The Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) has been founded by the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, the University of Arts Berlin as well as by the Social Science Research Centre Berlin (WZB) in alliance with the Hans-Bredow Institute Hamburg (HBI) as an integrated co-operation partner. The overall goal of the institute is to understand the dynamic interdependence between society and the Internet and thus, offering the opportunity to shape the digital, networked future open to everyone.
The research agenda emphasizes the increasing interpenetration of digital network infrastructures and everyday life. It is our common goal to study the unique dynamics of innovation of the Internet as an interplay of socio-cultural, technical and legal norms without privileging anyone of these processes establishing order. All of our research projects share a transdisciplinary approach. To achieve this objective, most research projects bridge at least two research areas and are overseen by at least two research directors. In general, research projects at the institute focus on structural features and collective practices rather than on individual behaviour and situational contexts. The research agenda evolves within a network of national and international partnerships. It reflects, and as far as possible, anticipates relevant developments in digital environments. Currently, we focus on four basic topics: Transformation of media-based publics and democratic structures, regulatory principles and practices concerning, for example, privacy, social networks and information industry, new forms of knowledge production, development of creative goods and innovation management by using crowd-sourcing and open science principles, as well as the analysis of socio-spatial transformations, e.g. due to location-based services.
In addition to its research program, the HIIG intends to become an intermediary facilitating the dialogue between academia, politics, industry and the public. In line with this idea two innovative projects have been started: “Regulation Watch”, an international online-platform providing news and analysis in the field of Internet regulation; and “Foresight”, which aims to anticipate future technical developments and its implications for society.
Main research areas:
- Internet & Constitionalism
- Internet-enabled Innovation & Economy
- Internet & Media Regulation
- Internet Policy & Governance