Research Mission and Goals

IT law operates at the intersection of technology, law, and ethics. Legal experts specializing in this field are highly aware that the rapid advancements in information technology and our increasingly digital society give rise to complex legal and societal challenges. The research mission of the IT law section is to play a guiding and leading role in articulating, analysing, and solving these challenges, which pose significant legal and societal issues.

The IT law section is unique due to the following key characteristics:

• A diverse range of expertise in IT law, brought together within a close-knit group of researchers to map and address the far-reaching effects of digitalization on society.
• Strong anchoring in the northern region.
• A strong focus on interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches.
• A close connection between national and European law.
• A broad international orientation.
• Innovative IT law programs (bachelor’s and master’s) and cutting-edge educational practices directly linked to ongoing research.

Besides delivering high-quality education, the primary goal of the IT law section is to conduct excellent fundamental and applied scientific research. To achieve this goal, the section focuses on nine specific research objectives:

• Mapping, studying, and understanding the legal implications of existing (AI and edge computing) and emerging (augmented reality and quantum computing) technologies.
• Evaluating the mutual influence between technological innovations and the law.
• Conducting in-depth analyses and acquiring a thorough understanding of the creation and implementation of existing legislation and policies in the field of information technology.
• Contributing to the development of both classical and alternative regulatory instruments.
• Enriching the societal debate on controversial existing and emerging technologies, their societal integration, and their legal, ethical, and social dilemmas.
• Encouraging collaboration with legal experts within and outside the Faculty of Law, specialists from other disciplines such as ethics, computer science, and sociology, as well as IT law alumni to combine relevant insights and effectively address identified societal challenges.
• Developing, implementing, and sustaining educational innovation based on research findings, actively involving students from the IT law program, the Faculty of Law, and other faculties in ongoing research.
• Being visible and active at regional, national, European, and international levels.
• Establishing meaningful connections between the section’s research and the government, civil society, and businesses in the city of Groningen and the region.
• Publishing in open access and effectively disseminating research findings to raise awareness of legal challenges posed by technological developments and bridge the gap between academia and practice.

Achieving the research mission and goals requires the researchers in the IT law section to:

• Consistently secure research funding.
• Engage in meaningful multidisciplinary collaboration at local, national, and transnational levels.
• Apply an integrated inter- or transdisciplinary approach.
• Develop innovative solutions that are ethically and legally sound and socially relevant.
• Demonstrate teamwork and collective effort.
• Communicate effectively.

Research Areas and Themes

The IT law section is open to a broad range of research areas and maintains a strong connection between research and education. It covers both public and private law aspects of IT law, with specific expertise in the following domains: communication, cybersecurity, health law, information law, intellectual property law, privacy and data protection law, state liability, telecommunications law, and property law. Areas such as constitutional law, criminal law, tax law, notarial law, law and economics, legal philosophy, and legal history fall outside the section’s primary focus.

The following research themes are currently most relevant to the section:

• AI and the law (automation bias and human oversight of AI systems).
• Cybersecurity & cyberwarfare (digital security of critical infrastructure, attribution of malicious cyber operations, and legal consequences of cyberattacks).
• Digitalization (blockchain, cloud services, digital inheritance, edge computing, planned obsolescence, online accounts, and tokenization) and its legal implications (national, EU, and international law).
• E-commerce (design of electronic purchasing environments, consumer protection, content moderation, and smart contracts).
• Electronic communication (Digital Services Act, platforms, and freedom of information).
• Intellectual property (software-related rights).
• Socially responsible innovation (open standards).
• Privacy and data protection (surveillance).