re:publica 2014: Impressions and recommendations from a Swiss perspective

The digital society meets at re:publica to exchange ideas.The re:publica in Berlin is one of the largest and most important conferences about life in the digital age. Originally founded in 2007 as a bloggers' meeting, the conference has steadily evolved. With its broad range of topics, it appeals not only to Internet specialists, but also to anyone interested in digital life and its facets.Forward thinkers, co-thinkers and lateral thinkers of the Net offered more than 6,000 participants over 250 hours of programming on some 17 stages from May 6 to 8, 2014. This year's motto "Into the wild" dealt with "untamed net culture," the fight against surveillance, and also with approaches to understanding and improving society and the Internet in the near future.Numerous Swiss traveled to Berlin again in 2014. Here are some impressions and recommendations:

Session "Freedom and Prediction: On the Ethical Limits of Big Data".

Viktor Mayer-Schönberger"Public discussion of the challenges and dangers of Big Data is missing the point - and that's what will make us particularly vulnerable in the future." (Source www.re-publica.de)Session videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRPFSbxybxs&list=PLAR_6-tD7IZV–8ydJQRCZNEWOp9vf6PY&feature=share&index=145

Sandra Bornand

Online communication, www.paperclip.ch- Within 15 years we have transformed from an analog to a digital society. Today, less than 1% of the data is analog.- Data is only a reflection of reality, a shadow of reality and thus always a little bit wrong.- Where are the limits of ethics in connection with the data and the "knowledge" gained from it. How do we deal with it in the future.

Chris Beyeler

Online Marketing Manager and Social Media Expert, My Sign AG, www.mysign.ch- Viktor inspired the audience and stood out very positively from the rest of the speakers - the topic of Big Data was not just philosophical chatter, but a practical explanation of pros and cons.

Natasha Tummeley

Communications Officer and Community Manager, One 100 (Swiss Life AG), www.one100.ch- I thought this session was particularly good because it was very well thought out and to the point, from the structure and personality of the speaker to the demands formulated at the end of the session regarding the moral boundaries of the use of big data. In the process, very forceful demands and approaches to solutions were shown, where boundaries can be drawn and should also be drawn from an ethical point of view, which I very often missed in other sessions.

Session "The Ethical Machine

Sarah Spiekermann"The days of "function hype" are over once and for all. Growth through ever new features? A dead concept. Innovation thus runs into the void. But technical possibilities are advancing nonetheless; and at breakneck speed. If Ray Kurzweil is right, we'll see technological advances in the next 100 years like we've seen in the last 21,000 years by comparison." (Source www.re-publica.de)Session videohttp://youtu.be/ddK1ui1UUys

Yves Moret

Freelance Visibility Specialist, www.digital-karma.ch- Exciting, because on the one hand the topic sounded completely abspaced, but on closer inspection it became more topical and burning than many other topics at the re:publica.- Always question the effects of work that can lead to unforeseen results and harm others. Too quickly, effects emerge that were never intended.- Especially in software development, ethics become more important as the devices controlled by the software become more physical. (e.g. robotics, self-driving vehicles, drones).

Session "Social Media & Law: Season Review 2014"

Thorsten Feldmann and Henning Krieg"Since 2009, the two lawyers have held a joint workshop at re:publica on the legal aspects of writing online and the active use of social media services. This year, too, the two practitioners presented the highlights of online law." (Source: www.re-publica.de)Session videohttp://youtu.be/uINggQAx-xc

Susanne Bühler

www.about.me/suseebeeTo be distinguished: Right to the motif and right to the image- Thumbnails on Facebook: actually, it would have to be clarified which use was purchased by the original user - in legal reality, however, this is usually irrelevant.- © problem at the Pixelio ruling: since an image has its own URL, the © must be attached to the image in a white bar (however, this is being appealed).- Due to the analogies between Swiss and German law and the references to U.S. law, the session was also interesting for Swiss people.

Session "A blind chicken is no pony farm: searching for vocabulary with mischief".

Wibke Ladwig"Vocabulary is the most personal thing we can share with each other. Proverbs and idioms create closeness - or demarcation. Words, sentences and texts, along with images, are the basis of digital communication. More is read and written than probably ever before. Yet there is always talk of language decline. OMG!!! Rightly so? Is the Occident in danger? Are we all becoming linguistic bunglers and nefarious criminals of our mother tongue through social media? Wibke Ladwig lifts the vocabulary and invites you on a walk through the digital refuges of language lovers and wordplay children." (Source www.re-publica.de)Session videohttp://youtu.be/VNCHKxpsAO4

Bettina Werren

Head of Staging in Space, Swiss Radio and Television, www.srf.ch, www.frau-w.ch- Language is constantly changing. Words disappear or new ones are added. In the context of this development, we should talk about language change rather than language decay.- It is amazing how big the difference is between the active vocabulary (1,000 to 16,000 words) and the passive vocabulary (3,000 to 216,000 words).- It is worthwhile to hone one's own language, to share one's vocabulary with each other and to always be on the lookout for synonyms.

Session "Don't believe the hype: How net politics went mainstream and what it means for the future."

Markus Beckedahl"Markus Beckedahl (netzpolitik.org) and Kai Biermann (journalist at Zeit-Online) talk about how net politics came into the political mainstream and what that means for the future. It's about topics like net neutrality, data retention, NSA and ACTA, and above all about a state of the current debate and its actors. What does the mainstreaming of the topic mean? Does it reach the political arena? And above all, what can each individual do to ensure that our fundamental rights also apply digitally?" (Source www.re-publica.de)Session videohttp://youtu.be/ZlKGlP8uKcY

Marc Suess

Founder & CEO Hofrat Suess GmbH, www.hofratsuess.ch, www.socialtalents.ch- For me, Markus Beckedahl's attitude was almost frightening and showed me what is infinitely important: reflection on one's own strengths, a clear positioning and a sustainable strategy.- It seems equally central to me to take time, even with a heavy workload, to look back, to learn from mistakes as well as to recognize possible new potential and to release the necessary resources for the corresponding processing. At the closing event, at which the song "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen was traditionally sung together, the following figures on re:publica 2014 were available, among others:- Over 6,000 visitors (ratio of women to men 40:60)- 525 helpers- The youngest speaker was 12 years old, the wisest helper 75- There were 88'974 tweets with the hashtag #rp14 (15'198 Twitter users, Reach 193'211'364)The next re:publica will take place in the week of 4. May 2015 in Berlin. Information as well as videos of many sessions are available on the website www.re-publica.de or on the Youtube channel to find.