On May 3rd, 2022, the opening event for the Christian Doppler Lab for Recommender Systems took place starting with welcome address by TU Wien Vice Rector for Research and Innovation Johannes Fröhlich, Vice President of the Christian Doppler Research Association Ulrike Unterer, and TU Wien Informatics Dean Gerti Kappel. Then, the keynote talk by former dean of TU Wien Informatics Hannes Werthner followed. Afterwards, the CD Laboratory for Recommender Systems was presented by Julia Neidhardt, Siegmar Schlager, Florian Jungnikl-Gossy, and Bernhard Krüpl-Sypien.

Program

Welcome address

• Univ.-Prof. DI Dr. Johannes Fröhlich Vice Rector for Research and Innovation, TU Wien
• MR Dr. Ulrike Unterer Vice President of the Christian Doppler Research Association and
  Head of the Department for Key Technologies at the BMDW
• O.Univ.Prof. Dr. Gerti Kappel Dean of TU Wien Informatics

Keynote

• Univ.Prof. Dr. Hannes Werthner Former Professor and former Dean of TU Wien Informatics

Presentation of the CD Laboratory for Recommender Systems

• Dr. Julia Neidhardt Head of the CD Laboratory for Recommender Systems, TU Wien Informatics
• Mag. Siegmar Schlager Managing Director, Falter Verlagsgesellschaft m.b.H.
• Florian Jungnikl-Gossy, MA Chief Product Officer, Falter Verlagsgesellschaft m.b.H.
• DI Bernhard Krüpl-Sypien Managing Director, YKMB Software GmbH

The event is moderated by Dr. Irina Nalis-Neuner, CD Laboratory for Recommender Systems, TU Wien Informatics.

Christian Doppler Lab for Recommender Systems

TU Wien Informatics now hosts the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Advancing the State-of-the-Art of Recommender Systems in Multi-Domain Settings, which will focus on dynamic aspects of recommender systems under the direction of Julia Neidhardt. The lab is based at the Institute for Information Systems Engineering and cooperates with Falter Verlagsgesellschaft m.b.H. and YKMB Software GmbH.

Recommender systems are omnipresent in our everyday lives - from product recommendations in online stores and personalized content on social media to streaming services’ movie suggestions. We are used to the impressive precision of these systems, offering us tailored recommendations –but at the same time severely limiting our reception, interaction, and consumption choices. This bias not only affects the virtual world but has very real social and political implications. The Christian Doppler Laboratory for Recommender Systems is therefore researching strategies for diversifying recommender systems. Its focus is on the dynamic development of the systems, both in time and with regard to the social context and realities of the users. Questions about the relationship between individuals and groups are at the core of research endeavors: How does the inclusion of users’ networks change the systems? How do group decisions work and do they influence diversity? And what role does the application area - from news recommendations to restaurant suggestions - play in the diversification strategy?

At Christian Doppler Laboratories, application-oriented basic research is conducted at a high level, with outstanding scientists cooperating with innovative companies. The Christian Doppler Research Association is internationally regarded as a best-practice example for the promotion of this cooperation. Christian Doppler Laboratories are jointly funded by the public sector and the participating companies. The most important public funding body is the Austrian Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs (BMDW).

Video

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