Keynote Speakers
Philipp Lorenz-Spreen
Max Planck Institute and Center Synergy of Systems and Center for Scalable Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence TUD Dresden University of Technology, Germany Digital Media and Democracy: The Complex Relationship Between Online Networks and Politics Around the World Digital media has changed the way public spheres function around the world, specifically in the information environment of the internet. Moving from mostly one-to-many communication to a many-to-many system has increased its complexity. In addition, big platforms are curating information flows algorithmically and optimize them for engagement.In this talk I will discuss ways to better understand how those transitions are affecting democracies globally and political behaviour in particular. Phenomena such as affective polarization, the rise of populism, the spread of misinformation and diminishing trust in institutions are developments of concern, but also go high complexity. However, methods from data science, network science but also causal inference and experimentation, are enabling increasingly many approaches to achieve this goal of empirically describing the complex mechanisms at play between human behavior, technology and politics. |
APPLIED NETWORK SCIENCE KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Esteban Moro Northeastern University, Boston, USA Beyond the Census: Understanding Urban Areas Through Behavioral Mobility Data In urban studies, traditional census data provides a static snapshot of cities, often missing the dynamic, real-time interactions that shape urban life and underpin the resilience of our communities. In this talk, I will present our recent research on understanding the dynamics of our cities by analyzing massive behavioral mobility data from mobile phones, credit cards, or social media and its relationship with networked inequalities, such as experienced segregation, access to healthy food, adaptation to the recent pandemic, and public transportation interventions. I will also discuss the methodological challenges and opportunities of using these datasets for population-wide analysis, from managing potential biases to designing better causal inferences of the impact of policies. Finally, I will comment on potential data-driven interventions to reinforce the social fabric in cities and mitigate the detrimental impacts of networked inequalities. |
Francisca Ortiz-Ruiz
Universidad Mayor, Santiago, Chile The Relevance of the Micro Level of Networks: A Relational Approach to Care and Social Support This research seeks to understand the care and support networks of older people in Santiago de Chile and how its understanding could lead to informed interventions at a micro-level. This study aims to identify/describe older people's care (perceived) and support (experienced) networks, emphasising gender and age inequalities and assessing changes in their networks. This presentation will be based on fieldwork in a community centre between May and September 2022 with three waves of interviews, collecting information on the complete network within the community centre and their egocentric networks outside the institution. In this presentation, I will share the first exploration of this data, which is divided into three main aspects. The first is the theoretical and methodological approach to care and support from a network perspective. Secondly, I will explain the care and support networks of older people. Finally, I will focus on the friendship networks of the participants to assess how relevant the changes over time are and whether other aspects influence these interpersonal relationships. |