Programme

Digital Pasts, Presents, and Futures: Human Consequences.

OsloMet, Oslo 24-25 August, 2026

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PAPER SESSION PROGRAMME (pdf)
CONFERENCE BOOKLET (pdf)

Monday, 24 August 2026 – Conference Day 1

Venue
OsloMet – P52 (Festsalen), Pilestredet 52, Oslo
P46 (Course and Conference Centre), Pilestredet 46, Oslo

Evening reception
Oslo City Hall, Rådhusplassen 1, Oslo

NB: In the programme, click the + on the right to expand and read more

  • Click the + on the right to expand and read more

  • Welcome

    By director of DIGIT Research School, Marit Haldar (Professor, Oslo Metropolitan University)

    Marit Haldar is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Centre for Digitalization, Culture and Society (CEDIC) and the Norwegian Research School on Digitalization, Culture and Society (DIGIT). Her research focuses on digitalization, social inequality, family life, and vulnerability within welfare and healthcare systems.

  • By Bendik Hofseth, (Professor, University of Agder)

    Bendik Hofseth is a Norwegian musician, composer, and professor of music at the University of Agder. As an internationally recognized jazz saxophonist, he has played a key role in the development of contemporary jazz in Norway. He also developed the University of Agder’s master’s programme in Music Business Management, focusing on digital transformation in the music industry, including new technologies, business models, and copyright.

  • By Professor Jeanette Pols (University of Amsterdam)

    Jeanette Pols is a medical anthropologist known for her influential work on care, technology, and everyday practices in healthcare. Her research explores how technologies such as telecare and digital health tools reshape relationships between patients, professionals, and institutions.

  • By Hans Christian Holte (Director, KI Norge / AI Norway)

    Holte is the first Director of the newly established AI Norway, the Norwegian government’s initiative for the responsible and innovative development and use of artificial intelligence in the public and private sectors. He will take up the position in August 2026. He has held several senior leadership roles in Norwegian public administration, including Director General at the Ministry of Education and Research, Director of NAV, the Norwegian Tax Administration, and the Agency for Public Management and eGovernment (Difi).

    The talk concludes with a dialogue with Christen Krogh, Rector of Oslo Metropolitan University

  • A dialogue-based session exploring the gap between envisioned and realized digital solutions, and the role of entrepreneurship within welfare states such as Norway

    By Fredrik Gulowsen (CEO, Nyby) and Karen Dolva (CPO, beCrystal)

    Fredrik Gulowsen is a Norwegian serial entrepreneur who has co-founded companies including Skyfall Ventures, and Kolonial.no (now Oda). He is the founder and CEO of Nyby, a digital platform developed with public and private partners to improve collaboration in service delivery.

    Karen Dolva has founded several companies, UX Lab and No Isolation, and is currently on her third startup beCrystal. Dolva has been recognized by the BBC and Forbes as one of the world’s most inspiring and influential women in tech.

  • Coffee and savoury refreshments will be served in P46, Course and Conference Centre

  • A PDF of the paper session programme is available via the button at the top of the page.

    Please refer to the PDF for the most up-to-date paper session schedule.

  • A PDF of the paper session programme is available via the button at the top of the page.

    Please refer to the PDF for the most up-to-date paper session schedule.

  • Location: Oslo City Hall, Rådhusplassen 1, Oslo

    The reception starts promptly at 19:00.

    The guests must pass through a security check, please allow some extra time for entry.

    19:00: Drinks served on the second floor

    19:05: Welcome by the Mayor of Oslo, Anne Lindboe

    19:10 Response rector OsloMet Christen Krogh

    19:15: Drinks, mingling, and refreshments

    19:45: Guided tour at the City Hall

    20:30: Event concludes

    Doors open at 18:30.

    A complimentary cloakroom will be available, and all guests are required to use it.

    A formal invitation will be sent in advance and will serve as your entry pass upon arrival at Oslo City Hall. It may be presented either digitally or as a printed copy.

    Guests will arrive via Borggården, the open inner courtyard of Oslo City Hall facing Fridtjof Nansen’s Square.

