Programme

Digital Pasts, Presents, and Futures: Human Consequences.

Oslo 24-25 August, 2026

Monday, 24 August 2026 – Conference Day 1

Venue
OsloMet – P52 (Festsalen)
P46 (Course and Conference Centre)

Evening reception
Oslo City Hall

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  • Welcome

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

    Talk: AI and the Transformation of Music and Culture (incl. live music)

    By Bendik Hofseth, (Professor, University of Agder)

    Full biography coming soon

  • 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.

  • By Hans Christian Holte (Special Adviser, Norwegian Digitalisation Agency)

    Hans Christian Holte has extensive experience from senior executive roles in public administration in Norway. From 2020 to 2025, he served as Director of the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV); previously, he was Director of the Norwegian Tax Administration and Director of the Agency for Public Management and eGovernment (Difi). Holte has also served as Director General in the Ministry of Education and Research and has held various senior positions across ministries and directorates.

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

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

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

    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. Full biography coming soon

  • Coffee will be served in P52, Festsalen

  • Full description coming soon

  • Location: P46

    Full description coming soon

  • Location: Oslo City Hall, Rådhusplassen 1, Oslo

    A formal invitation will be sent in advance and will serve as your entry pass upon arrival at Oslo City Hall.

    Guests will arrive via Borggården, the open inner courtyard of Oslo City Hall facing Fridtjof Nansen’s Square, and must pass through a security check. Please allow some extra time for entry.

    The reception will be hosted by the Mayor or the Mayor’s deputy.

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

Tuesday, 25 August 2026 – Conference Day 2

Venue
OsloMet – P52 (Festsalen)
P46 (Course and Conference Centre)

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  • Full description coming soon

  • Choice of roundtables / panels:

    Redefining Learning for a Digitalized Generation in the AI Era (English)
    Chairs: Apostolos Spanos (Professor), Julie Madshaven (PhD candidate), and Alexandra Lazareva (Associate Professor), all from the University of Agder

    Creating with GenAI: Agency and Representation (English)
    ‍ ‍Chairs: Liselotte deBeer (PhD candidate, University of Stavanger) and Neha Saini (PhD candidate, University of Oslo)

    Undressing the Fascination of Digitally Enabled Crime and Deviance (Norwegian)
    Chairs: Silje Anderdal Bakken (Associate Professor, Norwegian Police University College) and Jan Christoffer Andersen (Researcher II, Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies)

  • Regulating the Future: Digital Imaginaries and Democratic Responsibility
    By Axel Tjora (Professor, Norwegian University of Science and Technology)

    When Systems Meet Situations: The Human Work of Living with Digital Infrastructures
    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. Full biography coming soon

    Kristin Asdal is a professor of Science and Technology Studies (STS) at the University of Oslo and historian who examines how digital systems reorganize responsibility, decision-making, and economic relations. Her work shows how technologies participate in governance and the making of facts through archival and case-based analyses.

  • By Professor Jeanette Polls (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.

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