"Informatics creates reality," said Hannes Werthner, Dean of the Faculty of Informatics during a panel discussion of this years’ Higher Educational Symposium of the European Forum Alpbach. Computer scientists do not only deal with problem solving, but create the tools one can use to solve them, Werthner explained. The symposium was held under the Forum's general topic “Conflict & Cooperation” focusing on the societal responsibility of higher education institutions.
Located in the core of the digital transformation, computer scientists would need to cooperate and think much more out of the box, said Werthner in Alpbach. With initiatives such as the Centre for Informatics and Society the Faculty of Informatics creates room for research questions on the social impact of Informatics.
“It is necessary to better spread our research”, Werthner said. He continued: “We have to ask ourselves: How does the society we want to live in look like and what artefacts do we need to making it real?” Anyway, "Science has to follow its own principles", when it comes to research, Werthner said.
Video on demand
On August 23rd Hannes Werthner spoke at the Higher Educational Symposium in Alpbach. The complete debate can be watched on the website of the European Forum Alpbach.
Photo (from left to right): Hannes Werthner (TU Wien), Dorothea Rüland (DAAD), Markus Mooslechner (Moderation/Terra Mater), Lea Meister (European Students’ Union), James Browne (National University of Ireland Galway), Wilhelm Krull (Volkswagen-Stiftung) (Credit: Andrei Pungovschi/European Forum Alpbach 2017)