On 7 and 8 April 2025, Data School is organizing the transdisciplinary conference Making a Difference. Societal Impact through Collaborative Research at De Zalen van Zeven (Boothstraat 7, Utrecht) for fostering long-term collaborative research partnerships between academia and the professional field. By facilitating dialogue and exchange, this workshop-driven conference provides a forum for exploring new ways of gaining insights into practice and generating practical recommendations for practice through collaborative research.

Collaborating with external partners allows university researchers to closely study real-world phenomena while supporting effective interventions and knowledge transfer. As universities increasingly aim to engage with various societal sectors, collaborative research practices become essential for sharing knowledge and tackling hands-on challenges across society. One critical societal development where collaboration is especially needed is the digital transition within the public sector and media industries. Organizations in these domains face distinct challenges arising from the growing use of data and algorithms in daily practice, which has implications for building and maintaining relationships with the public. Only through effective collaboration between academic researchers and external partners can the complexities of real-life situations be addressed and meaningful impact achieved.

Aim

This conference seeks to connect academia and professional practice through joint engagement with urgent questions about technology within social- and organizational contexts. Rather than engaging in hype-driven discussions about “Big Data” and “AI”, our focus is on the concrete challenges posed by ongoing socio-technical changes in public administration and media organizations.

We will bring together experts in collaborative research from academia and various societal sectors. Participants will jointly engage with questions about creating or utilizing (novel) collaborative research methods, overcoming obstacles standing in the way of meaningful collaboration, identifying opportunities for synergy between organizations or research disciplines, and exploring future research directions pertaining to digital technology. The conference will focus on sharing expertise and perspectives regarding collaboration between academia and media industries and public management, with an emphasis on supporting responsible AI and data practices. By jointly tackling problems found in practice in a collaborative atmosphere, the aim is to inspire new partnerships and strengthen existing ones, and through those partnerships advance the current state of the respective fields.

Keynote speakers

Confirmed keynote speakers include Payal Arora from Utrecht University and Rob Kitchin from Maynooth University.

More info & registration

Participation is possible as non-presenting participant, workshop host/organizer or presenting participant in a workshop. See the call for participation here (deadline: 15 December 2024).

• Non-presenting participant: 80 EUR (incl. lunch, coffee/tea and snacks & drinks)
• Presenting participant fee is included in workshop fee.

More information on the programme & the registration form can be found on the Data School website.

This conference is organized by the Data School at Utrecht University (Dr. Mirko Schäfer, Dr. Karin van Es, Iris Muis, Dr. Bart Kamphorst, and Dr. Dennis Nguyen).