Berlin Buzzwords 2024

The Paradox of Open: Can Digital Commons Offer a Way Forward?
2024-06-10 , Kesselhaus

At the turn of the century, the internet ushered in the era of the digital commons - a realm of collectively created and managed resources that are open to the public. Over the past decade, the digital landscape has undergone a profound transformation.


The early ideals of openness and decentralization have given way to a reality in which a handful of companies exert disproportionate control over the digital ecosystem and exploit its resources for their own gain. In this era, the concept of openness presents a paradox - it both challenges and enables the concentrations of power that define the current digital landscape. In this talk, I will explore the paradox of open and consider whether and under what conditions digital commons can provide a solution. I will discuss some strategies for reimagining openness to ensure its resilience and effectiveness in the face of evolving digital challenges.

Zuzanna is the Director of Research at Open Future. She has over ten years of experience with human rights research and advocacy. In her work, she has focused on the intersection of science, technology, human rights and ethics.

Zuzanna spent more than eight years with the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, the most prominent human rights non-governmental organization in Poland, where she has gained experience in advocacy and policy work.

She holds a Ph.D. in International Law and an M.A. in English Studies from the University of Warsaw. She has been involved in national and international interdisciplinary research and innovation projects, exploring the ethics of new technologies and their impact on human rights and freedoms. Before joining Open Future, Zuzanna cooperated with Trilateral Research, where she researched the ethical and human rights challenges posed by new and emerging technologies.

She was awarded a scholarship from the German Federal Agency for Civic Education and Robert Bosch Foundation in 2013 and joined FAM Frauenakademie München, a research institute for women’s and gender issues. In 2017 she was awarded the Marshall Memorial Fellowship, the flagship leadership development program of the German Mashall Fund of the United States.

Zuzanna passed the bar exam in April 2017 and served as the vice-president of the Human Rights Section of the Warsaw Bar Association from March 2016 until May 2017. She is a member of the Women’s Rights Group by the Polish Bar Council.

Zuzanna is a member of the advisory board of the Institute for the Ethics of AI at the Technical University of Munich.

Since 2019 she has been acting as an independent expert to the European Commission, where she is involved in the ethics monitoring of research and innovation projects.

Zuzanna is passionate about the protection of the environment and women’s rights. She is a lecturer at the School of Ecopoetics established at the Reportage Institute in Warsaw.

Zuzanna lives in Warsaw. In her free time, she devours podcasts and takes long walks in the woods with her dog Bruno.