with a special workshop on transparancy. Martin, Florian, Michael, Katarzyna, Syed and Katja did outstanding jobs in presenting their work and their projects SERA, CD-LABOR, KATY and OPTIMA. The room was stuck with people interested in our results, with many relevant questions and lots of positive feedback.
I feel so gifted for having the opportunity to work with so brilliant and nice people, every day. And Brno is alway worth a trip.
Better Administration
Our initiative “Besssere Verwaltung” (better administration) gave another pressconference that was well received by the media. I could not attend in person for timing reasons this time, but am very impressend by the media interest the speakers could generate: https://www.puls24.at/news/politik/initiative-draengt-auf-entpolitisierung-der-verwaltung/369832, https://www.sn.at/politik/innenpolitik/initiative-entpolitisierung-verwaltung-16929795, https://www.sn.at/politik/innenpolitik/initiative-bessere-verwaltung-trennung-verwaltung-parteipolitik-169301062, https://www.kleinezeitung.at/home/19127141/warnung-vor-der-selbstverbloedung-des-staates, https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000247001/wie-eine-bessere-verwaltung-auch-ihr-leben-besser-machen-koennte, https://www.diepresse.com/19127708/der-verfall-der-verwaltung-hat-sich-intensiviert, https://www.krone.at/3609517, https://www.vol.at/initiative-drangt-auf-entpolitisierung-der-verwaltung/9084691, https://www.news.at/politik/initiative-drangt-auf-entpolitisierung-der-verwaltung, https://orf.at/av/video/onDemandVideoNews11972 ZIB 13.00, https://oe1.orf.at/player/20241129/776582/1732880513000 Mittagsjournal, Abendjournal.
The public interest is not too astonishing though, as the people representing us this time (Dr. Elisabeth Dearing, Univ.Prof. Dr. Mag. Wolfgang Gratz, Univ. Prof. Dr. Clemens Jabloner, Mag. Martin Kreutner, MSc, Dr. Thomas Wieser) are outstanding experts and the topic is important. We are optimistic that our activities are well received and will have some impact on the new government.
LLM Graduation
Our LLM-program on information and media law had its graduation ceremony in UNIVIE’s festival hall - together with the LLMs on tax law, real estate law and law and tourism. The very nice and friendly ceremonial address was given by law school’s vice dean Franz-Stefan Meissel who has been a constant supporter of the programme for more than 25 years and whom the programme and me owe a lot.
Such a ceremony is always a nice opportunity to see so many happy faces of students, families and friends - and to listen to music delivered by representatives of UNIVIE’s orchestras (wind players, this time, not strings).
Forum Datenrecht
Almost in parallel to this, Žiga Škorjanc chaired and hosted another edition of “Forum Datenrecht”. I managed to be there briefly too and was impressed by the audience’s and panel’s high quality and the friendly athmosphere.
This is the panel coordinating internally before everything starts.
AI advisory board
Also on Tuesday I was at the meeting of the AI advisory board in the Climate Ministry. Wheras the building (“Amtsgebäude”) is really breathtakingly ugly and disfunctional,
I finally understood that we have not one, not two, but three advisory groups on AI in this country (KI-Beirat, AI Policy Forum, AI Stakeholder Forum) and I very much enjoyed the opportunity to meet so many new people with similar interests.
Here’s a short overview of who is supposed to do what:
On Wednesday, we had a very interesting internal discussion in the advisory board and I learned lots of reklevant details and perspectives, including joint speculations, when, finally, NIS 2 would be transposed into Austrian law. People knowing about the matter stated that even early 2026 could be realistic (due to Government negotiations, 2/3 majority needed, etc.; I also understood only now fully that due to the last election results a constitutional majority against the FPÖ has only 3 votes more than needed - 126 MPs out of 123 necessary which makes attempts to develop constitutional provisions against the FPÖ’s will a risky endeavour.
We also saw some figures about Austria’s approach to AI: a solid majority of 70 % is not interested to learn anything about it:
and 73 % have little or no knowledge on the matter.
