In December 2022, the Algorithm Register (Algoritmeregister) was established in the Netherlands to map all automated selection processes used by the government. However, it still doesn’t work as intended. The Dutch newspaper Trouw spoke with Iris Muis, Lead Operation at Data School, about data ethics and the Fundamental Rights & Algorithms Impact Assessment (FRAIA), a…

From 1 May 2023 onwards, the Utrecht Data School will have a new name and logo. Utrecht Data School will continue under the name Data School and the logo will be adapted to Utrecht University’s latest style guidelines. Why ‘Data School’? Utrecht University’s brand policy stipulates that names of organisational units may no longer contain the…

Together with news magazine De Groene Amsterdammer and television news service RTL Nieuws, Data School conducted research into TikTok’s recommendation algorithm. The researchers created 12 automated accounts that started with an initial interest in dieting, fitness, or slim women; within half an hour they spiraled into a constant stream of videos relating to eating disorders. “The happiest place on earth”,…

On January 25, Data School attended a panel in the 11th edition of Privacy Camp in Brussels. Privacy Camp is an annual conference that brings together digital rights advocates, activists, academics and policy-makers from all around Europe and beyond to discuss the most pressing issues facing human rights online. The panel to which the Data…

07 March 2023 @ 13:00 – 15:00 – In this workshop, Sander Prins and Jeroen Bakker, researchers at Utrecht Data School, will introduce you to social media data collection and analysis. After this hands-on session, you will be …

23 March 2023 @ 15:00 – 16:15 – For his PhD research, Gerwin van Schie delved into the data systems of Dutch government bodies to look at the algorithms used there. During this webinar, he will talk about …

21 March 2023 @ 13:00 – 17:00 – In this workshop, Jeroen Bakker, junior researcher at Utrecht Data School, and Sander Prins, teaching and research assistant, will introduce you to network analysis and visualization using Gephi. After this hands-on session, …

Voor een interdisciplinair onderzoeksproject binnen de context van de AI Labs Digital Humanities zoekt de Utrecht Data School (UDS) een onderzoeksassistent voor 0,25 fte vanaf 1 december 2022, voor 10 maanden. Het salaris is in lijn met dat van een student-assistent. De UDS zoekt iemand met datavaardigheden die kan helpen bij het analyseren van coronaberichtgeving…

With a grant from the SIDN Fund, the Utrecht Data School built the BOLD Profiler. This application detects bias in commonly used knowledge bases such as Wikidata. Disinformation is not always spread with a deliberate plan, but can also (unintentionally) originate from incorrect information, missing data or misrepresentation. For example, Wikidata is considered very reliable,…

For the coming three years, CDH programme team member Mirko Schäfer has been appointed Visiting Professor at the Helsinki Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities (HSSH). Developing the Utrecht Data School at Utrecht University, Mirko Schäfer has built a track-record of societally engaged research for inquiring datafication and algorithmization at government organisation in the Netherlands….

The article ‘Misogynie als politiek wapen’, a collaboration between Joris Veerbeek and Sahra Mohamed (Utrecht Data School) and Coen van de Ven and Karlijn Saris (De Groene Amsterdammer), has won a ‘Tegel’ in the category ‘CBS Data’. The Tegel is the most important Dutch award for journalism. The Utrecht Data School (UDS) regularly collaborates with…

Starting March 1st, 2022, Utrecht Data School (UDS) will become part of the Centre for Digital Humanities (CDH) at Utrecht University under the joint deanship of the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Humanities.  Investigating the implications of AI and datafication for our digital society requires concerted interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary efforts. Over the past years, UDS developed collaborative projects with societal…