Ithaca project

📘 A new open access book on AI and democratic governance is now available!

The publication features insights from four Horizon Europe projects: Orbis project eu, AI4Gov, ITHACA and KT4D. They are exploring how Artificial Intelligence can support democratic participation, transparency and accountability across Europe. 🇪🇺

🤖 The book discusses both the opportunities and challenges of AI in governance, including:
🔹 algorithmic bias
🔹 public trust
🔹 inclusion and accessibility
🔹 ethical and transparent AI governance
🔹 protection of fundamental rights

🌍 Within the publication, the ITHACA project highlights the importance of human-centric and trustworthy AI for civic participation. The project focuses on making AI systems fair, explainable and inclusive, especially for vulnerable and underrepresented groups, while supporting citizens’ engagement in local governance.

🔍 The publication also presents practical approaches and frameworks for:
✔️ participatory co-assessment
✔️ privacy-preserving technologies aligned with GDPR
✔️ ethical AI deployment
✔️ transparent and accountable governance processes

💡 Beyond technology, the book underlines a broader vision: AI should strengthen democracy by making participation more open, collaborative and accessible to all citizens.

👏 Thank you to all contributors for their valuable work and collaboration on this publication.

👉 Read and download the book here:
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-032-23948-8

✨ Season’s Greetings from the ITHACA Project ✨

As we come to the end of our 3-year journey, we want to say a sincere thank you to all partners, participants, pilot cities, and everyone who took part in our events and pilot sessions.

Together, we explored how responsible, human-centric AI can strengthen civic participation and contributed to the development of a digital platform turning research into practice.

As ITHACA Project reaches its final chapter, its outcomes and ideas continue to live on.

🎄 Wishing you a peaceful holiday season and a bright year ahead!

🎙️ Final Conference — Beyond the Algorithm: From Research to Action for Democratic Renewal

Last week, Brussels hosted Beyond the Algorithm, the joint final event of the Horizon Europe projects AI4GOV, KT4D, ITHACA, and Orbis project eu.

It was organised by the AI, Big Data & Democracy Task Force and the European Alliance for Social Sciences and Humanities (EASSH).

🤝 A special thank you to our coordinator Konnektable Technologies Ltd., Epameinondas Koutavelis and Angelos Liapis for their contributions throughout the event.

We also extend our thanks to Konstantinos Moustakas from the Πανεπιστήμιο Πατρών University of Patras for his valuable input.

👏 Huge appreciation to all speakers, chairs, attendees, and partners across AI4GOV, ITHACA, ORBIS, the Task Force, and EASSH for creating a meaningful and engaging day dedicated to strengthening democratic processes in the digital age.

✨ The event explored trust, digital literacies, and democracy-centred technologies.

Undoubtedly, it showed how research can turn into practical action for fair, transparent, and inclusive governance.

👉 More: https://kt4democracy.eu/events/final-event

🎙️ Democracy Beyond Algorithm: From Research to Action – 4 December 2025

Today Brussels is hosting Beyond the Algorithm: From Research to Action for Democratic Renewal – the joint final event of the Horizon Europe projects AI4GOV, KT4D, ITHACA and Orbis project eu, under the AI, Big Data & Democracy Task Force and the European Alliance for Social Sciences and Humanities.

🤝 Our partner from Konnektable Technologies Ltd., Epameinondas Koutavelis, presented “How AI & Big Data Technologies Are Transforming the Capacity to Form, Lose, and Rebuild Trust” within the ITHACA project.

🧩 The programme is built around three thematic panels:

🔹 Trust – insights from AI4GOV and ITHACA plus policy perspectives and recommendations
🔹 Literacies – moderated by Angelos Liapis and Spiros Borotis, with contributions from ORBIS, KT4D and European Commission representatives
🔹 Democracy-Centred Technology – findings from KT4D and ORBIS with high-level policymakers and experts

This afternoon, a keynote panel will open space for reflection and debate, followed by closing remarks and a brokerage session combined with an exhibition of tools and methodologies developed by the Task Force.

🚨 𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘽𝙚𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙡𝙜𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙢: 𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙤 𝘼𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝘿𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙍𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙬𝙖𝙡!

𝗢𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝟯 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗼 until Brussels hosts this major final event of the 𝗔𝗜, 𝗕𝗶𝗴 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 & 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝗧𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲, bringing together 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗼𝗻 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 – 𝗔𝗜𝟰𝗚𝗢𝗩, 𝗞𝗧𝟰𝗗, 𝗜𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗖𝗔 and 𝗢𝗥𝗕𝗜𝗦.

This is your opportunity to join leading experts, policymakers and civil society organisations to explore how AI and Big Data can 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 and 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁.

⏳ 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝗼𝗻! 𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝘀:
📍 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟰, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱
📌 𝗜𝗻-𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝘃𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆

🔗 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: https://kt4democracy.eu/form/taskforce-event-beyond-algorithm