International Programs in Sustainable DevelopmentsIn no country in
the world digitalization – using big data, artificial intelligence or Industry 4.0 – is as advanced as in China. It now encompasses
all areas of life: communication, education, media, entertainment, medicine, trade, and industry. The downside of this technological
penetration is a ubiquitous surveillance, social control, and censorship.
The lecture
explains the political motivations and strategies driving digitalization and describes who the key players are and how politics
and industry interact. It also gives an insight into everyday "life in the cloud", which is dominated by a few super apps
for cell phones, and shows how censorship and surveillance are increasingly curtailing freedom of thought and expression.
Ingrid Fischer-Schreiber studied French and Italian at the Institute for Translator and
Interpreter Training, and Sinology at the Institute for Sinology, both at the University of Vienna, as well as Sinology in
Beijing between 1980 and 1982. Since 1985 she has been a freelance translator, writer, editor, and cultural project manager.
From 2009 to 2015 Ingrid lived and worked in Beijing and Shanghai.
