Save the dates: 17-19 June 2026 – TILTing perspectives 2026:
TILTing 2026 – Between Values and Innovation: Tech Governance in a Multicentric World
In an era of rapid technological advancement, the challenge of nurturing both values and innovation lies at the heart of future tech governance. On the one hand, there is growing concern over the ethical, social, and political consequences of unregulated digital technologies, from algorithmic discrimination and surveillance capitalism to data colonialism and AI-driven manipulation. On the other hand, societies must also sustain the momentum of technological innovation that fuels economic growth, competitiveness, and societal progress.
Balancing these two imperatives means developing governance models that can preserve core democratic values and human rights while encouraging experimentation, investment, and openness to new ideas. This dual commitment reflects the recognition that innovation without values can lead to harm, while values without innovation may risk irrelevance or stagnation.
In an era of polarizing global opinions, the future of digital governance is increasingly fragmented by competing geopolitical agendas. We are entering a phase of conflict short of war—economic, political, ideological—where power is exercised through code, infrastructure, and standards as much as through traditional means. From cloud computing to AI, from chips to data flows, tech has become a primary vector of geopolitical contestation.
Ultimately, nurturing values and innovation in a multipolar world is not only a technical task but a political and philosophical one. It requires rethinking who has the authority to govern technology, whose interests are prioritized, and how to ensure that digital futures remain open, equitable, and democratic. Rather than choosing between innovation and regulation, societies must seek pathways that integrate both using governance not to constrain technology, but to guide it in the service of shared human flourishing.
In our daily lives, across continents, we rely on infrastructures, platforms and policies, shaped by tech giants built on a libertarian ethos and fueled by venture capital. Meanwhile, emerging technological superpowers are guided by nationalistic policies and strategic geopolitical ambition. Effective governance in the digital space in this context will depend on the ability to build coalitions, recognize normative diversity, and develop mechanisms for mutual recognition and interoperability. More than ever, there is a need for inclusive dialogue that brings together different value systems, legal traditions, and innovation ecosystems. The goal should be not merely to harmonize rules but to foster co-governance arrangements that are flexible, legitimate, and resilient in the face of rapid technological change.
Amid these competing forces, Europe stands to strive for digital sovereignty and strategic autonomy in a world where its technological infrastructure remains heavily dependent on non-European actors.
TILTing 2026 will tackle these realities head-on. What does it mean to govern technology in a fractured global order? What tensions arise between promoting innovation and asserting sovereignty? Can values be upheld when the very architecture of the digital world is shaped elsewhere?
The conference will feature a Grand Track tackling these urgent questions, alongside several specialized tracks examining critical topics in law, technology, and the digital economy—continuing the long-standing tradition of the TILTing conference series.
Save the date between 17-19 June 2026, to join us in Tilburg, the Netherlands, to rethink and redesign, to inspire, instigate, and interact with the future of tech governance.
Keywords in no particular order:
AI, algorithms, generative AI, ethical AI, algorithmic accountability, bias, fairness, discrimination, social sorting, deepfakes, code, neurotechnology, biotechnology, blockchain, innovation, innovation policy, regulation, governance, private regulation, platform governance, standardization, certifications, transparency,accountability, digital sovereignty, borderless regulation, data governance, data protection, privacy, data justice, data ethics, dataspaces, data localization, surveillance, access to information, digital rights, manipulation, cybersecurity, cybercrime, resilience, platform liability, internet governance, competition, market power, gatekeepers, platforms, antitrust, intellectual property, intellectual property (IP), DSA (Digital Services Act), DMA (Digital Markets Act), AML (Anti-Money Laundering), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), ePrivacy Directive, environmental law and technology, climate policy, energy transition, sustainable development, anthropocene, digital divides, (killer) robots, drones, strategic autonomy, digital sovereignty, infrastructure, cloud computing.
Specialized tracks:
1. Is it even mine?
Privacy, data protection, and surveillance
This track deals with the social, legal, and technological dimension of privacy, data protection, and surveillance in a ‘datafied world’. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
2. Do Androids dream of fair decisions?
Artificial Intelligence all the way
This track deals with the social and legal implications of Artificial Intelligence, from Generative AI to algorithmic discrimination and social sorting.
3. Ctrl+C, Ctrl+compete
IP, competition, and innovation
How do we boost competition and innovation, while at the same time protecting rightsholders? This track deals with IP law—copyright, patents, trademarks, IP enforcement and sui generis rights—and competition law.
4. Who let the dogs out?
Platform governance: disinformation, content moderation, and freedom of expression and
information
From “fake news” to “shadow-banning”, society must now account for the ever-increasing power of digital platforms. This track deals with the balance between regulating platforms and fostering freedom of expression and information.
5. Click here to accept all threats
Cybercrime, cybersecurity and cyber-resilience
The internet is a dangerous place. All over the world, regulators are trying to make it safer. This track deals with cybercrime and cybersecurity law and policy.
6. The Global south has entered the chat
(Data) governance and the Global South: moving beyond a tripolar world?
The attention of scholars is often focused on the EU, the US, and China. Those countries/regions, however, are not the only ones that shape the governance of data, networks, and infrastructure. This track spotlights current research on law and governance in the Global South.
7. Regulation without a flag
Standardization, certifications, and private regulation
The power to regulate, traditionally a prerogative of nation states, is increasingly wielded by private actors. This track explores private regulation: standardization, certifications, and anything in between.
8. Weaponizing infrastructure
Digital sovereignty and strategic autonomy in a borderless world
This track explores instruments and models of regulatory governance and approaches to innovation that foster national and supra-national (strategic) autonomy and (digital) sovereignty.
9. Upgrade available (Human Rights not included)
Innovation meets human rights
This track examines how cutting-edge technologies, from AI and IoT to blockchain and neurotechnologies, intersect with fundamental rights, balancing rapid innovation against the imperatives of privacy, freedom of expression, freedom of thought and non-discrimination among others.
10. Heroes wanted: the planet needs you
Energy transition, climate change, biodiversity, anthropocene
By the power of law and science, we must unite! In the face of climate chaos, biodiversity loss, and the ever-intensifying Anthropocene, this track dives into how law, policy, and innovation can turbocharge the energy transition and protect our fragile planet. It’s a call to action—because there is no Planet B.
11. I for one welcome our new Robot Overlords
Classic Gikii energy. Resistance is futile.
Contact
General queries relating to the conference can be addressed to the organizing committee at TILTing@tilburguniversity.edu
Queries regarding the Conference tracks and sessions should be addressed to the organizing committee
Ronald Leenes - R.E.Leenes@tilburguniversity.edu
Pratiksha Ashok – P.Ashok@tilburguniversity.edu
Lorenzo Dalla Corte – L.DallaCorte@tilburguniversity.edu
Alexandra Ziaka – A.Ziaka@tilburguniversity.edu
