Automatic detection of online insults

Hate speech in the digital sphere has the potential to silence voices and thereby threaten democracy. But hate is not always expressed through swear words online; implicit insults are also ubiquitous. Tracking these down efficiently by technical means, however, is extremely challenging. Michael Wiegand is currently working on the “Recognition of Implicit Insults” in a project funded by the FWF.

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Fewer empty kilometres on Austria’s railways

At present, an ÖBB dispatcher still has to manually assign empty freight wagons to requests from clients. The aim of the project “Partially Automated Empty Wagon Dispatching” is to support this process with software that suggests optimal utilisation. The research forms part of the TARO project, with which ÖBB aims to leverage automation and digitalisation to increase its capacities, boost productivity and thereby ensure high quality.

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Green Supercomputing: Processing large data volumes more energy-efficiently

Vast quantities of data also signify huge energy consumption. Developers face the task of processing so-called “massive graphs”, i.e. enormous amounts of information and relationships between information nodes, and they have to do this in times when energy is in increasingly short supply. For almost a year, researchers involved in an EU Horizon project have been working on a holistic model to address the ongoing challenges. The goal is, among other things, an energy label for software codes (just like on refrigerators).

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Do decisions turn out better when they are taken by multiple people?

What happens when strategic decisions are not reached in the boardroom, but by a large number of stakeholders? Ali Banihashemi models the long-term impact of open strategy on companies and institutions. He has no doubt: “In the future, we will have to rely on open decision-making processes.”  

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