Conference
5 and 6 November 2026
Vorhoelzer Forum, Arcisstr. 21, 80333 Munich

Organised by the Constitutional Design Lab (Technical University of Munich) in cooperation with the Center for Responsible AI Technologies.

About the conference

The relationship between normativity and technology is one of the pressing questions of our time. On the one hand, normative orders, whether legal, ethical, social or technical, face the task of containing and shaping the digital transformation of society. On the other hand, these normativities themselves are becoming objects of technological change: the ways in which they emerge, are conveyed and are enforced are shifting fundamentally. This holds in a particular way for the law, whose creation, application and enforcement are undergoing profound change in the course of digitalisation.

Over two days, the conference brings together experts from law and neighbouring disciplines to explore three guiding questions:

1. To what extent is technological change amenable to normative and, in particular, legal governance?
2. To what extent must normative orders, above all the law, themselves change in order to meet the challenges of digitalisation?
3. What potentials and risks does the technological transformation of normativity and law entail?

Programme

Day 1 (5 November, in German) focuses on the constitutional and state-law foundations of technology governance and their embedding in wider normative orders, from foundational concepts in the morning to concrete decisions in the afternoon.

Day 2 (6 November, in English) turns to the European, international and interdisciplinary dimension, from data protection and AI regulation to questions of digital norm- and law-making, bridging theory and practice.

Agenda

Day 1

• Keynote: Prof. Dr. Christoph Möllers (HU Berlin / Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin), “Enabling Possibilities Through Technology”
• Keynote: Prof. Dr. Armin Nassehi (LMU Munich), “Digital and Normative Patterns”
• Commentary and response on keynotes 1 and 2 with Prof. Dr. Marion Albers (University of Hamburg), Prof. Dr. Lena Ulbricht (University of Hildesheim), Prof. Dr. Armin Nassehi and Prof. Dr. Christoph Möllers; chair: Prof. Dr. Michael Reder (Munich School of Philosophy)
• Keynote: Prof. Dr. Andreas Paulus (University of Göttingen, former Judge of the Federal Constitutional Court), “Network Regulation and Fundamental Rights Between Europe, the United States, and Silicon Valley”
• Keynote: Prof. Dr. Kerstin Schlögl-Flierl (University of Augsburg, German Ethics Council), “Who Decides? Authorship and Responsibility Between Humans and Systems”
• Panel discussion with Prof. Dr. Markus Kneer (University of Graz), Prof. Thomas Streinz (European University Institute) and Prof. Dr. Ursula Münch (Academy for Political Education Tutzing / Bundeswehr University Munich); chair: Prof. Dr. Jörg Niewöhner (Technical University of Munich)

Day 2

• Keynote: Prof. Dr. Marie-Claire Foblets (Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology), “Entangled Normativities: A Reality Viewed Through the Prism of Legal Anthropology. A Presentation Illustrated by Recent Ethnographic Studies”
• Keynote: Prof. Dr. Miloš Vec (University of Vienna), “Technology, Law, History: Understanding Normative Plurality”
• Panel discussion with Prof. Dr. Andreas Sudmann (University of Bonn), Prof. Dr. Thomas Wischmeyer (HU Berlin), Prof. Dr. Stefania Centrone (Technical University of Munich) and Prof. Dr. Sahana Udupa (LMU Munich); chair: Prof. Dr. Julia Inthorn (Munich School of Philosophy)
• Keynote: Marit Hansen (State Data Protection Commissioner of Schleswig-Holstein), “Data (Protection) Law by Design: Why It Can(not) Work”
• Keynote: Žilvinas Bubnys (European Commission), “European Legal Data Space”
• Panel discussion with Dr. Andreas Unteidig (HSLU), Prof. Dr. Anna Keune (Technical University of Munich) and Dr. Joaquín Santuber (Johannes Kepler University Linz); chair: Prof. Dr. Bianca Herlo (HSLU)
• Closing keynote: Dr. Francis Hunger (Academy of Fine Arts Munich), “Minimum Viable Configuration”

Venue and date

5 and 6 November 2026
Vorhoelzer Forum, Arcisstr. 21, 80333 Munich

Call for Posters: for doctoral researchers

Alongside the conference, we invite PostDocs & Doctoral Researchers to present their ongoing work in a poster session and to engage directly with our speakers and guests. 20 slots are available.
The submission deadline is 02 October 2026.

Learn more

Questions? Reach out to lst@sot.tum.de