02.12.2024DIZH Structure Call: Five projects by UZH members funded

Five projects are being funded in the 2nd structure call of the DIZH Innovation Program. These are intended to provide impetus for responsible innovation in education, society, AI, communication and finance. All five projects involving members of the University of Zurich. 

Five projects are being funded in the 2nd structure call of the DIZH Innovation Program. The approaches range from the integration of immersive technologies in education, the innovative measurement of social well-being and the responsible use of artificial intelligence to overcoming language barriers and promoting sustainable financial practices.

Despite this thematic diversity, the projects have important things in common: As part of the funded structures, collaboration between the universities of the Canton of Zurich is being intensified, both among themselves and with the external partners involved. These practice-oriented and interdisciplinary collaborations between the universities and public institutions, hospitals, companies and private and non-profit organisations are intended to generate long-term added value for society through technological innovations.

Members of the UZH are directly involved in all five funded projects:

• IMMERSE is committed to the digital transformation of education and training through immersive teaching and learning technologies. With a network of innovative partners from the education and technology sectors, structures and formats are being created to ensure the widespread implementation of XR- and AI-based methods in higher education and vocational training, sustainably enhancing their quality in the Canton of Zurich.
• Challenges posed by societal disruptions impact cantonal governance. The Public Data Lab (PDL), hosted by Canton Zurich's Statistics Office, creates indicators and new approaches to measuring change in society, economy and environment. Through transdisciplinary digital and artistic innovation the PDL will increase public trust & provide evidence for decision makers.
• AI-BRIDGE brings responsible AI to the ground by bridging the gap between societal values and development of AI technology and solutions. The AI-BRIDGE Think-and-Do Tank will help organizations to exploit the potential of AI while complying with legal requirements and being compatible with societal expectations on ethical AI.
• Digilinguo is a platform that promotes sustainable practices in the use of digital translation and language tools, thus allowing for language barriers to be overcome in public institutions. Three channels will be created to help it in achieving this objective: a test track for trying out and testing digital tools, an online platform for the training of interpreting specialists and meet-ups that facilitate the networking of stakeholders from the worlds of research, education and practice.
• Sustainable Digital Finance aims to promote financial technology for sustainable finance. Today, there is still a huge gap in embedding sustainability in finance. Sustainable Digital Finance focuses on research and its translation into ventures and its acceleration by regulators and policy makers.

Sabine Dani, DIZH