Department of Legal and Economic Studies

The Department of Legal and Economic Studies (DSGE) is responsible for the Informatic-Didactic and Research Laboratory. The laboratory was inaugurated on 2 October 2014 with an operational demonstration of the IT facilities. (Presentazione.pdf)

The purpose of the Laboratory is to represent a pole within which teachers, researchers and students can use technical-IT resources (scientific databases, such as, for example, HeinOnline and Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law and professional databases such as, for example, the CED of the Supreme Court, De Jure, Legal, Foroplus etc.) that are functional to teaching and research, promoting training that experiments with processes of a constantly evolving reality or that can become a permanent observatory of cross-fertilization "trends" both in the legal world of the Courts and in that of the economy and institutions. To this end, its activity is closely linked and coordinated with the Research Laboratories and Research Groups set up within the Department.

The Laboratory resources both if used alone, even better if used in an integrated way, constitute an irreplaceable support nowadays both in academic activity and in the training activity of the jurist of tomorrow who will increasingly have to do, in terms of practice and updating, with a plurality of "sources", national and supranational, in constant evolution. Hence the importance of constant updating on the multiple "sources" through the most up-to-date digital platforms. Only by means of assiduous laboratory experience is it possible to develop a method that enhances the combination of the horizons of legality "in the books" with those of legality "in action", thus creating a bridge, at least cognitive, between the legality of the law and the legality of legal or "effective" experience, between a general and abstract law that can be fathomed in the profound interdependence with its practice. The experience in the laboratory from the point of view of research and training has as a key element the "integrated consultation" of the related databases; In fact, training in research both on individual databases and "cross-searching" on different databases, including foreign ones, allows not only to develop one's own "research method", but above all serves to stimulate the ability to critically and transversally analyze the considerable amount of resources available with the help of the electronic tool (incomparably superior to any other research conducted on paper). In particular, this critical ability to process that material, found through electronic sources (both from data "commonly" made available by the Internet, but also, if not above all, from professional databases, precisely) allows even more to refine that ability to elaborate different, updated, argumentative, alternative or even complementary paths; a gift that belongs, so to speak, by vocation, to the jurist, but his "government" today is made even more complex, not only by the sharing of the aforementioned amount of data but also by the increasingly heterogeneous nature of them, coming both from "homegrown" sources and from that variegated "shared field" of supranational sources, Charters and Courts that in various ways affect the fate of the "case".
 

In the Laboratory it is possible to access and consult both the University's bibliographic resources (databases, electronic journals, e-books https://web.uniroma1.it/sbs/) and other specially selected specialist-sectoral resources. The former can be used directly at the https://login.ezproxy.uniroma1.it/login address , using institutional credentials. Just to name a few Just to name a few, the most popular publishing platforms, such as De Jure and One Legale, can be consulted  (https://web.uniroma1.it/sbs/area-giuridico-politica), which include a rich repertoire of journals within their respective databases. The My Desk 24 platform (il Sole 24 ore) is also accessible, which allows consultation not only of the newspaper but also of a variety of professional content belonging to that newspaper. There is also a wide range of trade magazines such as those of the publishing platforms headed  by Il Mulino or Giappichelli  (https://web.uniroma1.it/sbs/periodici-elettronici). For the economic-social area, the AIDA database (https://aida.bvdinfo.com/) is of particular interest, which can be consulted through the University platform, but through laboratory experience it is possible to optimize the survey potential offered by the platform. Aida, in fact, "allows the research, consultation, analysis and processing of economic-financial, personal and commercial information of all corporations operating in Italy. All data is indexed for easy search and comparison capabilities and is also available in original format. For each company is available the detailed financial statements according to the complete scheme of the IV EEC directive, the time series up to 10 years, the personal data sheet complete with description of the activity carried out and the optical balance sheet. Aida provides information such as sector of activity and product codes, number of employees, shareholding and shareholdings, exponents and managers, probability of default, rating and credit score, sector reports, news and extraordinary finance transactions. The BvD research and analysis software allows you to calculate sector averages, make comparisons, statistical analyses, implement systems for the calculation of customized ratings and scoring and export data in any format".

Among the Laboratory resources, in addition to the CED of the Supreme Court (https://www.italgiure.giustizia.it/) it is possible to consult Foroplus, which, in the "Library" section, in addition to Il Foro italiano, allows access to the journals published by La Tribuna, such as Archive of the new criminal procedure, Archive of leases, condominium and real estate, Legal archive of the circulation of insurance and responsibility, Topics of labour law, Journal of family and succession law, Criminal review. In the same Section, you can also access the specials of the Italian Court (four for the year 2020, four for 2021 and an issue dedicated to Studies in Criminal Law and Procedure for 2022) and the Sources of the Repertoire (Index of parent items and the List of periodicals cited). Individual newspapers such as the journal  Archivio penale (https://archiviopenale.it), the magazine Rivita231 (https://www.rivista231.it), the Nuova guida on-line al codice di procedura penale by Aniello Nappi  (https://www.guidanappi.it/).

The first access to the Laboratory is dedicated to the training and information of visitors, such as workers and persons comparable to them (https://www.uniroma1.it/it/pagina/lavoratore), on the risks and on the prevention and protection measures that must be adopted in the use of VDTs (https://www.dsge.uniroma1.it/sites/default/files/allegati/09-Videoterminali_22_1_2012_2.pdf), based on the relative assessment of the related risks, (https://www.uniroma1.it/sites/default/files/field_file_allegati/dvr_scheda_rao_n._004_rev_22_settembre_2023.pdf), this is in line with Sapienza's Health and Safety Policy  (https://www.uniroma1.it/sites/default/files/field_file_allegati/2022.04.22_politica_sgssl_sapienza.pdf). This is followed by reconnaissance, information and practical training in the consultation of the various useful sources and resources available. There are a total of eighteen workstations in the Laboratory.

The Informatic-Didactic and Research Laboratory observes the following hours: Mon-Fri h. 9.00/16.00.

To access the Laboratory, reservations are recommended by writing to the Laboratory Manager.

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Experimental internships

As part of the "School-Work Alternation" Project (a. a. 2018/2019), as presented and approved by the Department, the laboratory-type "internship" plays a leading role. This is in order to provide the students of the Project with adequate knowledge on the working reality as it really takes place - so to speak in action - within a Department.  To this end, the Department's Didactic-Computer Science and Research Laboratory has made its resources available to the Project to contribute to the theoretical-practical training of attending students, adapting in relation to their respective origins, the resources and tools to deal with the problems proposed from time to time and start them for solution: analysis of organizational activities,  management and accounting of a Department; use of particular IT platforms, e.g. simulations in the use of MEPA, U GOV; initiation of insolvency procedures and related management of the procedure and its transposition on the University transparency web page.  
The preliminary approach to the Workshop represented an opportunity to offer a reflection on the general theme of safety in the workplace from a specific perspective, that of safety in the use of video terminals.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) experiences

In terms of innovation, AI now plays an absolute leading role.  AI systems, which can be classified into two large categories, the predictive and the generative, although still in the experimental phase, have indisputable advantages, but at the same time involve a multiplicity of risks.
The preferable key to interpretation is still that of a human-centric approach, marked by a variable degree of complementarity with the human action of control, as indeed happens in the use of any tool. Therefore, it is essential to presuppose the provision of specific decision-making chains and correlative responsibilities.

The governance mechanisms  linked to human-in-the-loop, or  human-in-the-loop technology, if they are not "safe" human-out-of-the-loop processes, in order to ensure that any type of risk is as much under control as possible, will also have to consider an additional class: this is the case of the risks deriving from the so-called "habituation" or even from "subjection" in the comparisons of the outputs of AI systems. Thus, an absolute leading role, moreover co-essential and inherent in the use of any tool, especially if it is AI, is played by information and training, providing specific upskilling and reskilling paths, in the name of the development of a culture that is able to generate  adequate policies, capable of expressing guidelines in step with the progress that AI will be able to develop and perfect. 

Grammarly

AI represents a real game changer for the reference sector  and the DSGE, as a first step to be able to experiment with some of the opportunities of AI, has equipped itself with Grammarly (www.grammarly.com/), which allows, for example, also in a generative key, to trace potential lexical errors in English-language texts,  grammatical, punctuation and style, all the more so in a perspective of its "technical" use in specialized fields such as the legal and/or economic field. The software automatically suggests the best words to use and indicates whether you are succeeding with a numerical evaluation. For more information on the web application: https://account.grammarly.com/

In the Laboratory, through dedicated workstations, it will be possible to use Grammarly in addition to common AI-based digital assistants such as, for example, Google's Gemini or Microsoft's Copilot.