Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society

Hub for Internet Research

Together with economic, political and civil-society stakeholders we're exploring digitalisation
in order to bridge the gap between the web and society.

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Impetus for the digital society

Digitalisation is innovation. Exploiting digitalisation for society needs
governance of innovation. In order to shape societal change, we first need to understand it.

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Lab for digital mavericks

Research meets utopia - we break down boundaries between disciplines, rethink existing discourses and develop new questions to explore the permanent change of the digital.

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We are making sense of the digital society

Well-informed actors in politics, business and society are needed to shape digitalisation. We analyse changes, point out fields of action and ensure knowledge transfer so that our research benefits society.

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Incubator for digital research networkers

Want to be part of the playing field for digital mavericks? The HIIG offers young researchers
a platform for their interests and strengthens their international networking.

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Exploring digital spheres

HIIG is on a mission: We are making sense of the digital society.
While everyone is asking for interdisciplinary research, we have been doing it since the beginning.

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European perspective on global issues

In times of rapid change there is great need for global explanations.
We look for these answers by putting on European glasses.

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NEWS FROM THE INSTITUTE

Event

Roundtable: Plattformen im Engagement

On 16th April, the HIIG will host a roundtable on Platforms in civic engagement that brings together…

New research tool

Platform Governance Archive published

The Platform Governance Archive (PGA) facilitates critical engagement with the way platforms govern our communication and activities.

Winter Clinic Report

How platforms and advertisers can make job ads algorithms fairer

Twelve international fellows developed innovative approaches to improving fairness in targeted job advertising.

RECENT BLOG POSTS

We need to talk about data – New report reframes the debate around data sovereignty

The dueling slogans: “free flow of data” and “data sovereignty” actually prevent seriously addressing the complex challenges of cross-border data flows. A report, released this week by the Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network, reframes the debate to foster a more nuanced approach of this critical topic for the digital society.

Lorrayne Porciuncula on 6 April 2021

You can only be what you can see: How platforms and advertisers can make job ads algorithms fairer

We successfully concluded the first virtual Clinic of the Ethics of Digitilisation project financed by Stiftung Mercator. Twelve international fellows developed innovative approaches to improving fairness in targeted job advertising. Looking back at two intense weeks of interdisciplinary collaboration, we share highlights and key outcomes.

Alexander Pirang & Matthias Kettemann on 22 March 2021

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ISSUES IN FOCUS

Sustainability in a digital society

The developments of digitalisation are the greatest technical challenges of our time. At the same time, we must be careful to make our technology and our actions sustainable. Are digitalisation and sustainability opposites? Or can new technologies such as artificial intelligence even contribute to making our lives more sustainable? Is technical progress perhaps even the only answer to climate change? This dossier deals with these questions and offers an overview of the future-friendly development of our digital society.

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