DATAGOV Lab Kick-Off
Data infrastructures such as digital identity systems and biometric technologies increasingly decide who is seen, sorted and served, while remaining largely out of public view. On 27 March 2026, DATAGOV Lab, a project at the University of Amsterdam, invites audiences to pull these systems into the open and join a cross-sector conversation on how data-driven regulation is reshaping democracy, rights and inequality worldwide.
The project takes a comparative approach, examining the European Union, Brazil, India, and South Africa to understand how these infrastructures transform governance and what they mean for the future of democracy in an era of pervasive datafication. The initial empirical focus is on four technology families: biometrics, digital identity, health technologies, and education technologies, and how these reconfigure citizenship, sovereignty and inequality.
Programme
10:00 – 10:45 Welcome & Introduction
10:45 – 12:15 Panel 1 – Governing by Data Infrastructure: Tensions and Fault Lines
12:15 – 13:15 Lunch
13:15 – 14:45 Panel 2 – Global Perspectives on Governance by Data Infrastructure
14:45- 15:15 Closing Reflections
Speakers
The event features conversations and presentations by:
Louise Amoore (Durham University),
Fernando Filgueiras (Brazilian Ministry of Education),
Mirca Madianou (Goldsmiths, University of London),
Rocco Bellanova (Vrije Universiteit Brussel),
Cecilia Passanti (Université Paris Cité),
Rob van Kranenburg (IEEE Standards Association), among others.
