Rainer Rehak

About

Rainer Rehak is part of the research group “Digitalization, Sustainability, and Participation” at the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society, he is an associated researcher at the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB) and is currently doing his PhD on systemic IT security and societal data protection at the TU Berlin.

He studied computer science and philosophy in Berlin and Hong Kong and has been working on the implications of the computerization of society for over 15 years. His research fields include technology impact assessment, collective data protection, systemic IT security, state hacking, computer science and ethics, fictions of technology, digitization and sustainability, convivial and democratic digital technology, epistemics of automation, digital (de-)colonialism, and the implications and limits of AI systems.

He also publishes regularly in non-scientific outlets and is an expert witness for parliaments (e.g., the German Bundestag) and courts (e.g., the German Constitutional Court). Together with other digital policy and environmental organizations, he initiated the “Bits & Bäume” conference series for digitalisation and sustainability. Rainer Rehak is co-chair of the Forum Computer professionals for peace and societal responsibility (FIfF).

Research Associate, Research Group: Digitalization, Sustainability, and Participation

Associate Researcher, Research Group: Technology, Power and Domination

Memberships, committees and functions

• Membership Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
• Member Working group „Sustainability“ (Nachhaltigkeit). Weizenbaum Institute
• Co-Chairman. Forum InformatikerInnen für Frieden und gesellschaftliche Verantwortung (FIfF)
• Executive board Leitungskreis der Fachgruppe Informatik und Ethik. German Informatics Society (GI)
• Steering Committee. Bits & Bäume-Konferenz
• Jury Weizenbaum-Medaille und Weizenbaum-Studienpreis. Forum InformatikerInnen für Frieden und gesellschaftliche Verantwortung (FIfF)
• Program committee. Chaos Communication Congress