ETHU Research Day \;The Weight of the Cloud: Navigating Digital Mediation\, Human Meaning\, and Planetary Responsibility
\nKeynote Speakers
\nProf. Dr. Vincent Blok
Prof. Dr. ir. Johan Stiens
Research Day Details
\nThis is an in-person event only. The Research Day will be held on April 10\, 2026\, at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel\, Brussels\, Belgium
\nSponsored by \;The \;Centre for Ethics and Humanism Research Group
\nResearch Day \;Chair
Prof. Dr. Jan Jasper Mathé\; (jan.jasper.mathe@vub.be)
The 2026 ETHU Research Day &lsquo\;The Weight of the Cloud: Navigating Digital Mediation\, Human Meaning\, and Planetary Responsibility&rsquo\; will critically explore the implications of contemporary cloud-based technologies by bringing together in a complementary way philosophical\, ethical\, ecological\, and technological perspectives.
\nContemporary life is shaped by digital applications promising frictionless connectivity and productivity. We refer to it as the &lsquo\;cloud&rsquo\;\; as if it were a natural phenomenon\, omnipresent and powerful\, suspended in the realm of immateriality. While this paradigmatic and commercially appealing metaphor may capture the imagination\, it simultaneously obscures the complex and often inconspicuous infrastructures and socio-technical systems sustaining our technologically mediated condition.Through portable devices such as smartphones\, we carry gateways to cloud-based storage and computing systems\, transforming nearly every domain of human activity into a digital service. This expanding paradigm\, which operates on the premise that cloud hardware and software applications can be endlessly developed and deployed at any scale\, implies not only a reorganization of technological systems\, but also a shift in geopolitical and infrastructural logic\, where cloud platforms increasingly shape new modes of governance\, production\, and consumption\, aligned with computational principles. Beyond communication and information\, transportation and public utilities rely on computational processes to perform their core functions. Yes\, even global environmental governance\, concerned precisely with managing the ecological consequences of a technologically mediated planet\, relies fundamentally on large digital infrastructures.
\nUpon closer inspection\, then\, our everyday smartphones and applications carry considerable existential and material gravity. After all\, our efficient productivity software\, instant messaging apps and seemingly omniscient AI-generated prompts are the &lsquo\;gravitational centre&rsquo\; of the technologically mediated ways in which we have come to relate to ourselves\, others and the world. From e-commerce platforms to AI models and software applications\, the cloud mediates our personal and professional relationships\, raising urgent questions about the algorithmic shaping of everyday life. At the same time\, this technological mediation depends on energy‑intensive\, resource‑heavy infrastructures\, as well as underlying industrial strategies and state policies\, that have grave consequences for\, among others\, the climate and biodiversity.
\nThe urgency of this inquiry\, then\, is underscored by the growing disconnect between the perceived &ldquo\;lightness&rdquo\; of digital life and the substantial &ldquo\;weight&rdquo\; it imposes existentially\, materially\, and ecologically. While we may speak of the &ldquo\;cloud&rdquo\;\, digital technologies are grounded in the heavy exploitation of natural processes to facilitate the human usage of power. This includes both fossil fuel extraction (on a material level\, e.g.\, coal mining) and the commodification of human activity (on an abstract level\, e.g.\, data mining). As energy consumption and resource extraction for data centers and AI workloads keep increasing\, and as our dependence on digital services deepens\, there is a pressing need to critically reflect on our ways of navigating our double-edged digital condition\, one that integrates digital mediation\, human meaning\, and planetary responsibility.
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