In the last week of January, the PLATFORM WARS project organized an interdisciplinary workshop focusing on different conceptualizations of ‘the platform’ and what they could add to the analysis of contemporary warfare. The workshop provided more insights into the infrastructural, cultural and economic role of platform corporations and their digital ecosystems – at a time when their involvement in war becomes increasingly apparent and pressing.
After some words of welcome and an introduction by PLATFORM WARS' Marijn Hoijtink and Jasper van der Kist, the workshop started with a talk by Benjamin Johnson (University of Groningen), in which he presented his conception of ‘algorithmic total war’ and its socio-material practices. Following this, Tom Hobson (Cambridge University) and Tom Watts (Royal Holloway University of London) presented their analysis of the Third Offset Strategy as a landmark document and broader socio-technical imaginary in the US quest for algorithmic warfare.
After lunch, the program continued with Sofie van der Maarel's (Netherlands Defence Academy) presentation of her recently published paper 'Drones for Good: innovation, meaning and remoteness in the Dutch police drone team', before Erik Reichborn-Kjennerud (Norwegian Institute of International Affairs) and Lucy Suchman (Lancaster University) presented their research on the role of generative machines in military planning and how these materialize specific visions of future warfighting.
Finally, the first day was rounded off by Anne Helmond's (Utrecht University) keynote on 'Big AI: The Platformization and Industrialization of Artificial Intelligence', in which she highlighted, based on a recent publication, the economic, social, and programming logics of platforms within and beyond military applications.
The second day started with a presentation by Klaudia Klonowska (Asser Institute) on the functionalities and challenges of feedback loops and adaptability mechanisms in military AI applications. Subsequently, Tobias Liebetrau (University of Copenhagen) presented his analysis of public-private relationships through an infrastructural lens using the role of Big Tech in the war in Ukraine as a case study. His presentation was followed by Mahmoud Javadi's (Free University of Brussels) conceptualization of Meta-Infrastructural Cloud Platforms and their central role in warfare.
In the afternoon, Marieke De Goede (University of Amsterdam) showed us some striking analogies between imaginaries and practices of platform corporations on the one hand and financial security institutions on the other, before KorayCaliskan's (The New School) keynote – based on his recent publication 'Stacked Economization: A Research Programmefor the Study of Platforms' – introduced us to the economic complexities and socialintricacies of digital platforms.
The final day started with a geographical shift and Callum Smith's (Queens University of Belfast) empirically grounded analysis of commercial drone developments in China and their societal promises. This was followed by Rupert Barrett-Taylor (Alain Turing Institute), who gave us in-depth insights into military utilization of platforms for counterinsurgency and targeting operations from the so-called War on Terror to the present day.
Finally, our three-day workshop was concluded by a keynote addressed by Jutta Weber (University of Paderborn), in which she presented her long-standing research on the underlying techno-scientific rationalities governing (algorithmic) warfare today, in particular through notions of correlationism.
We would like to give a heartfelt thank you to all participants for the inspiring presentations, the lively and constructive participation, the wonderful 'in between' discussions and the encouraging atmosphere you all have created. We look forward to following up on your exciting work and to continuing this important conversation about 'Platforms on the Frontline'.