Tuesday, 25 August 2026 – Conference Day 2

Venue
OsloMet – P52 (Festsalen), Pilestredet 52, Oslo
P46 (Course and Conference Centre), Pilestredet 46, Oslo

NB: In the programme, click the + on the right to expand and read more

  • Click the + on the right to expand and read more

  • A PDF of the paper session programme is available via the button at the top of the page.

    Please refer to the PDF for the most up-to-date paper session schedule.

  • Choice of roundtables / panels:

    1 Creating with GenAI: Agency and Representation (English)

    ROOM PA328 - KK-lounge

    Panel participants: Vetle Nærø (pianist and composer), Sara Sedberg (drama educator and lecturer, University of Stavanger) and Amir Shaheen (author, screenwriter and comedian)
    ‍ ‍

    Chairs: Liselotte de Beer (PhD candidate, University of Stavanger) and Neha Saini (PhD candidate, University of Oslo)

    2 Redefining Learning for a Digitalized Generation in the AI Era (English)

    ‍ ‍ROOM PA318

    ‍ ‍ Panel participants: Leonora Onarheim Bergsjø (associate professor, Østfold University College), Robert Morris Gray Jr. (professor, University of Bergen) and Christian Landbo Olesen (The National Union of Students in Norway)


    ‍ ‍ Chairs: Apostolos Spanos (professor), Julie Madshaven (PhD candidate), and Alexandra Lazareva (associate professor), all from the University of Agder

    3 Undressing the Fascination of Digitally Enabled Crime and Deviance (Norwegian)

    ‍ ‍ROOM PA311


    ‍ ‍Panel Participants: Kaja Hegg (special adviser, Red Cross), Bjørn Winsnes (SaLTo coordinator, Oslo Municipality), Annemarte Moland (journalist, Aftenposten), Astri Johanne Holm (Oslo Police District) and Fredy Joaquin Salazar (team leader, Kripos)

    ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍Chairs: Silje Anderdal Bakken (associate professor, Norwegian Police University College) and Jan Christoffer Andersen (researcher II, Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies)

  • When Systems Meet Situations: The Human Work of Living with Digital Infrastructures
    By Axel Tjora (Professor, Norwegian University of Science and Technology)

    Regulating the Future: Digital Imaginaries and Democratic Accountability
    By Kjetil Rommetveit (Professor, University of Bergen)

    Governing Through Systems: How Digital Infrastructures Shape Decisions and Economy
    By Kristin Asdal (Professor, University of Oslo)

    Chair: Erik Børve Rasmussen (Professor, Oslo Metropolitan University)

    Aksel Tjora is a professor of sociology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology who studies how digital technologies are embedded in everyday interaction. His research focuses on practices of use, sense-making, and adaptation, providing empirically grounded analyses of sociotechnical coordination and its consequences in situ.

    Kjetil Rommetveit is a professor at Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities, University of Bergen. His research focuses on science, technology, and society (STS), especially the governance and politics of emerging technologies. He has led numerous international projects on the ethical, legal, and political aspects of digitalization with a main focus on how institutions, networks and collective imaginations shape technological development.

    Kristin Asdal is a professor of Science and Technology Studies (STS) at the University of Oslo who examines how digital systems reorganize responsibility, decision-making, and economic relations. Kristin combines ethnography with what she calls ‘practice oriented document analysis’ and shows how technologies participate in governance and economic decision making.

  • By Sally Wyatt (Professor, Maastricht University)

    Sally Wyatt is a leading scholar in science and technology studies, with a long career exploring how digital technologies shape society. She is widely known for her influential work on the concept of “non-use” of technology and on the persistence of technological determinism.

  • Heidrun Åm, (Professor, Norwegian University of Science and Technology)

    Heidrun Åm is a professor in sociology specialized in ‘technology and social change’ at the Norwegian University for Science and Technology (NTNU). She is working on the intersections of critical policy studies and science and technology studies (STS).

    Åm sits as the chairperson of the DIGIT board.