‘L'imperi de les dades. El big data, la privacitat i la societat de futur', by chemist and science promoter Xavier Duran, is the winner of the XXIII European Award for Scientific Dissemination General Study, endowed with 12,000 € by the University of Valencia and presented on Friday at the Premis Literaris Ciutat d'Alzira by Mavi Mestre, vice-rector of Academic Planning, Teaching Staff and Sustainability of the academic institution. In addition, Josep Ballester, professor of Didactics of Language and Literature at the Faculty of Teacher Training, won the XII Ibn Jafadja Poetry Award with the creation 'A la intempèrie'.
The creation distinguished in the XXIII European Award of Scientific Dissemination deals with a highly topical issue: the enormous volume of data generated in today's society, called big data, and how this information is processed. The aim of this is to analyze what this data is used for and, above all, what it should not be used for. "It is not a doomsday work, but a text that aims to avoid ignorance of this situation and raise awareness in society about the advantages and dangers of the information society," said Xavier Duran.
"I have always believed that a society is not fully democratic if citizens do not have enough information to form their own opinions. That is why I believe that scientific dissemination is essential, since many of the social and ethical challenges come from the use we make of scientific advances. Scientists and technologists must think about the consequences of their work, but it is society as a whole that will say where it wants these advances to go", said the winner of the XXIII European Prize of Scientific Dissemination.
Xavier Duran (Barcelona, 1959) has a degree in Chemistry and a PhD in Communication Sciences from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. He is currently the president of the Technical Board of the Museu d'Història de Sant Feliu de Guíxols. He has published more than thirty books of narrative, essays and scientific dissemination, recognized with several awards, such as the Josep Vallverdú Award and the Crítica Serra d’Or Award. In 1995 he won the first edition of the European Award for Scientific Dissemination with ‘El cervell polièdric. Idees, sentiments i neurones.’
The jury of this XXIII edition of the award was formed by Pilar Campins, vice-rector of Research and Science Politics of the Universitat de València as president; Fernando Sapiña, director of the popular science book collection Sense Fronteres, where the winning work will be published; Andreu Escrivà, winner of the previous edition of this award; Carmen Agustín, researcher at the Department of Cell Biology, Functional Biology and Physical Anthropology; and Lucía Hipólito, researcher at the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Technology.
Ceremony
On Friday night, November 10th, the winners of the various modalities collected the trophy designed by Manuel Boix, at the dinner of the Premis Literaris Ciutat de Alzira. The event, hosted by Nelo Gómez and the Valencian band Barbaritats, was attended by more than 700 people. Among them, representatives of the Consell de la Generalitat Valenciana and the Diputación de Valencia, members of the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua, the Consell Valencià de Cultura, as well as other political leaders, members of the main trade unions and organizations such as Escola Valenciana. A total of 178 original works have been submitted to this edition, which have opted for a total prize of 72,000 €.
Video Presentation of the XXIII European Award of Scientific Dissemination at http://ir.uv.es/sePnw4F
