From 22-24 September 2022 the NORFACE Governance mid-term conference took place at the University of Vienna. Many DATADRIVEN consortia members travelled to Austria to share their expertise on data-driven campaigns.
Early-Career skill session & kick-off
Before the official start of the mid-term conference, the DATADRIVEN early-career scholars took part in a workshop on “Theory development in scientific paper writing” by Ass.-Prof. Dr. Laurenz Ennser-Jedenastik from the Department of Government in Vienna. This was one of the first chances to connect offline with PhD candidates and Post-doctoral researchers from other NORFACE consortia. Afterwards, everyone enjoyed the official kick-off of the mid-term conference in the city centre of Vienna surrounded by impressive architecture.
Presentations
The DATADRIVEN team delivered talks on two NORFACE core themes: “Democratisation of information and expertise”, and “Shifting identities and representation”.
Democratisation of information and expertise
In the panel on Digital Media and AI as political tools, PhD candidate Xiaotong Chu and Rens Vliegenthart presented a paper in which they focus on understanding the effects of political targeted ads based on issues. PI Sanne Kruikemeier gave insights into a literature review of data-driven campaigning presenting a model to understand its effects.
The panel on Technology vs. Democracy hosted PI Kate Dommett who highlighted the bright side of data-driven campaigning in a paper on potential benefits of targeting for society, while Post-Doc Andrew Barclay gave a talk about the Regulatory Ecosystem of Data Driven Campaigning.
PhD candidate Marlis Stubenvoll was invited to the panel on Citizens vs Online Hate, Misinformation, and Inequality to give a talk about how Perceptions of Scientific and Subversive Data-Driven Campaigning Influence Negative Affect toward Targeted Political Campaigns.
Shifting identities and representation
PhD candidate Sophie Minihold presented a paper on Data-Driven Political Advertising Literacy in the panel on New perspectives on political and civic engagement
Roundtable discussion
Lastly, DATADRIVEN member Claes de Vreese joined the roundtable discussion on disinformation. Together with members from META, ARTICLE 19, and the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of Media they discussed whether disinformation is threatening electoral integrity and what can be done about it.
For the DATADRIVEN team, the NORFACE Governance mid-term conference was a great possibility to share their expertise and benefit from the thoughtful comments of other consortia members. What better way is there than to discuss data-driven campaigning over a good cup of coffee in Vienna!
Data Driven campaigning 