Ethical Challenges in Digital Health Policies: Views of Stakeholders and the Public in Germany and Israel
Funding:
Volkswagen Foundation and the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture (Nr.: 18 1017 0; Designation: Schickt./Nds.-Isr.2)
Grant Amount:
€520,273.00 in total (University Medical Center Göttingen: €178,013.00; Ben-Gurion University of the Negev: €192,000.00; Leibniz University Hannover: €150,260.00)
Duration:
10/2025 – 09/2029
Project Participants:
- Dr. Hagai Boas, Ben-Gurion-Universität - PI
- Dr. Clemence Pinel, Ben-Gurion-Universität - Co-PI to Prof. Raz
- Prof. Dr. Christoph Hönnige, Leibniz-Universität - PI
- Prof. Dr. Aviad Raz, Ben-Gurion-Universität - PI, Coordinator of Israeli Part
- Prof. Dr. Silke Schicktanz, Universitätsmedizin Göttingen - PI, Coordinator of German Part
- Barkan Hofman, Ben-Gurion-Universität - Research Associate
- Yannik Uhlenkotte, University Medical Center Göttingen in Cooperation with Leibniz University - Research Associate
Project Partners:
Advisory Board:
- Prof. Shai Lavi (Tel Aviv Law School/Van Leer Institute)
- Prof. Delphine Reinhardt (Univ. Göttingen Computer Security and Privacy)
- Prof. Yael Inbar (TAU, AI Technology Management)
- Prof Gil Eyal (Columbia U, Sociology of Expertise).
Website:
TBR
Research Background
Digitization of the healthcare sector and the use of artificial intelligence are fundamentally transforming diagnostics, treatment, and medical decision-making processes. AI systems are already being successfully deployed, particularly in data-driven medicine and diagnostic imaging, while at the same time giving rise to new ethical and regulatory challenges—such as those related to transparency, data protection, fairness, autonomy, and trust. Since digital health strategies vary from country to country, there is a significant need for research on the responsible regulation and implementation of digital health technologies.
The project therefore conducts a comparative analysis of how ethical requirements can be incorporated into the digital transformation of medicine to ensure that AI-supported healthcare is trustworthy, sustainable, and socially acceptable.
Research Topics
The project examines the social, technical, and ethical implications of Digital Health Policy (DHP), particularly in the tension between harm reduction, value-based decisions, and the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare.
The study is guided by the following three research questions:
1. How do the public and expert circles in Germany and Israel deal with the political implications of balancing harms and values within the framework of DHP?
2. How do stakeholders and the public understand and address the ethical challenges of AI in the context of DHP?
3. How and by whom should responsible DHP be guided, followed, and disseminated, in the view of stakeholders and the public?
Methodologically, the project combines qualitative and quantitative approaches. It includes a systematic literature review on digital health policy research (WP1), empirical data collection through expert interviews, focus groups, national surveys, and scientific publications (WP2). In addition, results will be discussed and disseminated in workshops involving practitioners and stakeholders (WP3). A conceptual analysis and an international comparison between Germany and Israel will provide the theoretical framework (WP4). An overarching management and integration work package (WP5) ensures the coherent coordination of the subprojects.
Research Aims
- Exploring DHP in the national context of emerging institutionalization and legitimation
- Examining stakeholders’ interpretations of the ethical challenges involved in DHP, exploring the interfaces of governments, industry and the public
- Comparing DHP and stakeholder attitudes to understand the paths of diffusion and how they homogenize and/or accentuate national differences, as well as propel hybrid adaptation