Digital Policy and Artificial Intelligence

Research Profile

Digitalization touches every facet of modern life—healthcare, education, agriculture, democracy, markets, even warfare—but governance frameworks often remain reactive, fragmented, or even outdated. Meanwhile, AI and data policies have become geopolitical battlegrounds, with competing models vying for global influence, e.g. the EU’s risk-based AI regulation. Yet this narrative often overlooks how Global South nations are rewriting the rules, developing distinctive approaches that prove digital governance innovation is not confined to traditional power centers.  

This specialization bridges the gap between technological potential and public value by examining critical questions:  

• How do we regulate AI without stifling innovation—or sacrificing rights?
• Who controls data, and who benefits? What safeguards prevent exclusion or abuse in smart cities and digital ID systems?
• How can governments avoid the "productivity paradox" of costly tech systems that often struggle to improve services?
• What new forms of exclusion emerge when rural clinics adopt AI diagnostics before securing reliable electricity?
• Can multilateral cyber norms develop without replicating traditional power asymmetries?
• How do policy designs perpetuate—or reduce—skills-based and algorithmic marginalization?  

Our Approach: Policy for the Digital Age

We go beyond theoretical debates, grounding analysis in real-world tensions:  

• AI & Algorithmic Governance: When do bias audits and transparency mandates succeed—and where do they backfire?
• Data Sovereignty & Global Power: EU GDPR vs. data localization laws; the rise of "digital sovereignty" as a geopolitical instrument.
• Digital Inclusion as Policy Imperative: Bridging divides in access, literacy, and power before they harden into systemic inequality.
• Evidence-Based Disruption: Leveraging computational social science (see our project) to predict the [un]intended consequences of public policies.  

Focus on skill-based policy training

This specialization combines critical policy analysis with hands-on implementation. Students don’t just debate theories—they design real-world solutions, like our recent capstones for Digitalagentur (the digital agency of Thüringen, Germany), which delivered:  

• A regional digitalization strategy now guiding public-sector innovation
• Policies to embed AI and digital tools in vocational education, bridging skills gaps
• Digital competency frameworks for civil servants for Thüringen’s state administration 

Output

• Bokhari, H., & Awuni, E. T. (2023). Digital inequalities in North Africa: Examining employment and socioeconomic well-being in Morocco and Tunisia. Convergence, 13548565231209673.
• Bokhari, H. (2023). Contemporary Debates on Electoral Technologies in Pakistan Challenges and Opportunities of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Islamabad: Friedrich Ebert Foundation
• Ittefaq, M., Zain, A., & Bokhari, H. (2023). Opioids in Satirical News Shows: Exploring Topics, Sentiments, and Engagement in Last Week Tonight on YouTube. Journal of Health Communication, 28(1), 53-63.
• Ramdey, K., & Bokhari, H. (2022). Digital Storytelling and ICTs for Education to Foster Sustainable Development. In ICT Systems and Sustainability: Proceedings of ICT4SD 2021, Volume 1 (pp. 459-466). Springer Singapore.