The coronavirus poses a huge challenge to society transforming our very ways of living. It painstakingly revealed to us the connectedness of a highly globalised world and that human contact—usually considered as positive—can actually work to our disadvantage. Technology may be an important support as it provides us with the means to tackle this issue. As a consequence, digital contact tracing solutions have been developed all over the globe to control the chain of transmission. Apart from offering a technological solution to protect individuals from contagion and health care from overextension, contact tracing however also highlights the need to have an open public discussion about its social and ethical implications, delineating possible future paths to a digital society. The collection of personal data, data security and the development of citizen-friendly platforms are central issues in a development that has just started.

Istituto Svizzero and the Embassy of Switzerland to Italy invite to a reflection on the use and value of personal data in a post-pandemic society. The discussion will be held in English via Zoom. A simultaneous translation service will be provided.