The Sampol Conference 2023 is organized by master’s degree students at the Department of Comparative Politics (UiB) every other year. Its main objective is to provide a vibrant platform for constructive dialogue and exchange of ideas on significant societal and scientific issues.

The conference has been held biennially since 1985, focusing on a wide range of topics, including the fight against terrorism, climate, and social sciences. Over time, the conference has established itself as a recognized platform for political science debate, fostering an interdisciplinary environment that brings together students, politicians, businesses, non-governmental organizations, and public administration.

This year’s Sampol Conference is set to take place on October 18th at Universitetsaulaen at UiB! During this year’s conference, we aim to explore the role of technology in society. The whole program can be found here.

The focus will be on how technology can be both the cause and the solution to many challenges affecting various aspects of society, including states, individuals, research, and businesses. Through debates, lectures, and panel discussions, we intend to shed light on a range of topics: ethics and regulation of artificial intelligence, research and user data from technology companies, the use of technology by authoritarian regimes, freedom of speech in the media, radicalization and political mobilization, as well as green sustainable development and innovation. The conference will also feature a traditional party debate on energy and renewable resources.

Big Sciene panel

MediaFutures researcher Samia Touileb will participate in the panel discussion on big data: Goldmine or Pitfall? scheduled from 11:15 to 12:00 on October 18th. This debate will raise questions about the role of independent research in modern times.

Tech giants like Google, Twitter, Facebook, and Amazon, possess vast amounts of user data, and it’s entirely up to them whether to share this data with researchers for social science purposes or not. This post sheds light on the ethical dilemmas that arise when corporations control who sees what, especially when the data they hold contains information about us, the ordinary citizens. What does the future research landscape look like? What can we learn from such data sources? Join us for a presentation from our experts, followed by an in-depth discussion on the opportunities, limitations, and ethics of “big data” in research.

Tickets for the day event can be purchased on the website of the conference. The tickets also include coffee and catering during the daytime part of the program.