Held for the first time on 13–21 August, the Dig-IT Lab summer school offered participants a broad introduction to the digitalisation of the built environment. Grounded in Dig-IT Lab’s cross-disciplinary approach, the programme also introduced the centre’s activities to a wider public.
Over nine days in August, participants in the online Dig-IT Lab summer school got to explore how digital technologies and AI are transforming building systems and driving the development of more sustainable and intelligent built environments.
Aimed at PhD and advanced master’s students, early-career researchers and professionals, the programme combined lectures with hands-on sessions and interactive group work.
“One of my main takeaways was how well the online format worked for such a large and international group. We were able to reach participants from many countries and institutions, including those with limited resources,” says co-organiser Qianwen Xu.
Covering all aspects of digitalisation
The summer school was organised by Dig-IT Lab researchers Qianwen Xu and Tobias Oechtering, with contributions from their centre colleagues. In line with Dig-IT Lab’s cross-disciplinary vision, topics spanned from smart microgrids and AI-based data-driven prediction models to the ethical aspects of technology development.
“Digitalisation is not only a technical challenge. To develop solutions that can actually be implemented in society, technical advances need to be considered together with aspects such as ethics, privacy, business models and societal impact,” says Qianwen.
An online-only approach
All sessions were run as MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). The format was to some extent a practical necessity, but turned out to have merits of its own.
“It was an experiment, since we did not have a budget to organise a physical summer school. The implementation was surprisingly smooth, and this way we could attract more international attendees and provide a diverse programme, which might not have been possible otherwise,” says co-organiser Tobias Oechtering.
Qianwen describes the combination of accessibility, flexibility and broad international participation as one of the strengths of the summer school.
“The modular format allowed participants to join the sessions most relevant to them,” she says.
Evaluation and looking ahead
In total, 216 participants took part, from 55 countries, with a majority coming from Sweden, India, Indonesia, Italy, China, Egypt, Germany and the UK. Participants were positive about everything from individual topics to the whole cross-disciplinary approach and flexible format. They also appreciated the chance to collaborate with peers from diverse backgrounds.
When asked whether they would attend another Dig-IT Lab summer school, participants gave a score of 9.6 out of 10 – a result echoed by the organisers.
“It was of course teamwork – without everyone organising and teaching their modules, it would not have been possible. It went so well that colleagues were open, after the closing session, to running such a summer school again in two years,” says Tobias.
“Overall, we are very happy with how well it worked, and especially with the strong contribution from everyone involved,” says Qianwen.
Swedish