BRIDGE Lab

In The BRIDGE Lab, DSI researchers aim to create a collaborative platform as a structural vessel to promote research and innovation, by connecting science with industries, incubators, public authorities, and civil society around conditions of successful implementation of digital innovations in Switzerland.

Today, we live in a world of interconnected global issues of great complexity. Yet, digital transformation and technological advancement – even when developed with positive intentions and used for good purposes – may supercharge existing problems and power dynamics and become increasingly interlocking, which makes problem-solving ever harder. While the scale and magnitude of the global issues are accelerating and growing ever more complex, our ability to comprehend these challenges and respond accordingly across all sectors is not matching pace. This gap between the rising interconnected complexity of our problems and our ability to make sense of them is the «wisdom gap».

In Switzerland, and more specifically in the Canton of Zurich, the «wisdom gap» manifests itself in one unique challenge area – the challenge of successfully integrating new technologies into society, such as drones used as an urban air mobility solution in the context of the Swiss U-Space implementation. This challenge offers an ideal avenue for an exploratory endeavour of bridging the «wisdom gap». In particular, we strive to smoothen the path to prepare the society towards better acceptance of, and adaptation to, new technologies and services of high public interest.

In the short run, activities organized at The BRIDGE Lab will allow UZH researchers and other stakeholders working on related topics to enhance their existing research and business portfolios. In the long run, the outcomes of the lab activities will help authorities, such as the Canton of Zurich, to define clear competence profiles and favourable conditions to strengthen the attractiveness and competitiveness of the region as a unique hub for innovation.

The BRIDGE Lab is funded by the Digitalization Initiative of the Zurich Higher Education Institutions (DIZH). Project partners include leading industry and civil society members, Canton of Zurich, Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA), Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), and University of Geneva (UNIGE).

Project duration: 01.07.2022 – 30.06.2024

Contact person: Dr. Ning Wang

Website: The BRIDGE Lab: Bridging the «Wisdom Gap»

Project Team

Dr. Ning Wang is an ethicist and a political scientist based at UZH since 2017. Her research revolves around the notion of «value sensitive innovation», with a focus on the ethics assessment and responsible governance of emerging and future technologies.

Prof. Dr. Davide Scaramuzza is the Director of the Robotics and Perception Group (RPG) of the Departments of Informatics at UZH. His research lies at the intersection of robotics, computer vision, and machine learning, and aims to enable autonomous and agile navigation of micro drones in search-and-rescue applications.

Prof. Dr. Francis Cheneval is the Head of the Department of Philosophy and Chair of Political Philosophy at UZH. His research focuses on a range of subjects including democracy, justice, property rights, political thought, and most recently the organizational and political consequences of drone applications by public authorities.