Christian Fieseler, Samson Esayas and Sebastian Schwemer join new NordForsk-funded AI initiative

One of these projects, RAISE (Protecting Digital Dignity in Public Services), is directly aligned with NCIS’ mission to understand how internet technologies shape society and governance. Christian Fieseler, Professor at the Department of Communication and Culture, leads the BI team, which also includes Associate Professors Samson Esayas and Sebastian Schwemer from the Department of Law and Governance.

NCIS members involved in the NordForsk-funded RAISE project. From left: Christian Fieseler, Samson Esayas, and Sebastian Schwemer.

Professor Christian Fieseler explains the project’s motivation and what RAISE aims to change: “We are looking forward to working on this project because AI is quickly becoming part of everyday public services, yet governance still too often stops at procedural checkboxes like transparency and privacy, while broader societal risks like exclusion, bias, and weakened institutional legitimacy remain harder to see and address. We hope that through RAISE, which puts digital dignity and responsiveness to public needs at the center, we can help the Nordic region identify systemic risks earlier, learn across countries, and strengthen public trust as AI reshapes government decision-making”.

A key outcome of the project will be a Nordic AI Monitoring Hub. This will be an open-access database and dashboard designed to track the societal impact of AI systems in public services. The hub will support evidence-based monitoring and cross-border learning as AI increasingly influences government decision-making.