#arsboni
Jonas Divjak, Sophie Matjaz and Elena Haslinger spoke about similar issues from different perspectives: data protection, fundamental rights, technology and balance of arms in criminal procedures.
Digital Culture and Scientific Integrity
This event brought me into the Technical University’s “The Sky” - a venue I hadn’t known yet witha a great view by day
and by night
I was, in particular, impressed by the contributions of Peter Purgathofer and Erich Prem (and managed to sneak my laptop on stage while Erich was still speaking).
Prospect
Books
I have two perfect Christmas presents for everyone reading this - and, in particular, for me:
This article by article commentary on the AI act I had the huge privilege to co-edit with something like 1600 pages is out now. I am extremely grateful to my coeditors Peggy Valcke and Ceyhun Pehlivan for one of the best experiences of cooperation I ever was allowed to make in my professional life. It was a unique mixture of full dedication, outstanding professionalism, stamina, resilience and humor that made this possible. I am also very grateful and happy that so many people from the department contributed to this as authors so nicely. Ceyhun kindly provided a full list of all authors on LinkedIn. It’s a remarkable bunch of remarkable people.
If this is too costly or you search for something in German or you want to have another perspective on the AI-act, may I suggest another Christmas present:
I haven’t seen any of the two books in real life yet, but as they are officially sold, I am optimistic that they exist and that I will succeed in holding a copy in my hands before Christmas. My brilliant co-author (and inventor of the whole project), Dr. Lukas Feiler, managed, however, to have one already and announced the good news on LinkedIn.
Writing and editing law books, in particular commentaries, is a very exhausting and time consuming activity. The only reason why I am still doing this and still love to do it are my fellow co-editors and co-authors I have the privilege to work with. I admire Lukas for his outstanding legal skills, for his stamina and, in particular, for his friendliness - and I am very grateful that he was so kind to repeat the error to go on such a long journey with me.
I truly believe that both books deserve being read and are relevant and meaningful contributions to the interpretation of the law.
#arsboni
We will have an interview on religious extremism on TikTok on Monday, October 9, at 3pm.
My interview partner, Jan Michael Marchart, is a journalist working for Der Standard who has done extensive research on the matter. Die Tagespresse did something similar now too, by simulating teen-newcomers and their experiences on TikTok. (Please do watch at least one of the videos, otherwise you won’t believe it).
The topic was also part of a recent TV-show (“Report”) in Austria to which I had the privilege to contribute to (starts at 33’:53’’)
There is a direct link, it's just almost impossible to find it.
Platforms
Platforms are also the topic of the last big event the department organises this year.
Lots of really interesting speakers are coming to this program, free entry, registration required. We will not stream this, but possibly record some sessions. And we will provide some Christmas cookies, promised - but only on site.
Datenschutzrat - Data Protection Board
The Austrian Data Protection law establishes a national institution - “Datenschutzrat” - that is supposed to advise the government in privacy matters. The body consists, inter alia, of two independent experts.
I have been serving as one of these experts for several years and you are the first to hear that I will continue with this as I just received the letter reappointing me - which is great news to me. The work will certainly be interesting as the composition of the body will have changed due to the last national elections and the challenges have not become smaller.
Look and Feel
Rammstein – Row Zero
This is a very interesting podcast I listened to and want to recommend. Not only because of its over all topic (alleged sexual violence and power misuse of Til Lindemann and Rammstein), but also (perhaps primarily) because of the legal battles around the podcast itself. The content had to be heavily edited after a court decision and reflects quite clearly the tensions between personality rights and freedom of information. Episode 4 is, in particular, interesting in that sense
Here, here, here and here is more about the legal battles, and here is an excellent text
from Sonja Eismann on the fundamentals of the matter.
I know that I am late to this party, but I stumbled across this as the podcast had won a price (with the following reasoning) just recently:
Die Elenden
And this is what I am currently reading and want to recommend as well. It’s a brilliantly written indictment of how our society generates unemployment, poverty and despair.
Here’s a long interview with the author (also reading some excerpts):
Daisy
has questions and complaints about the weather and life and everything. (And her legs are not AI-generated).
Have a wonderful week!
Kind regards
Nikolaus (Forgó)