The Digital Economic Security Lab (DIESL) held its Annual Seminar on 14–15 April 2026 at the Oxford Internet Institute, in Oxford, UK.
The two-day event brought together DIESL researchers from Oxford, Aalto, and partner universities, featuring presentations on the political geography of data, digital dependence in public sector digital infrastructure, the politics of digital sovereignty, tech firms’ relationships with the state, and the intersection of innovation and economic security.
The seminar, led by Professor Vili Lehdonvirta, provided researchers with the opportunity to present research and receive feedback. The programme also included an evening panel discussion at Jesus College on whether technology governance is catching up with technological power. The seminar concluded with a dinner and punting on the Cherwell river.
Presentations
- Jean-Michelle Dalle: The Geoeconomics of Venture Capital: An Economic Complexity Approach to Emerging Technological Sovereignty
- Martina Ferracane: The International Political Economy of Data Flows
- Ana Paula Gonzalez Torres: AI the Brussels’ Way? Striving for Simple (De)regulation
- Markus Holmgren: Cloudy Sovereignty and Corporate Agency
- Otto Kässi: The Impact of Data Transfer Restrictions on Data Centre Geography
- Jaakko Kilpi: Detecting Digital Dependence: Applying ML Methods to Hosting Infrastructure Identification
- Vili Lehdonvirta: The Production of Digital Dependence: IT Outsourcing and Offshoring in European Public Administration
- Kunhan Li: How Government Digital Policies Shape the Global Geography of Data Centres
- Kaarlo Liukkonen: Diverging Digital Dependencies: Post-Snowden Changes in Countries’ Reliance on U.S. Big Tech’s Email
- Anniki Mikelsaar: Submarine Cables / Innovation / Security
- Mimmi Piikkilä: The Global Production of Public Sector Software
- Philipp Riederle: Digital Platform Interoperability
- Julia Rone: Digital Sovereignty in the Cloud as a Lifeline: EU Business Ideational Power from a Weaker Market Position
- Stefka Schmid: From Globalists to Nationalists? US Tech Firms’ Strategic Relationships with the State
Panel: “Is Technology Governance Catching Up with Technological Power?”
- Kayla Blomquist
- Mari Sako
- Robert Trager
- Alina Utrata