The Foundations
The Villum Foundation and the VELUX FOUNDATION are non-profit foundations that support research, environmental, social and cultural projects in Denmark and abroad. In 2020, they distributed a total of DKK 1.1 billion. The foundations were founded in 1971 and 1981 respectively by civil engineer Villum Kann Rasmussen – founder of, among others, VELUX A/S and other companies in the VKR Group, which aims to bring daylight, fresh air and a better environment into people’s everyday lives. The Villum Foundation is the main shareholder in the VKR Group.
Why algorithms, data, and democracy?
Digitalization is spreading with the logic of efficiency because it can optimize everything. From social relations to workplaces, research, and education. We can reach many more people, and we can achieve much more.
Artificial intelligence can diagnose diseases based on more knowledge than any doctor can acquire. Algorithms can drive cars without making human errors. Similarly, algorithms can help us find and choose anything—from a dish brush to a life partner. Algorithms change everything because they make decisions more efficient.
But they also raise several questions: Can we discuss ethics when technology rationalizes all decisions? Should we intervene when an algorithm predicts a certain probability that a child will be neglected? Should we let algorithms make political decisions because they do so on a more rational basis? How do we prevent technological development from leading to polarization and inequality? How do we prevent social media from distributing fake news and accelerating aggression, ignorance, and distrust?
The answers are as complex as the questions are complicated. But we need much more insight into how our data is handled and processed. We need trust in the systems that make decisions based on algorithms. We need digitalization that promotes a culturally and socially sustainable democracy. In short, we need to become much wiser.
Therefore, the Villum Foundation and the VELUX FOUNDATION have donated 100 million DKK to research and change in the project ADD (Algorithms, Data, and Democracy).
You can read more about the foundations on their website.
