Call for Papers: Big Data and Law: New Challenges Beyond Data Protection

The University of Milan is organising the first edition of its doctoral seminar in Public, International and European Law on 15, 16 and 17 October 2018 and has put out a call for papers from PhD students. The theme is Big Data and Law: New Challenges Beyond Data Protection.

The doctoral seminar will start with a welcome speech delivered Monday, October 15, late in the afternoon, by a distinguished Professor of Comparative Law. The seminar will continue throughout the second day, and during the morning of the third day, and will be organized into three panels. During each panel, 3 papers will be presented by 3 PhD students. After each presentation (about 20 minutes), a brief discussion conducted by another PhD student will follow (15 minutes).

Topics

The three panels will focus on the following subjects:

1. Big Data and Public Law: artificial intelligence, algorithmic decision and algorithmic transparency, Big data and Public Health, Big data and Taxation.

2. Big Data and State Jurisdiction (The un-territoriality of Data): how centrality of territoriality is challenged by the present day dynamics governing the search and seizure of digitised information.

3. Digitisation of Public Administration and Big Data: tools, challenges and prospects of the transition to a digitalised public administration.

Practicalities

The seminar will take place in Gargnano, on the shores of the Garda Lake, at the Feltrinelli Palace, a building of historical and artistic interest built in the years 1898-1899 and donated to the University of Milan by the Feltrinelli family. All selected candidates – speakers and discussants – will be accommodated at the Feltrinelli Palace, where they will also be offered all meals for the entire stay. Documented travel expenses will be covered to a maximum amount of 300 Euros.

To apply

To participate, candidates must submit an abstract in English of a maximum of 800 words by April 30, 2018. The abstracts will have to address one of the issues referred to in the aforementioned panels, from a public, international or EU law perspective. The interdisciplinary (in the sense of a variety of legal disciplines) character of the approach chosen will be an element of positive evaluation.

The abstract must be sent in .doc or .docx format, and must indicate the author’s name, the title, and the panel to which it would belong amongst one of the three above mentioned. Abstracts have to be sent via email to both these e-mail addresses: gherardo.carullo@unimi.it; rosalba.dambrosio@unimi.it

Only PhD students who are at least in their second year of studies, or those who have earned their PhD for less than a year at the time of the call for papers deadline, can submit an abstract.

The nine best abstracts will be selected for presentation during one of the three panel sessions.

Some of the discussants will also be selected among the best proposals that have not passed the first selection phase.

All participants in the call will receive an e-mail concerning the outcome of their application by the end of May 2018 

The abstracts will be selected by an assessment Committee of Professors of Public, International and EU Law appointed by the Board of Professors of the PhD Programme in Public, International and European Union Law of Milan University (Università degli Studi di Milano).

Final papers must be submitted by September 1st. In case of failure to send the final paper within this deadline, another paper will be selected.

All submitted papers must not have been previously published in whatever form. All selected papers will be published in a book containing the seminar’s proceedings.