This year’s conference focused on “Digital Sovereignty of Municipalities in Europe” and brought together leading figures from administration, law, business and technology to discuss the opportunities and challenges of digital transformation in justice and public administration.
Key highlights included:
- Panels and keynotes exploring digital sovereignty in public and private institutions, AI in administration, and legally compliant digital processes.
- The launch of the second “Law As Code” Hackathon, which brings together European teams, municipalities and companies to develop practical digital solutions to real-world legal and administrative challenges.
Professor Schafer’s participation reflects DECaDE’s commitment to exploring how decentralised technologies can support trusted, transparent and accountable digital infrastructures within legal and administrative systems. Burkhard commented;
“Hackathons are an excellent way to introduce students to real-world problems. However, in the past, they often focused exclusively on the technical capabilities of the product, ignoring its social dimension. This legal hackathon, with its duty to document and defend legally relevant design decisions, will lead to much more realistic and ethically grounded legal technology. I’m delighted to hear about the interest it generated in local administration, raising many questions that are also at the heart of DECaDE.”
The ReMeP “Law As Code” Hackathon 2025/26 will continue the conversation by inviting students, researchers and practitioners to develop solutions to problems that support AI-assisted legal processes and digitally enabled governance. Winning teams will present at IRIS 2026 Conference, 20/21st February 2026.
Through collaborations such as this, DECaDE and the University of Edinburgh continue to drive research at the intersection of law, decentralisation and digital innovation, contributing to the development of sustainable and inclusive digital economies.
- END –
DECaDE is the UKRI Centre for the Decentralised Digital Economy, bringing together expertise in AI, Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), and cybersecurity, alongside business, law, and human-centred design. The centre collaborates with over 30 commercial partners, including Adobe and the BBC, and works closely with policymakers, including the Cabinet Office and Scottish Government.
For further information or press enquiries please contact decade@surrey.ac.uk
