Retrospect on the CDR Conference 2024
On 14 November 2024, the 5th CDR Conference of the CDR Initiative took place in Berlin under the title ‘Fairness in the Age of Artificial Intelligence’. The programme was packed with inspiring presentations, workshops and plenty of room for networking. Three new publications from the CDR Initiative's office were also presented.
It was already clear at check-in and lunch that there was a great need for conversation on the topic of fairness and AI, and this year's event venue, Data Space, filled up quickly before the official kick-off at 1 pm.
The welcome speech by State Secretary Dr Christiane Rohleder, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, was followed by the keynote speech ‘Fairness along the AI value chain: What will change with the AI Act?’ by Dr Till Klein, Head of AI Regulation at the appliedAI Institute for Europe.
In the subsequent panel discussion on challenges and approaches to ensuring fairness in digitalisation, State Secretary Dr Christiane Rohleder (BMUV), Johanna Hinz (Head of Tech Strategy at the Otto Group), Elisabeth Nöfer (Project Manager for Digitized Society at the Mercator Foundation), and Dr Till Klein (Head of AI Regulation at the appliedAI Institute for Europe) discussed why companies should take the issue of fairness seriously, particularly in the use of AI, what should be considered during implementation, and how to handle potential conflicts of interest.
The panel also discussed the results of a new survey conducted by the CDR Initiative on the opportunities and risks associated with the use of AI. One of the key findings of the survey was that citizens have high expectations regarding the responsible use of AI and expect companies to guarantee data protection, transparency in the use of AI, the possibility of human supervision of AI systems and regular monitoring and evaluation of AI systems.
The diversity impact assessment was then presented together with the participating member companies, represented by Maria Hinz (BARMER) and Thomas Bieler (ING Germany). The diversity impact assessment provides companies with a tool with which they can evaluate the impact of digitalisation processes on diversity, inclusion and equal opportunities and identify improvement measures.
The event continued with another publication from the CDR Initiative, which was presented by Prof Dr Dr Alexander Brink (CDR Initiative office). The 300-page anthology Human-centred digitalisation was published by Nomos Verlag in time for the CDR Conference 2024. The anthology summarises the results of the CDR Conference 2023 and provides exciting practical insights into the implementation of human-centred principles in the digital world.
After a coffee break, which was used by the participants for lively dialogue and inspired discussions, the event continued with four interactive workshops. Participants were able to choose between the following four topics:
- Workshop 1 - Diversity impact assessment: a tool to promote diversity, inclusion and equal opportunities - together with Franziska Nitsche (Otto Group), Dr Stefan König (Markgraf), Thomas Bieler (ING Germany) and Prof Dr Christian Thorun (CDR Initiative).
- Workshop 2 - Fairness in AI guidelines: Enforceable or empty promise? together with Sebastian Reimann (XING - part of NEW WORK SE) and Leonhard Henke (CDR Initiative).
- Workshop 3 - Artificial intelligence in action: Opportunities and challenges of internal AI assistants with GPT models in practice - together with Anja Koerber (Otto Group) and Dr Sara Elisa Kettner (CDR Initiative).
- Workshop 4 - Disinformation and Hate Speech: What role do companies have in shaping a fair social discourse? together with Maria Hinz (BARMER), Deniz Taskiran (Telefónica) and Dr Frank Esselmann (CDR Initiative).
In the spotlights from the workshops, the member companies then gave an overview of the insights they had gained. It was emphasised several times how valuable the overarching exchange between business practice, politics and civil society is in order to jointly create solutions for living fairness in digitalisation. It was also emphasised that every company can and should take steps towards digital responsibility.
The final item on the agenda was the outlook - lessons for CDR practice and the introduction of new members. Benjamin Hoffmann (Atruvia) and Dr Stefan König (Markgraf) reported on the highlights of their new membership of the CDR Initiative so far. In particular, they emphasised the opportunities to exchange ideas with like-minded companies from a wide range of sectors and sizes and to implement joint activities with the help of the office.
Finally, Dr Frank Esselmann (CDR Initiative) gave an outlook on the activities of the CDR Initiative in the coming year. In particular, he emphasised that next year the CDR Initiative would be even more open than before to companies that have only taken their first steps towards digital responsibility or are only considering taking these first steps. He invited companies interested in participating in the CDR Initiative to contact the CDR Initiative office.
The CDR Initiative office would like to thank all speakers and participants for taking part in the CDR Conference and looks forward to seeing you again at the CDR Conference 2025 next year.
All photos: Jan-Philipp Burmann / City-Press GmbH
