Young VDW Meeting with Alexander von Gernler
On April 14, the Young VDW was pleased to welcome Alexander von Gernler to its monthly meeting. Von Gernler is Head of „Research and Innovation“-department at the German IT security specialist „Genua“ and former Vice President of the German Informatics Society (GI). He has been a member of the VDW since 2020 and is actively involved in the Digitalization Study Group.
Alexander von Gernler discussed the ethical and moral aspects of ever-advancing digitalization with the members of the Young VDW. The Covid pandemic alone, as just one of many current crises, provided a rapid increase in digitized processes. But climate change, social polarization and swelling conflicts, such as in Ukraine, are also related to digitization on various levels.
In his lecture, Alexander von Gernler spoke about the major tasks of technology experts, about the assumption of responsibility by information technology professionals, about the interdisciplinary links and, of course, about the enormous risks.
Alexander von Gernler appeals for an ethical compass that every IT professional should internalize and concludes: „I only programmed the control unit!“ is too short-sighted and should definitely not be the claim of this and the next generation of developers and other technology professionals. Especially in digitization, it is crucial to take responsibility. In order not to endanger social cohesion and to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of technical innovations transparently.
