Data Autonomy

The regaining of more autonomy over our data at the university is a major undertaking. Apart from activities within the UG, this requires national and even international collaborations...

Data Autonomy is often associated with terms such as control or ownership over one’s data. Personally, I believe this definition leaves out the core aspect of data as the lifeblood of our online lives and rather than control, it is what makes digital self-determination possible. The ability to understand the flow of our own data...

On 27 and 28 June 2023 the conference "PublicSpaces: Global Perspectives, Local Practices" took place in the Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam. On 28 June the Data Autonomy project of the University of Groningen also was present with a presentation about the open questions, challenges and results.

During the launch event of the Data Autonomy Project on June 22, attendees from all kinds of stakeholder groups from within the University of Groningen (UG), as well as regional and national stakeholders from the business and governmental sector engaged in an active dialogue about the meaning and importance of data autonomy. Together they explored challenges and opportunities within the UG as an organisation, while placing data autonomy in a broader national and international context.

1. By the eighth day of class, your professor can predict with 70 percent accuracy whether you are going to pass this course. 2. When you want to register for courses, a robor advisor assesses your profile and nudges you to pick courses in which you are most likely to succeed. 3. When you get to class, your teacher comes up to you and says disapprovingly: 'You were working on the assignment at 4 am...'

As the coronavirus spread across the world in 2020, I began a research fellowship at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany. I was not surprised to learn that all my interactions would be virtual as a result of on-going lockdowns. Yet, I was surprised to learn that...

The University of Groningen is one of the Dutch universities using Google email and cloud services. This includes services such as Gmail, Calendar, Google-drive, Meet and many more. Once you start working or studying at the University, you automatically agree use these Google services. There is no way...

Today access to services of Big Tech companies such as Google and Microsoft is more important for working at the university than having access to a building, an office desk, or a roof over your head. Why? Because we can easily get our research/education/administration/communication jobs done without any of them, as long as we are able to log in to those cloud services......