Ann Cathrin Riedel receives first For..Net Media Award
Her newsletter renders the opportunities and challenges of digitalisation comprehensible to a broad public. Ann Cathrin Riedel, chairwoman of Digital Policy LOAD e.V., has received the first For..Net Media Award.
Professor Dirk Heckmann presents Ann Cathrin Riedel with first For..Net Media Award; Photo: Bernhardt
Ann Cathrin Riedel, editress of the newsletter "Ann Cathrin's Digital Digest", has received the first For..Net Media Award 2020 for outstanding commitment to public welfare and digitalisation. The prize was awarded by the Research Centre for IT Law and Internet Policy (For..Net) at the University of Passau and presented by Professor Dirk Heckmann.
On 10 July, in a digital framework, the Research Centre for IT Law and Internet Policy at the University of Passau awarded the first For..Net Media Award. With the For..Net Media Award, the Research Centre for IT Law and Internet Policy (For..Net) honours private individuals who make a special commitment to explaining the challenges and opportunities of digitalisation, also to people who are not specialists in those fields – and thus promoting digitalisation geared to public welfare. As the voters' favourite, Ann Cathrin Riedel was able to win through with her newsletter "Ann Cathrin's Digital Digest", praised in a eulogy by the winner of the 7th For..Net Award 2019, Valerie Mocker.
Ann Cathrin Riedel is actively involved as chairwoman of Digital Policy LOAD e.V., vice-president of the European Society for Digital Sovereignty e.V., and a member of the working group 'Ethics in Digitalisation' of the 'Initiative D21 e.V.' for a liberal Internet policy and digitalisation geared to public welfare. With her expertise, and the gift she has of rendering complex issues comprehensible to a broad public, she is much in demand as a speaker and interview partner on radio and TV and in the digital media.
Having said that, not only the prize itself, which was created on the occasion of the 15th For..Net Symposium, was a novelty; the format too, as a digital Zoom event with live voting by the viewers as the main jury, was a première for the Research Centre for IT Law and Internet Policy. Alongside Ann Cathrin Riedel, Inga Bergen was also nominated for her podcast "Visionäre der Gesundheit" ('Visionaries of Health'), as was Jolanda Rose for her blog "Lawtechrose".
With the newsletter I want to encourage my readers to play a part in shaping the (digital) future
Ann Cathrin Riedel
With her newsletter, Ann Cathrin Riedel aims to arouse enthusiasm in a personal way for citizens' rights, and also to warn about dangers. At the same time, she aims to encourage her readers in a constructive and thoughtful way to play a part in shaping the (digital) future.
Inga Bergen and Jolanda Rose shared second place. The awards ceremony was framed by entertaining speeches from Dr. Markus Säugling, who was representing the award sponsors – the law firm Magellan Rechtsanwälte – , and Professor Hannah Schmidt-Petri, holder of the Chair of Science Communication at the University of Passau. The welcoming speech was made by the patron of the For..Net Symposium, Dorothee Bär, State Minister for Digitalisation. Professor Dirk Heckmann moderated the programme as its presenter and host.
Professor Dirk Heckmann
Which data merits protection and why?
Which data merits protection and why?
Professor Dirk Heckmann holds the Chair of Law and Security of Digitization at the Technical University of Munich and heads the Research Centre for IT Law and Network Policy at the University of Passau. He is also a member of the federal government's Data Ethics Commission and serves, among other functions, as a constitutional judge in the Bavarian Constitutional Court. From 1998 to 2019 he held the Chair of Public Law, Security Law and Internet Law at the University of Passau.
