In collaboration with the U.S. Department of State and various partners in research, geopolitics, software development, and component procurement, our experienced speakers highlighted past and current developments to gain a better understanding of the impact of chip-based high technology on the cultural, political and economic situation of open democracies. This was followed by approaches to solutions aimed at making supply chains more independent, reducing costs, saving CO2 emissions, energy and raw materials and, above all, operating more sustainably. The speakers are all absolute experts in their field and offer insights into a world that is unique and extremely valuable, especially against the backdrop of hybrid conflicts.

Chapter 1.1: PROF. RAYMOND BLANTON, UIW

Associate Professor at the prestigious University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas – public rhetoric, organizational communication and leadership, media ethics, aesthetics, theology and religion, and civic engagement

Topic: Digital Empathy

With the current state of artificial intelligence-based systems, digitization is reaching a new epochal peak that is changing all of our lives. The associated influence on society, politics and the development of young people can and does lead to massive conflicts, triggered by the unfiltered flood of information in social media. Many consumers who have grown up with social media lack the sensitivity to deal with it and the ability to distinguish between truth and fake. The semiconductor technology that underlies all this is both a blessing and a curse and, if controlled by the wrong people, can cause great harm, especially in Western societies. To counter this, we need a counter-strategy that creates “holy spaces” where we can spend time without digital consumption.