Exploring Digital Spheres

Exploring Digital Spheres

By Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG)ScienceSocial Sciences
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Exploring Digital Spheres episodes

  • S02 E06 (Français): Exploration des défis des femmes* dans le paysage numérique de la Mauritanie

    Cet épisode de "Exploring Digital Spheres" nous emmène en Mauritanie, un pays d'Afrique du Nord-Ouest, pour explorer l'intersection entre technologie, genre et migration.

    Au cours de ce séjour, nous avons eu la chance de rencontrer deux femmes réfugiées remarquables, Fadimata Aicha Walet Mohamed Issa et Moueny Abdoulwahab, qui nous ont parlé de leur expérience en tant que femmes dans l'industrie de la technologie en Mauritanie.

    Toutes deux racontent leurs histoires personnelles depuis le Mali et l'Afrique centrale vers la Mauritanie, soulignant les défis particuliers qu'elles affrontent en tant que femmes réfugiées naviguant au sein d’un environnement numérique nouveau.

    Malgré un accès à l'internet limité à WhatsApp, Facebook et Tiktok et la rareté de l'internet mobile, les femmes ont trouvé des moyens et approches innovants de créer des entreprises et de créer des communautés. Elles utilisent ces plateformes non seulement pour établir des connexions sociales, mais également pour gérer des commerces en ligne, démontrant une créativité remarquable malgré les contraintes.

    Découvrez leurs histoires et leurs expériences d'espoir, de courage, ainsi que de nombreux défis auxquels ces femmes sont confrontées et comment elles utilisent la technologie pour tenter d'atteindre leurs objectifs.
    Cette discussion fait partie du projet "Women in Tech" mené par l'Institut Alexander von Humboldt pour Internet et Société (HIIG), en collaboration avec la Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) et le Centre de Transformation Digitale (DTC) en Mauritanie.

    Toutes les publications et informations relatives au projet „Women in Tech" sont disponibles sur le site du projet. Vous pouvez trouver Fadimata Aicha Walet Mohamed Issa sur TikTok et Moueny Abdoulwahab sur Facebook.

    40 min
  • S02 E06: Exploring the challenges of women* in Mauritania's digital landscape

    This episode of Exploring Digital Spheres takes us to Mauritania, a country in Northwest Africa, to explore the intersection of technology, gender, and migration. It features in-depth interviews with two remarkable refugee women, Fadimata Aicha Walet Mohamed Issa and Moueny Abdoulwahab, who are talking about their experiences as women in the tech industry in Mauritania.
    Both share their personal journeys from Mali and Central Africa to Mauritania, highlighting the unique challenges they face as refugee women navigating a new digital landscape. With internet access primarily limited to WhatsApp, Facebook, Tiktok and despite mobile internet being a scarcity, people have found innovative ways to create businesses and build communities.

    They leverage these platforms not just for social connection but also to run online retail operations, showcasing remarkable creativity despite constraints. What does it mean to be a woman in this tech sector, especially in the countries of the Sahel region? How does digitalisation play a critical role in their empowerment, despite the multiple forms of discrimination and power dynamics they must overcome? Learn more about the obstacles these women face and how they use technology to try to achieve their goals.

    The discussion is part of the Women* in Tech project led by the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG), in collaboration with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Digital Transformation Center (DTC) in Mauritania.

    All related publications and information about the WiT project can be found at the project site

    You can find Fadimata Aicha Walet Mohamed Issa on TikTok and Moueny Abdoulwahab on Facebook.

    44 min
  • S02 Spezialfolge: Schule neu denken – mit dem Werkzeugkasten “Making sense of the future”

    Alexander Triebsees spricht in dieser Folge mit der Politikwissenschaftlerin Katharina Mosene und der Demokratiebildungsexpertin Hanna-Sophie Bollmann, die an der Didaktisierung der Toolbox für die Sekundarstufe I mitarbeitete und bereits Erfahrungen im Einsatz mit dieser sammeln konnte.

    Welche neuen Entwicklungen sind im Lehrbetrieb zu beobachten und wie können offene Lehrmethoden, wie der vom HIIG entwickelte, frei zugängliche Werkzeugkasten, Schüler*innen und Lehrkräften einen Mehrwert bieten? Auf welche Kompetenzen ist in der Schulbildung zukünftig vor allem zu achten – gerade vor dem Hintergrund von KI, anhaltender globaler Krisen und nötiger Medienkompetenz? Wie sehen die Chancen und Vorteile von Open Educational Resources im Vergleich zu traditionellen Lehrmethoden aus?

    Auf diese und weitere Fragen werden in der Podcastfolge Antworten gegeben.

    41 min
  • S02 E05: Exploring Mexico’s sustainable entrepreneurs fight for climate change

    In the last episode of Season 2 we visit Mexico City to explore the potentials and challenges of sustainable digital entrepreneurship to mitigate climate change.

