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Horizon 2020 Co-Inform project kicks off

Author: Francesca Zuccotti, Digital Marketing & Communications Lead at Scytl

Co-Inform is a EU-funded project involving top universities, a research centre, a fact-checking organization, and SMEs in 7 European countries. The aim of the project is to develop tools to engage citizens, journalists, and policymakers in fighting misinformation on social media. The tools will be tested by stakeholders during pilots in 3 different EU countries: Austria, Greece, and Sweden.

In May 2018, the Co-Inform multidisciplinary Consortium gathered in Stockholm for a 2-days workshop.

Experts from the 9 partners organizations attended the Kick-off meeting to discuss the main objectives of the project and set the initial steps to deliver them over the next 3 years.

Co-Inform aims to make a difference and bring a positive change in society by attracting users from different socio-economic backgrounds.

The Consortium, therefore, identified the 3 main objectives of the tools to be developed:

  • Build resilience to misinformation among citizens, journalists and policymakers. The tools will allow users to identify the false news on social media and rectify it with verified information provided by fact-checking organizations.
  • Help policymakers creating better-informed policies, based on facts and not bias. The tools will predict which type of false information is more likely to spread, track how public opinion is forming around it, and how the demographic and geographical factors are influencing the acceptance and spread of such news.
  • Help stakeholders learn how to handle misinformation. The tools will monitor citizens’ perceptions and behaviour with regards to processing and sharing misinformation and corrective information.

Creating such tools requires expertise in co-creation strategies, data science, computational and semantic modelling, social media analytics, community engagement, policymaking processes, platform development, etc.

That is why Co-Inform brings together a team of experts in all the above-mentioned disciplines:

    • eGovlab at the Department of Computer & System Science at Stockholm University is the project coordinator and a leader in co-creation methods and tools.
    • The Department of Communication and Internet Studies at the Cyprus University of Technology promotes the study, research, and practical applications in the fields of Communication, Mass Media and the internet.
    • The Knowledge Media Institute of the Open University has a long history of researching and developing social sofwares and online community analytics tools and algorithms.
    • The Institute for Web Science and Technologies and the Institute for Communication Psychology and Media Education of the University of Koblenz-Landau are involved in multiple projects in their respective disciplines. The former has 25 years of experience in teaching and researching informatics, while the latter brings expertise in media psychology, applied communication psychology, and political psychology.
    • FactCheckNI is a project led by the Northern Ireland Foundation, an independent, non-profit organization, in partnership with Transformative Connections. It is Northern Ireland’s first and only dedicated fact-checking service. FCNI publishes all its fact-checked claims and its Media Monitors review online and offline new sources, political party websites, social media, and proceedings from government debates and public meetings.
    • Expert System Iberia is a leader in the market of Semantic Intelligence both in Europe and the US, developing advanced solutions for companies and government entities.
    • The School of Science and Technology of the International Hellenic University brings expertise in eGovernment and eParticipation, and Information & Communication Technologies.
    • The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis is a non-governmental research organization sponsored by scientific organisations. The work of the institute is based on state-of-the-art methodology and analytical approaches linking a variety of natural and social science disciplines.
    • Scytl is the worldwide leader in secure electronic voting, election management, and election modernization solutions. Its technology incorporates unique cryptographic protocols that ensure maximum security, transparency, and auditability in all types of elections.

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Co-Inform Copyright 2021
Disclaimer

Co-inform project is co-funded by Horizon 2020 – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2014-2020)
H2020-SC6-CO-CREATION-2016-2017 (CO-CREATION FOR GROWTH AND INCLUSION)
Type of action: RIA (Research and Innovation action)
Proposal number: 770302

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