The PRIO-led DIGICOM project is coming to an end, and invites you to a conference sharing perspectives and results from the project, with presentations by researchers from the project and conversations between researchers and practitioners in the field of risk and crisis communication.

DIGICOM has taken digitalisation as a central object of study in order to better grasp how new forms of risk communication affect societal security. It has explored the way in which risk communicators in different environments, such as authorities, news media and social media, interact with one another, and how risk communication takes place related to different types of events of relevance for preparedness in Norway and beyond, such as terrorism, cyber-attacks and pandemics.

In this conference, we will address key questions relating to how the digital affects how we think about risk, how we act upon risk, and the relations between the different actors responding to risks:

  • How do public authorities communicate risk in the digital age, with news spread more rapidly, by a variety of actors, professional journalists and citizens alike, and shared and commented on social media?
  • How do new technologies, from new online platforms, to new uses of everyday technologies, such as the smart phone, or new security technologies, impact how risk and security matters are understood and responded to?
  • How does the public respond to authorities' communication of risk, and how do they contribute to the communication of risk too?

Program

9:30 Coffee and registration
9:45-10:00 Welcome & Introduction
  • Maria Gabrielsen Jumbert, Research Director, PRIO
  • Kristoffer Lidén, Senior Researcher, PRIO
10:00-10:45 Session 1: Norwegian authorities communicating risk in the age of social media

From the terror alert to attitudes to humour and accessibility on social media

Presentation by:
  • Joel Rasmussen (Örebro University)
10:45-11:00 Break
11:00-12:00 Session 2: Communicating risk in the digital age: dilemmas to tackleIntroduction and Chair:

Kristoffer Lidén, Senior Researcher, PRIO
Conversation between:
  • Martin Bernsen, Senior Advisor, Police Security Service
  • Paul Quinn, Assistant Professor, Brussels Free University
  • Stine Bergersen, Doctoral Researcher, PRIO
    12:00-12:45 Light lunch served
    12:45-13:45 Session 3: New technologies and risk communication

    Introduction and Chair:

    Bruno Oliveira Martins, Senior Researcher, PRIO

    Conversation between:
    • Benedikte Lindland, Senior Advisor, Police Directorate
    • Anthony Amicelle, Assistant Professor, Montréal University
    • Maria Gabrielsen Jumbert, Research Director, PRIO
    13:45-14:00 Break
    14:00-14:45 Session 4: Digital platforms opening for new forms of responses – from citizens and non-governmental actors

    Public governance through digital platforms: the case of digital vigilantism

    Presentation by:
    • Daniel Trottier, Associate Professor, Erasmus University Rotterdam

    Digital platforms and new possibilities for responding to outbreak of pandemics

    Presentation by:
    • Maria Gabrielsen Jumbert, Research Director, PRIO
    14:45-15:00 Conclusion & wrapping up