By the University of Vienna – Department of Innovation and Digitalisation in Law (UNIVIE)
The University of Vienna is the oldest University in the German-speaking world, and the Department of Innovation and Digitalisation in Law is the newest addition to the University’s Law School. Having been founded in 2017, the Department is dedicated to legal research on all issues related to information and communication technologies and more broadly technology and the law. Research areas include EU data protection law, privacy law, intellectual property law and the law related to information technologies as well as e-evidence, e-commerce and consumer protection law.
In addition to teaching obligations and work with leading industry stakeholders, much of the work at the Department focuses on third-party funded research projects under the umbrella of the EU Horizon 2020 framework program for research and innovation. Working on several projects related to the development of innovative technologies in medicine and healthcare, aimed at assisting clinicians and researchers in the identification, treatment and further research of a number of health conditions, UNIVIE acts as the legal and ethical partner on these projects. This interdisciplinary work not only assists clinicians and technical organisations in understanding and complying with the applicable law, but it contributes to the academic and practical legal area. Given the relatively new nature of the law in this area and the even more novel nature of the technologies, UNIVIE is often faced with complex legal questions. Such questions can stem from the type of data being processed, the means of processing employed, the various international partners involved in the projects and the potential future implications of the technologies being developed.
On the ProCAncer-I project, UNIVIE is responsible for leading WP2 concerning the legal, ethical and societal considerations of the project, thereby serving as the single point of contact for all internal and external stakeholders on legal and ethical questions. In particular, UNIVIE validates the processing of personal data collected before the commencement of the project, personal data collected during the project, the conditions for the anonymisation of the personal data and data sharing and IP considerations.
From left to right: Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Frogó / Max Königseder, LL.M. LL.M. / Emily Johnson, LL.M. LL.B:
