Official Opening of CAISA Hub in Aalborg
New National Hub to Strengthen Research and Collaboration on AI and Society
On May 6, 2026, CAISA marked the official opening of the center’s hub in Aalborg. Located at AAU Innovate, the hub provides a foundation for a strengthened research and collaboration environment focused on artificial intelligence and its societal implications.
The opening brought together researchers, decision-makers, and stakeholders across sectors with a shared objective: to develop knowledge about how AI affects society, organizations, and value creation, and how this knowledge can be translated into practice.
A New Focus Point for Research on AI and Society
The event was opened by Thomas Bak, Dean of Faculty of IT and Design at Aalborg University, who emphasized the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in understanding and shaping future technologies.
This was followed by presentations from CAISA Directory Rebecca Adler-Nissen and Deputy Director Thomas B. Moeslund, who outlined CAISA’s research approach. The focus was on how the center works systematically and across disciplines to analyze the role of AI in society, including its opportunities, risks, and governance challenges.
The opening marks an important step in CAISA’s ambition to serve as a national focal point for research on AI and society, with strong foundations in both international research environments and Danish application contexts.
Panel Discussions on AI, Value Creation, and Human Implications
As a central part of the program, two panel discussions addressed key areas of the current AI agenda:
1). AI and value creation
2). AI and people
The panels brought together experts from both academia and practice, including Malene Flensborg Damholdt, Morten Axel Pedersen, Jeppe Agger Nielsen, Roman Jurowetzki, Martin Rune Hoxer, and Birgit Pia Nøjr, and were moderated by Anders Høeg Nissen.
The discussions focused on how AI creates value across sectors, as well as the implications of the technology for working life, decision-making processes, and human capabilities. They also highlighted the need to continuously balance innovation with consideration related to ethics, regulation, and societal values.
Strengthening CAISA’s National Presence
With the establishment of the Aalborg hub, CAISA expands its physical and research presence in Denmark.
The hub will serve as a platform for:
- cross- sector collaboration
- dissemination of research-based knowledge on AI
- dialogue between academia, industry, and public sector actors
- development of new projects at the intersection of technology and society
At the same time, the hub contributes to bringing international research perspectives closer to Danish application contexts, which is essential for ensuring that new knowledge is translated into practical insight and action.
AI as a Societal Concern
The opening of CAISA’s Aalborg hub underscores that Ai is not only a technological development, but a broader societal concern that requires interdisciplinary research and close collaboration among stakeholders.
From the Aalborg hub, CAISA will continue its work analyzing and communicating howe AI impacts society, and which strategic, political, and organizational choices follow.
Through six interventions from leading European scholars in their field, this research brief examines the challenges of governing AI-generated content in an information environment where such content is rapidly becoming the norm. Drawing on interdisciplinary perspectives, the contributions assess the effectiveness and limitations of emerging AI transparency governance, particularly labelling requirements under the EU AI Act and the forthcoming Code of Practice on marking and labelling of AI-generated content. While transparency labels are normatively important for informing users about content provenance, research suggests that labelling alone is unlikely to mitigate manipulation, restore trust, or empower citizens. The research brief therefore argues for a broader transparency ecosystem that combines labelling with governance infrastructure, organisational accountability, and ongoing research to develop adaptive, evidence-based approaches to AI transparency.
Artificial intelligence has moved to the very center of Danish politics. During the government negotiations at Marienborg in April 2026, the talks were temporarily paused so that senior politicians could attend a seminar on AI and its societal implications.
At the seminar, CAISA Director Rebecca Adler-Nissen, together with Professor Abraham Newman (Georgetown University), contributed research-based perspectives on the role of AI in geopolitics, the economy, and democracy. Their presentation addressed, among other issues, how artificial intelligence affects security, labor markets, education, and Europe’s strategic position.
According to TV2, there was strong interest among the politicians, who actively engaged with questions related to both technological developments and societal consequences. Rebecca Adler-Nissen highlighted the high level of engagement and the growing demand for knowledge about the implications of AI across policy areas.
CAISA’s participation underscores the center’s role in bringing research-based knowledge into political decision-making processes and contributing to the responsible development of AI in society.
This brief is currently only available in Danish.
Summary (Translated)
Digital sovereignty is multidimensional and requires priority
In a time of geopolitical instability and rapid AI development, control over digital infrastructure and data has become critical. While there is broad agreement on the need for action at the national, Nordic, and EU levels, a shared language around digital sovereignty is still lacking. This lack of alignment leads either to inaction or to narrow technical solutions without strategic direction. The core argument of the brief is that digital sovereignty is a multidimensional concept, involving both principled positions and pragmatic choices. Reducing it to technical solutions risks overlooking the values and trade-offs that determine who controls and benefits from these systems. Conversely, focusing solely on values leads to abstract principles without practical implementation or real impact. Digital sovereignty is rarely about choosing between full self-sufficiency and total dependence. Rather, it is about balancing often competing demands for openness, security, competitiveness, growth, values, and rights in a world where capabilities are unevenly distributed. This means that it is necessary to define who or what is to be protected or promoted, within the domains of security, economic growth, or citizens’ rights, and to recognize that choices in one domain may strengthen or undermine another. The brief focuses on AI as the area where digital sovereignty is most acutely at stake, but the concepts apply more broadly to digital infrastructure and data. It provides decision-makers with tools to navigate these dilemmas by presenting:
- A conceptual framework for identifying who or what should be digitally sovereign.
- An overview of how digital sovereignty is prioritized around the world.
- An understanding that sovereignty can be exercised through three control regimes: ownership, expertise, or regulation – but that none of these are sufficient on their own.
The central implication of the brief is that digital sovereignty requires an integrated strategy that combines ownership, expertise, and regulation, while managing the interdependencies and trade-offs between security, economic growth, and citizens’ rights through clear objectives. Without this holistic approach, there is a risk of ineffective regulation, unusable infrastructure, or a lack of capacity to develop, maintain, and apply solutions in practice, potentially undermining security, growth, or rights.
