KU Leuven Digital Society Institute (DigiSOC)

The KU Leuven Digital Society Institute (DigiSoc) works towards a positive digital future by understanding, designing and developing (new) interactions between people and digital technologies, as well as critically reflecting on them. After all, the rapid rise of digital technologies has a profound impact on us. We see both positive and negative impacts in key societal domains such as health and well-being, learning and education, media and culture, democracy and civic engagement, and work and organization. As a society, however, we are not only impacted by technology. We also actively design and develop new digital technologies. We embed digital applications in our communities. And we create policies and regulations for their use. All of this is done - consciously or unconsciously - with specific values in mind. To positively shape our digital society, we need to pay attention to both its social and human aspects in addition to the technological side. Therefore, DigiSoc brings together researchers from Science, Engineering and Technology, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Biomedical Sciences to work interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary on both research and teaching activities. The ultimate goal is to enable an inclusive digital society based on responsible, ethical and sustainable use of digital technologies.