BRIDGE Lab

In The BRIDGE Lab, DSI researchers aim to create a collaborative platform as a structural vessel to promote research and innovation across sectors and cultures, by connecting science with business, cultures, and the society more broadly.

Today, we live in a world of interconnected global issues of great complexity. Yet, digital transformation and technological advancement – even when developed with good intentions and used for good purposes – may supercharge existing problems and power dynamics and become increasingly interlocking, which makes problem-solving ever harder. While the scale and magnitude of the global issues are accelerating and growing ever more complex, our ability to comprehend these challenges and respond accordingly across all sectors and cultures is not matching pace. This gap between the rising interconnected complexity of our problems and our inability to make sense of them is the «wisdom gap».

The BRIDGE Lab offers an exploratory space to bridge the «wisdom gap» by addressing the challenge of «value sensitive innovation» through its strategically defined service portfolio (PNG, 181 KB). The ethos of the lab is to smoothen the path and support different societal actors with better acceptance of, and adaptation to, emerging technology of high impact. In the long run, the outcomes of the lab activities will help local authorities to strengthen the competence profiles and to enhance the attractiveness and competitiveness of the Greater Zurich Area as a unique hub for innovation.

The BRIDGE Lab is funded by the Digitalization Initiative of the Zurich Higher Education Institutions (DIZH). Project partners include key societal actors at different institutional levels, such as the Swiss federal and cantonal authorities.

Here you can find a short interview about the project.

Project duration: 01.07.2022 – 31.10.2025

Contact person: Dr. Ning Wang

Website: The BRIDGE Lab: Bridging the «Wisdom Gap»

Project Team

Dr. Ning Wang is an ethicist and a political scientist based at UZH since 2017. Her research revolves around the notion of «Value Sensitive Innovation», with a focus on the ethics assessment and responsible governance of emerging and future technologies. In between her academic endeavors, she worked for international organizations across government, industry, and NGOs during six years in Geneva, Switzerland.

Prof. Dr. Davide Scaramuzza is the Director of the Robotics and Perception Group (RPG) of the Departments of Informatics at UZH. His research lies at the intersection of robotics, computer vision, and machine learning, and aims to enable autonomous and agile navigation of micro drones in search-and-rescue applications.

Prof. Dr. Francis Cheneval is the Head of the Department of Philosophy and Chair of Political Philosophy at UZH. His research focuses on a range of subjects including democracy, justice, property rights, political thought, and most recently the organizational and political consequences of drone applications by public authorities.