From Oxford to Unibo: a world-wide reputation as professor and scholar, philosophy and digital ethics expert, Luciano Floridi will crucially contribute to the development of innovative research projects alongside Unibo’s prestigious School of Law.
The Department of Legal Studies and the Board of Governors of the University of Bologna have just approved the direct call of Professor Luciano Floridi, world-renowned scholar and expert of philosophy and digital ethics.
Today, Unibo's Board of Governors and the Minister of University and Research, Gaetano Manfredi, officially welcomed Professor Floridi.
The Professor is best known for his work in the field of digital information and the ethical, sociological as well as legal implications of artificial intelligence and digital technologies. At the University of Bologna, Professor Floridi will employ a multidisciplinary perspective to approach several topics such as the relationship between ethics, law, big data, artificial intelligence and social media. Floridi will crucially contribute to the development of innovative research projects alongside Unibo’s prestigious School of Law which has welcomed him with great enthusiasm. Furthermore, he will also help the University promote international projects in collaboration with private and public institutions and lead strategic initiatives within the Alma Mater Research Institute for Human-Centred Artificial Intelligence (one of the major centres for artificial intelligence in Italy).
Luciano Floridi is currently Full Professor of Philosophy and Ethics of Information and Director of the Digital Ethics Lab of the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford, and Turing Fellow at the Alan Turing Institute.
Among his many awards and tenures, he held the UNESCO Chair in Information and Computer Ethics; he was Francis Yates Fellow at London's Warburg Institute and Gauss Professor at the Akademie der Wissenschaften in Göttingen. He was involved in several policy-making initiatives with major international interlocutors such as the British Parliament and Government, the European Parliament, Commission and Council, UNESCO, the Italian Chamber of Deputies, as well as a number of firms and businesses like Capgemini, Cisco, DeepMind, Deloitte, EY, Facebook, Fujitsu, Google, IBM, Leonardo, Microsoft, Sogeti, Tencent, Vodafone and Volkswagen.
Professor Floridi is also a successful disseminator of knowledge and inventor of iconic neologisms such as "infosfera" ("infosphere"), "quarta rivoluzione" ("fourth revolution"), "iperstoria" ("hyperhistory") and "onlife" (i.e. the new dimension of life whereby the divide between online and offline has disappeared).
The Minister of University and Research, Gaetano Manfredi, commented: "Luciano Floridi's comeback to the Italian academia epitomises the process that has brought thousands of researchers back to Italy with direct calls supported by the Ministry with financial and administrative backing. Being at the centre of international scientific processes is fundamental for a great country in view of tomorrow's global challenges. New digital technologies and their impact on society surely represent one of those challenges and are at the centre of our national plan for recovery and resilience. Italy must be a leading actor in the creation of a new digital humanism by going past individualisms and setting a qualified and safe agenda".
Rector Francesco Ubertini added, "Having Luciano Floridi at our University is a source of great pride for us. His profile and authoritative scholarship represent the ideal completion of a long-term process of bringing international excellence to our University. His ideas and leadership", continues the Rector, "will bring an added value not only to the Alma Mater but also to the entire country that is placing big bets on themes like big data and artificial intelligence starting with substantial investments on Bologna's technopole".
Luciano Floridi on his end said, “I can’t wait to work with the Alma Mater, an extraordinary institution offering great stimuli and amazing opportunities for collaborating on research and training. Followed by Oxford, Bologna is the oldest university in the world, being part of the community of the “mother” of the world’s academia makes me feel happy and honoured. I truly hope to develop and participate in projects about digital issues and produce as well as support further opportunities for intellectual growth and knowledge development, eventually contributing to the international success of Bologna and of Italian universities in general.”
Since the beginning of Ubertini's mandate as Rector, the University of Bologna has added through direct calls approximately a hundred between professors and researchers, who are either Italian professionals wanting to get back to their home country or international figures wishing to pursue their academic career at Unibo. In addition to direct calls, the University of Bologna issues a yearly "Call for Interest" for professors and researchers that would like to express their interest in working at the Alma Mater.