World experts in digital processing and the socio-economic impact of major 
technological changes call for urgent progress and concrete actions to ensure 
the protection and promotion of people's rights in this area and not just 
well-intended speeches. As they did so during the event "Humanism in the 
digital age: the urban contribution 
[https://barcelonadigitalhumanism.digitalfuturesociety.com/en/]", organised by 
Digital Future Society [https://digitalfuturesociety.com/]and the City Council 
of Barcelona, where 150 entities and 40 top-level international speakers 
[https://barcelonadigitalhumanism.digitalfuturesociety.com/#speakers] took 
part. The highly positive feedback received during the event strengthens 
Barcelona as a leading technological human-centered perspective globally. 

    Digital Future Society's director, Cristina Colom, inaugurated the event 
encouraging a call to action: "We need to shift some of our priorities to focus 
on some key social pressing challenges. The way we tackle these challenges, the 
way we seek solutions, the way we foster international cooperation, will 
determine the digital future, will determine our digital future."

    By her side, the writer and philosopher of the Institute of Ethics at the 
IA at Oxford University, Carissa Véliz, emphasises the right to data protection 
and control: "our democracy is at stake." 

    Another session focused on the use of data as a fight against digital 
divides. The New York CTO, John Paul Farmer, opts for a strategy that considers 
access, connectivity, infrastructure, and affordability, since "tech is not a 
luxury, rather a necessity and connectivity must be universal." The Director of 
ONTSI, Lucía Velasco, points out the growing digital frustration by stressing 
that "we ask citizens to interact with digital administrations regardless of 
users and their experience or access."

    The Executive Director Alliance for Affordable Internet, Sonia Jorge, 
shifted her attention on gender divides, stating that "The world has missed out 
an opportunity of $1 billion for not including girls in digital societies." 
Also, Núria Oliver of the Data-Pop Alliance reflects on the lack of STEM women: 
"Any field lacking in diversity will not unlock its full potential and 
solutions will never be fully inclusive."

    Regarding facial recognition in cities, the European Digital Rights 
Initiative advisor Sarah Chander states, "We need to understand human risk, who 
will be impacted, how and why." Similarly, the rapporteur and AI Act, Brando 
Benifei encourages the European Parliament to "declare a clear position" on 
this technology, as the regulation continues "having many interpretations." In 
the same vein, the researcher on Human Rights Watch, Amos Toh points out the 
need to "empower citizens to understand how technology is designed and its 
limits."

    To address the regulation of AI, the cabinet member of the Vice-President 
of the European Commission, Werner Stengg, recalls that "AI is not necessarily 
the enemy of technological innovation." For her part, the COE of Open Knowledge 
Foundation, Renata Ávila, stresses that privacy should "be default, but it's 
not enough, we need other values like open innovation."

    The act concluded with the intervention of the CEO of Mobile World Capital 
Barcelona, Carlos Grau, who committed himself to "working together and 
fostering cooperation between all key actors."

    Media Contact: Emily Henley ehenley@tinkle.es, +34 661 267 495

    Photo: 
https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1691840/Humanism_in_the_digital_age.jpg 

    Source: Digital Future Society