About us
The Centre for Information Technology Law Studies (CEDI) is one of the oldest scientific research centers in Latin America, in matters relating to Law and Technologies, and one of the pioneer centers at Universidad de Chile. As such, the Center has gone through various stages and approaches, looking to create a thoughtful conversation in the evolution of technologies.
Currently, CEDI is focused in the changes and challenges brought by Web 2.0 and 3.0, while being open to the convergence of information technologies and biotechnologies, from a perspective of development, planning and human rights advocacy in the technological environment.
One of the aims of CEDI is to look at the law as a multiple instrument that should serve as a suitable environment to promote innovation and technological development, as well as a framework of legitimacy to enable citizens and their freedoms in the social relations created by technology.
Technologies, as such, should not be considered as black boxes imposing consequences to society in a deterministic manner, but rather interacting with the social bylaws, namely the law, so that if the law does not provide adequate or relevant stimuli, or does not establish clear behavioral guidelines, it may prevent technologic development, or create results undesirable for society (Cybercrime, Censorship, Privacy Intrusion, etc). Naturally, this is not limited to national frontiers, since the situations have a global reach that are extremely dynamic, requiring a constant efforts and an update in approaches.
The mission of CEDI is to reflect from a scientific standpoint, pluralistic and interdisciplinary, about the interaction existing among the law and law principles, and the new technologies, in order to understand the consequences to the law of the technologic revolution, and to propose improvements in the manner in which the Law can participate in the technological evolution within our society.
Hence, CEDI goals are:
- To permanently investigate the interactions between Law and new technologies and their changes over time.
- To compare the different solutions to legal problems related to new technologies offered by different legal systems.
- To critically examine the judicial decisions of the legal problems associated with new technologies.
- To monitor and support the development of human and fundamental rights in new technology environments.
- To synthesize and participate in academic discussion about the various relationships between technology and Law.
- To understand from a scientific perspective the social environment in which the relations between law and technology occur.
- To propose legislative changes and better practices in the various forms of legal regulation of new technologies.