James Hendler
Web Science at 20, is it still needed?
Abstract. Yes.
Speaker Bio. James Hendler is the Tetherless World Professor of Computing, Web and Cognitive Science at RPI. Hendler is an expert in artificial intelligence, with special expertise including linked-data and Semantic Web, open scientific and government data sharing, and machine learning (especially transfer learning and foundation models). His work in AI and Machine learning have produced over 450 books and papers in his 40 years of AI experience and has been recognized in his citations as a Fellow of the Association for Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), American Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS), Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), and the US National Academy of Public Administration. Hendler was the winner of the 2025 AAAI Feigenbaum Prize.
Steffen Staab
Artificial Intelligence Compliance – A Transdisciplinary Challenge
Abstract. Compliance means conforming to a set of rules, requirements, or standards that apply to an organization or individual. AI compliance is often discussed as a technical challenge to be achieved algorithmically. In contrast, we draw on other compliance challenges, e.g., financial compliance, and sketch a landscape in which many stakeholders from diverse backgrounds and disciplines must collaborate to achieve AI compliance throughout the lifecycle of an AI system.
Speaker Bio. Steffen is a professor for Analytic Computing and heads the Institute for Artificial Intelligence, the Cluster of Excellence for „Data-integrated simulation science“ (SimTech), and the Research Initiative „Reflecting on Intelligent Systems“ (IRIS) at the University of Stuttgart, Germany. He also holds a chair for Web and Computer Science at the University of Southampton, UK. Steffen studied in Erlangen (Germany), Philadelphia (USA) and Freiburg (Germany) computer science and computational linguistics. From 1998 to 2004, Steffen worked as a project lead and lecturer at KIT, Germany, and from 2004 to 2020 as a professor for database and information systems at the University of Koblenz, Germany. At Koblenz, he founded the Institute for Web Science and Technologies (WeST). Steffen is a fellow of the ACM, ELLIS, EurAI, and AAIA. In his research career, he has managed to avoid almost all good advice that he now gives to his team members. Such advice includes focusing on research (vs. the company) or on only one or two research areas (vs. considering ontologies, knowledge graphs, Web science, data management, machine learning, simulation, and more). Actually, improving how we understand and use text and data is a good common denominator for many of Steffen’s professional activities.
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Anni Rowland-Campbell |
Hannah Stewart |
Ghada Ibrahim |
Web Science in Practice – two decades of Brave Conversations
Abstract. How do you take the knowledge and learning of Web Science beyond academia? This is the question posted by Anni Rowland-Campbell to Professor Dame Wendy Hall in 2012. Since then Brave Conversations has become a focus for this question bringing together an audience which is inter-generational, multi-language and globaly diverse. On Friday 29th May, 2026 Braunschweig hosts the 31st event in a time when the messages of Brave Conversations and the questions posed by it are more crucial than ever. How do we live in the “Social Machine”? How do we preserve human dignity in the age of Smart Machines? This talk will describe the story of Brave Conversations as a key component of the international outreach programme of the Web Science Trust and give you a taste of what it is all about.
Speaker Bio (Anni Rowland-Campbell). Anni Rowland-Campbell is a philanthropist and Web Science practitioner. She is Director of Intersticia (www.intersticia.org) a global charity and social enterprise which focuses on helping to develop emerging leaders for the 21st Century. In 2017 she created Brave Conversations (www.braveconversations.org) as a way to bring the conversations of Web Science and the Social Machine to the general public of all ages, stages and from all walks of life. Since then Brave Conversations has been held all around the world. Anni has worked in the Arts, Government and the Corporate sector and has also led a number of research projects with the Web Science Institute investigating the topic of “Government as a Social Machine”. Anni is a Trustee of the Web Science Trust, a Non-Executive Director of Founders and Coders UK, and a Fellow of Goodenough College, London.
Speaker Bio (Hannah Stewart). Hannah currently works as a Senior AI and Technology Analyst for the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. She has a Master’s degree in the Social Science of the Internet from Oxford University and is interested in the relationship between people and systems that manage text data. Hannah graduated from Founders and Coders in 2015 and has been co-creating Brave Conversations since then, leading many events combining her socio-technical skills with knowledge of the Circular Economy.
Speaker Bio (Ghada Ibrahim). Ghada Ibrahim is an educator, technologist, and community builder with more than six years of experience in international development, digital transformation, and learning innovation. She began her career with Mercy Corps, where she led digital education programs in Gaza that taught young people to code and helped them access opportunities in the global tech industry. Later, with GIZ Palestine, Ghada led the innovation component of the INDIGO Project within the Governance Cluster, working with the public sector to promote citizen-centered service design and digital transformation. This role deepened her expertise in human-centered design, cross-sector collaboration, and ethical digitalization—skills that continue to shape her work today. Now based in Germany, Ghada is expanding her experience within the European context, combining her background in tech education and governance with her passion for community learning and inclusive innovation.