On 25 and 26 June 2026, ZEW’s “Digital Economy” Research Unit hosted the 24th Conference on the Economics of Information and Communication Technologies in Mannheim. For many years, the conference has been regarded as one of the leading academic events in this field. It was organised by Professor Irene Bertschek, Dr. Raphaela Andres, Dr. Thomas Niebel and Luca Sandrini, PhD. Around 90 researchers from Germany and abroad discussed the latest developments in the digital economy. The strong interest in the conference was also reflected in the more than 100 papers submitted.

On the first day of the conference, Emilio Calvano, Professor at Luiss University in Rome, delivered a keynote entitled “Artificial Intelligence and Competition: a Progress Report”. In his talk, he presented his research on AI and its impacts on competitive structures.

On the second day, Chiara Farronato, Associate Professor at Harvard Business School, gave a keynote entitled “Designing Consent: Choice Architecture and Consumer Welfare in Data Sharing”. Using the example of cookie consent banners, she demonstrated how the design of decision-making options, known as choice architecture, can affect data protection.

Across a total of 14 sessions, participants presented their research findings. Artificial intelligence featured particularly prominently, for example, its effects on the development of creative products, innovation within companies and the demand for digital skills. Further topics included data protection and privacy, interoperability and online news markets, platforms and the effects of regulation.