Society 5.0 International Conference on the Co-Existence Between Human Being and Machine Being
This year’s Society 5.0 International Conference on the Co-Existence Between Human Being and Machine Being held in San Benedetto, Italy, provided an excellent platform for experts to share their research and insights. The conference explored how human–machine interaction is reshaping our lives—creating opportunities to advance social good while also raising important ethical questions. It received 64 submissions, of which 39 were accepted for presentation, and 23 will be published in the conference proceedings by Springer.
Presentations
Over the three-day conference, we had the pleasure of presenting several of our research contributions.
Our first presentation was Decision Support for Digital Payment Facilitation by Sergi Gubin, Petra Maria Asprion, and Barry Franck. This project offers a practical decision-making framework for companies considering whether to adopt digital payment systems — especially those on the verge of taking that step.
A true highlight was the talk on Cultural Influences on Human Cybersecurity Behaviour: A Study of Switzerland and Cameroon, by Franka Ebob Enow Ebai, Simon Eyongabane Ako, Bettina Schneider, George Fonkeng Epah, Gaius Ngong Mufua, Willibroad Abongwa Acho, Williams Boma, Delbert Akom Afumbom, Veronica Ika K. Visemih, Samuel Nemkul Lackbuin, and Mary Feh. With this work, we are laying the foundation for the first cybersecurity community bridging Africa and Switzerland. A powerful example of meaningful and promising international cooperation.
We also explored digital inclusion in Towards an Inclusive Digital Society: Digital Accessibility Framework for Visually Impaired Citizens in Swiss Public Administration by Sabina Werren, Hermann Grieder, and Christopher Scherb — tackling barriers to access in public services.
Sherdel Käppler presented Data Security Compliance – An Application-Oriented Solution for Small Businesses, co-authored with Petra Maria Asprion and Tanja Tschan. For this project we developed a comprehensive but easy to use hands-on tool to help small businesses assess and improve the security of their digital data — practical, effective, and urgently needed.
Our presentations concluded with an exciting collaboration: Revolutionizing Whistleblowing through Digital Trust: A Comparative Analysis of South Africa and Switzerland by Hermann Grieder, Marié Hattingh, Alexander Norta, and Petra Maria Asprion. This marks the start of a research partnership on secure, anonymous reporting systems — with the goal of developing solutions that set new benchmarks for digital trust.