The first official Legal Data (LeD) community initiative

On 19 April 2018, professors, PhD researchers and students from more than four different faculties, departments and institutes at the Maastricht University gathered for the first official “Legal Data (LeD) community initiative”. The event consisted of a speed date, where all participants could introduce themselves and their fields of interest and research, and a roundtable discussion, where participants discussed four concrete projects in the fields of big data, legal analytics and trustworthy computation.

The LeD community initiative was launched following a remarkably successful think tank taking place at the Faculty of Law in November 2017, which resulted from the shared efforts of the Dean Jan Smits and Michel Dumontier from the then still to be born Institute of Data Science (IDS) working together on topics of common interest. The LeD is a discussion hub open to every UM member interested in the legal impact of data science. It is meant to be interdisciplinary, inclusive and impactful. The initiative was founded and is coordinated by Marta Santos Silva, M-EPLI member and lecturer at the private law department, and by Kody Moodley and Dorina Classens from IDS. The initiative has been sustained by the very valuable, volunteer input of European Law School students. The “Led Speed Date and Roundtable on Big Data, Legal Analytics and Trustworthy Computation” was supported by three European Law School bachelor students, one of which surprised all participants with a live and lively graphic representation of the take-away impressions and projects resulting from the event. Further initiatives are being prepared and everyone who is interested in joining the community is welcome to register (m.santossilva@maastrichtuniversity.nl).