Successful shared launch of CBS’ three new Business in Society Platforms

Diversity, Inequality and Tranformations in the Digital Age

The three platforms had gathered their respective fields of research into the event: Diversity, Inequality and Tranformations in the Digital Age. The prefix of the research platforms, Business in Society, was indeed a suiting prefix of the programme, too, with an attentive audience and many guests on stage representing everything from a high profiled EU-legislator to a small tech start-up – all different perspectives of the research being done in the platforms.

EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager was the keynote speaker of the day, warmly welcomed by CBS President, Per Holten-Andersen, who underlined how the themes of the platforms all can be found on UN’s list of Sustainable Development Goals and thus are to be considered as highly relevant knowledge production for society.

Margrethe Vestager gave an inspiring presentation highlighting dilemmas and possibilities of a time where digital infrastructures form almost all of our actions - in globalized societies as well as in our personal lives. She pointed to a certain European obligation to act both critical and visionary in the face of a highly monopolized and data driven global market. New structures for sustainable solutions must be found and cross-disciplinary research is at the very core of this ambition.

This was moderator Martin Breum’s perfect que to welcome three Academic Directors on stage: Birthe Larsen, Sara Louise Muhr and Mikkel Flyverbom, for a short presentation of the work done in the platforms.

Business in Society – three cases

What are the causes and consequences of inequality – let’s say in an automated labour market? And how much inequality should we tolerate? The researchers from the Inequality Platform had invited Otto Brøns-Petersen and Kristian Weise from the two opposing think tanks, Cepos and Cevea, for a discussion.

How can digital tools outsmart the human mind – and help overcome gender bias when attracting and advancing employees in one of the world’s largest companies in logistics and transportation, DSV? This was discussed between CBS’ Florence Villesèche and DSV CEO Jens Bjørn Andersen.

Where are the new fields for innovation, what is the business model of a new digital media start-up? Morten Tvorup Olesen and Mohammad Honeini from Zorter were in dialogue with Academic Director Ioanna Constantiou. And turning back to Margrethe Vestager’s opening, there seems to be a business in distributing quality news to a younger audience outside the realm of tech giants, far from fake news and filter bubbles.

Relevant New Media Art and a jazzy feel

For the reception, new media artist Mogens Jacobsen together with ITU’s interaction designer Jonas Fritsch, invited everybody to juggle up measures for wealth in ‘the OECD Lab’ or to confront norms and identity expectations using ‘The Voice Pump’. Research and art complementing each other, at a backdrop of tunes from the jazz band the Bauditz Kvartet, people mingling and discussing the topics of the day. An exciting afternoon at CBS with hopefully much more to come for the next five years with the three new Business in Society Platforms.

Find out more about the platforms

Read the article on the shared launch in Wire, CBS' independent media.

Read the article on the shared launch in news for CBS alumni.

Read the article on the shared launch in news for CBS alumni (Danish)