‘Humanitarian aspects of new information and communication technologies development: Prospects and challenges’, a jointly organised roundtable, took place on 26 April 2018 at the Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod (UNN) Faculty of Social Sciences. The event was moderated by the director of the Institute of International Relations and World History at UNN, Prof. Mikhail Rykhtik. Participants discussed major issues stemming from the systematic application of new technologies in everyday life in different societies, paying particular attention to the humanitarian aspects of political, social, and economic processes.
Prof. Jens Wendland, the head of the digitalisation project at the DOC Research Institute, delivered a speech titled ‘Dialogue of Civilisations and the transformation of social digitalisation’. Prof. Wendland led a discussion on digitalisation regarding aspects of transformation, stressing that this includes the opportunity for a new dialogue between civil societies and the possibility of a revival of social discourse on digitalisation, rather than a prevailing strategy of pure market power.
The scientific director of the Russian Internet of Things Research Institute, Dr George Prokopchuk, spoke about the social and humanitarian estimation of digitalisation in the context of communication crisis. Dr Prokopchuk suggested further discussion of ‘scientific diplomacy’, describing scientists as the best envoys of peace and able to play leading roles in supporting peaceful cooperation among different nations on issues of new communication technologies and their implementation in everyday life.
A professor at the Department Political and Communication Theory at UNN’s Institute of International Relations and World History, Anton Fortunatov, described the contradictions of humanity’s digital reality. An assistant professor at the Department of History and Theory of International Relations at UNN’s Institute of International Relations and World History, Alexander Petukhov, reflected on the influence of artificial intelligence and the effect of cyberspace algorithms on human security. Senior specialist in UNN’s Public Relations and Internet Communications Department, Artem Makoveichuk, spoke on the main challenges of implementing Artificial Intelligence within state governance and prospects for processes of political development.
The deputy dean of UNN’s Faculty of Social Sciences, Alexander Korotyshev, spoke about the restrictions of political manipulation in Runet – the Russian-language internet community. The head of UNN’s Information and Analysis Department at the Institute of International Relations and World History, Pavel Pankratov, made a presentation about political street art in the digital age, where he demonstrated a new quality of street communication practice. An assistant professor at UNN’s Department of General Sociology and Social Work within the Faculty of Social Sciences, Sergey Sudyin, discussed the role of new technologies in healthcare development. And the DOC Research Institute’s Senior Researcher Nikita Konopaltsev made a presentation on the digital future of communications in terms of a ‘Dialogue of Civilisations’ conceptual framework.
