Several workshops will be organised in the afternoon to learn more about the various research topics at the University of Groningen and to facilitate discussions and connections on specific topics. Other workshops might still be added to the program.

Digital Literacy

In this session we will explore how digital literacy and digital inclusion can be researched and fostered, focusing on four domains in particular: health, work, education and the media. The ongoing digitalization of society acts as a catalyst for innovation. Citizens increasingly connect with others and make sense of the world through digital media; robotics and artificial intelligence fundamentally change the workplace in numerous professions; and doctors increasingly employ e-health solutions to diagnose and treat their patients more efficiently. To be able to use these novel technologies, products and services, professionals as well as citizens and consumers require increasing levels of digital literacy. They not only need to acquire digital skills, but even more important, they need to develop a profound understanding of how digital technologies work, and what their impact and effect is to be able to fully participate in society. This session is organized by the Digital Literacy Coalition, a partnership between 19 organizations (research and education, government, businesses and cultural organisations) that aims to foster digital literacy in Groningen.

The following speakers will give a pitch:

• Maarten Lahr (health)
• John Dong (business)
• Koen Buiter (education)
• Joëlle Swart (media)

The pitches will be followed by two brainstorm sessions and a wrap-up.

Artificial Intelligence/Data Science

In the past decade, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning have had an increasing impact on society. Research at the University of Groningen focuses on developing new techniques for machine learning, but also in research to uncover the mechanisms of human intelligence. In addition, a currently important research theme is explainable AI, where AI techiques not only deliver results, but can also explain how these results have been achieved. The session will start with pitches followed by discussions. The following speakers will give a pitch:

• Hedderik van Rijn (Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences)
• Malvina Nissim (Faculty of Arts)
• Marieke van Vugt (Faculty of Science and Engineering)
• Michael Wilkinson (Faculty of Science and Engineering)
• Bart Verheij (Faculty of Science and Engineering)
• Marco Wiering (Faculty of Science and Engineering)
• Jelmer Borst (Faculty of Science and Engineering)
• Peter van Ooijen (UMCG)

Cyber Security

In this workshop the program Cybersecurity Noord-Nederland will be presented in more detail. Next to that, discussions on each of the workpackages will take place. The program aims to better protect the business world from cyber-attacks and thereby make society safer, as well as to stimulate innovation in the North and create more employment. The initiative is designed to meet the opportunities and challenges posed by today’s increasingly digitized society. For example, criminals increasingly operate in digital ways and more and more household appliances are connected to the internet. Educational institutions and companies have no other choice but to increase their knowledge of digital security. The programme will focus on conducting research into cyber security and developing new degree programmes at senior secondary vocational education (MBO), university of applied sciences (HBO) and university (WO) levels. The following speakers will give a pitch:

• Jeanne Mifsud Bonnici
• Klaas ten Have (Hanze Hogeschool)
• Reinder Wolthuis (TNO)
• Erik Rutkens (Qbit)

Digital Business

The Groningen Digital Business Centre (GDBC) examines together with the digital companies in the Northern Netherlands what knowledge is needed to profit from digital technologies and data, such that we can arrive at a joint research agenda. This agenda helps to develop a roadmap for joint research between UG and the Northern digital companies to help them digitally transform. In this workshop, the focus will be on two topics: digital readiness and digital pricing. The contents of the workshop are:

• Introduction Digital Business and Groningen Digital Business Centre (Tammo Bijmolt)
• Digital Transformation (Thijs Broekhuizen, Khoi Nguyen + Nicolai Fabian)
• Digital Pricing (Tammo Bijmolt, Arnd Vomberg, David Prade)

FULL, REGISTRATION NOT POSSIBLE ANYMORE: Digital Technology: Smart Industry

In this workshop we will together explore what new research topics can be studied in the field of smart industry. As a starting point for the discussions we will build upon the roadmap smart industry as published by the University of Groningen in 2015 and new research projects performed at the university of Groningen. A unique trait of the University of Groningen is the close relationship between its faculties for natural sciences, social sciences and engineering. It is the only university in the Netherlands where engineering research takes place in a comprehensive environment, thus resulting in a unique integration of fundamental and engineering sciences. The aims of the interdisciplinary research team working on the theme smart industries are to develop new fundamental knowledge and to create a conceptual foundation for current smart industry initiatives.

Pitches will be given by:

• Jacquelien Scherpen (University of Groningen)
  
• Lars de Groot (Demcon)
  
• Annemieke Galema (Northern Knowledge)