    In February 2023 Christian Grauvogel, project coordinator of the SET Project and Paul Vilchez, research fellow at the HIIG and author of a discussion paper on sustainable entrepreneurship in Mexico travelled to Mexico City to learn more about how entrepreneurs are navigating different challenges in the ecosystem. They spoke with Nadia Stand, Co-Founder and Impact catalyzer of Sakbé Hub and Juan Pablo Escobar, CEO and co-founder at Civica Digital to find out how you can actually fight climate change with entrepreneurial approaches and aspects of accessibility.

    All related publications and information about the SET project can be found at the project site

    40 min
  • S02 E04: Exploring Indonesia's digital solution for rainforest protection

    The growing importance of digital technologies for rainforest protection is accompanied by profound challenges related to their deployment and use.

    How can digital skills and technologies be trained and implemented in remote regions where the rainforest is of particular importance for local development?

    In this episode we discuss with Dr. Roeland Hemsteede his findings from a study on rainforest protection & digital solutions. The study centres around Open Access to relevant data (e.g. from satellites), digital literacy & funding for tech-based rainforest conservation projects. We also interviewed Florian Reimer, Chief Climate Officer at Koltiva, an agri tech company working on sustainable and traceable supply chains.

    All related publications and information about the SET project can be found at the project site

    39 min
  • S02 E03: Exploring Kenya's gig work opportunities

    Digital platforms are fundamentally changing the world of work. While the platform economy opens immense opportunities for flexible, gainful and convenient entrepreneurship, the precarious livelihoods of workers and service providers often remain unaddressed.

    Right after our Multi-stakeholder dialogue in November 2022 in Nairobi, SET-researchers Marie Blüml and Fabian Stephany talked with Tom Kwanya, the main author of our study on gig platform regulations in Kenya, and Teresios Bundi, gig work researcher and member of Kenyan gig workers union to discuss possible pathways towards a fairer online platform economy in Kenya. Find out which opportunities gig work can offer and what gig workers demand from their employers and policy makers to achieve a fair and socially-just gig economy.

    All related publications and information about the SET project can be found at the project site

    35 min
  • S02 E02: Exploring Kosovo's sustainable spatial developments

    In this episode we shine a light on the transformation of a former military camp into the Innovation and Training Park (ITP) Prizren in Kosovo, an aspiring hub for innovation, economic development and digital transformation in the city and wider region. We discuss the connection between spatial development, innovation and digitalisation at the ITP with local experts.

    In June and October 2022, Christian Grauvogel travelled to the former KFOR camp to investigate the spatial potentials of the ITP. As part of our research project we explored how the sustainable transformation of the park could foster the innovation ecosystem in the future. We discussed this with Simon Floeth, Head of the Digital Transformation Center Kosovo, the architect Rudina Qerimi and Ares Shporta, founder of the Lumbardhi Foundation.

    All related publications and information about the SET project can be found at the project site

    39 min
  • S02 E01: Exploring Benin's rising digital economy

    At the SENIA, Benin’s first AI conference, our team had the opportunity to talk to local experts about the possibilities of digitalisation for the improvement of the agricultural sector and its working conditions.

    Christian Grauvogel, Marie Blüml and Georg von Richthofen travelled to Benin in July 2022 to discuss the opportunities and risks of applying Artificial Intelligence in sustainable entrepreneurship in Benin and Francophone West and Central Africa. They had the opportunity to interview Seth Ayim, operational manager of the international NGO TechnoServe, and Theodore Gboyou, data scientist and regional manager of the digital platform Digital Rice Africa in Benin.

    All related publications and information about the SET project can be found at the project site

    You can find more information about the BeninCajù Project on the TechnoServe Website:

    33 min
  • "CoRisk Index"
    An economic indicator of industry-specific risk assessments related to Covid-19
    In a collaborative project researchers from Oxford and Berlin developed an index as the first economic indicator of industry-specific risk assessments related to Covid-19, based on financial disclosures of US companies. The index can provide valuable real-time information about economic risks associated with the pandemic, and it has already been featured in Oxford University News, the Washington Post, and the Wirtschaftswoche.
    In today's special episode we welcome the data scientists Dr. Fabian Stephany and Dr. Fabian Braesemann from the University of Oxford. The two speak with HIIG Ph.D. student Bronwen Deacon about their recent work on the CoRisk-Index. We look forward to your feedback on the episode. Please feel free to provide comments and let us know whether you would like to hear more about Social Data Science research in the future.
    19 min
  • The way we work
    Digital innovation influences the way we work – and recreate. Do we use our phones more often on the job, do we more often work from home and can we actually turn off anymore? In this episode we speak about ‘arbeit’ 4.0 and digital nomadism as well as its consequences.
    22 min

About Exploring Digital Spheres

From the publisher's feed

Join us on a journey into the realms of our digital society: In the new season of Exploring Digital Spheres our SET-project research team travels to five different countries on three continents in order to explore the intersection of sustainability and digitalisation and talk to local experts about their endeavours.

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