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Impetus for the digital society

NEWS FROM THE INSTITUTE

project start

Women* in Tech

The transfer project explores intersectional issues of gender equality in the technology sector in Mexico, Ecuador, Cambodia and Mauritania.

project start

KAPAZ

The project is developing a series of measures to make the scientific system more resistant to hate speech and hostility towards science.

Research magazine

encore 2022/2023

HIIG is reinventing its DNA: our annual research highlights are now completely digital, multimedia and designed to be read on smartphones.

Publication

Handbook: AI in Knowledge Work

In light of the use of AI in the Workplace, our researchers offer concrete suggestions for management and co-determination.

Research Clinics Start

Platform://Democracy

For the regions of Africa & Asia, more socially sustainable rules for online communication spaces will be developed.

Website Launch

Public Interest AI Interface

An interactive world map with detailed descriptions of the goals, methods and frameworks of Public Interest AI.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Further events

  • March29
    Digitaler Salon: Von Gig zu Gig
    7 pm – 8 pm | Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society | Talk series: Digitaler Salon
  • April27
    Girls’ Day at HIIG
    9 pm – 1 pm | Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society | Talk series: Digitaler Salon

RESEARCH ISSUES IN FOCUS

Du siehst eine Tastatur auf der eine Taste rot gefärbt ist und auf der „Control“ steht. Eine bildliche Metapher für die Regulierung von digitalen Plattformen im Internet und Data Governance. You see a keyboard on which one key is coloured red and says "Control". A figurative metaphor for the regulation of digital platforms on the internet and data governance.

Platform regulation and data governance

Digital platforms play a crucial role in our society. We investigate the regulation of new public spheres and the governance of their data.
Du siehst Eisenbahnschienen. Die vielen verschiedenen Abzweigungen symbolisieren die Entscheidungsmöglichkeiten von Künstlicher Intelligenz in der Gesellschaft. Manche gehen nach oben, unten, rechts. Manche enden auch in Sackgassen. Englisch: You see railway tracks. The many different branches symbolise the decision-making possibilities of artificial intelligence and society. Some go up, down, to the right. Some also end in dead ends.

Artificial intelligence and society

Artificial Intelligence is operating in diverse contexts of our society. What can we learn from its political, social and cultural facets?

Digitalisation and sustainability

In terms of sustainability, digitalisation faces countless opportunities and challenges. We explore how technology is used responsibly.
Du siehst eine Bibliothek mit einer runden Treppe die sich in die höhe schraubt. Sie steht sinnbildlich für die sich stetig weiterentwickelnden digitalen Infrastrukturen unserer Wissensgesellschaft. You see a library with a round staircase that spirals upwards. It symbolises the constantly evolving digital infrastructures of our knowledge society.

Digital infrastructures of the knowledge society

We explore the use of digital infrastructures to create, share and disseminate knowledge for all in our knowledge society.
Man sieht einen leeren Büroraum ohne Möbel und braunen Teppichboden. Das Bild steht sinnbildlich für die Frage, wie die Arbeit der Zukunft und digitales Organisieren und Zukunft unseren Arbeitsplatz beeinflusst. You see an empty office room without furniture and brown carpeting. The image is emblematic of the question of how the work of the future and digital organising and the future will influence our workplace.

Digital organising and the future of work

The future of work is characterised by spatial and temporal flexibility and by the increasing interaction between people and technology.
Man sieht an mehreren Stellen gebrochenes Glas, das die komplexen und dynamischen Verhältnisse zwischen Menschen und intelligenten autonomen Systemen darstellt. You can see broken glass in several places, representing the complex and dynamic relationships between humans and intelligent autonomous systems.

Autonomy, autonomous systems and robots

Autonomous systems show the enormous influence of AI on our society. We investigate the complex relationship between humans and intelligent machines.

SET news ticker

The Sustainability, Entrepreneurship and Global Digital Transformation (SET) focuses on the future of work, and issues of AI in connection with sustainability and climate protection, particularly in the global South.

OER: Making Sense of the Future

Our new toolbox aims to promote creative (future) thinking. Six different exercises combine future studies methods with topics and materials around the issues of digitalisation and its impact on our society.

Public Interest AI Interface

There is a lack of insights into AI projects in the public interest. Our new interactive world map helps to promote research on such initiatives, demonstrate their self-understanding and provide publicly available data.

DIGITAL SOCIETY BLOG

Further articles

Could digital supply chains help the industry to become more sustainable?

Sustainable industries through digital supply chains?

Can digital supply chains help the industry to become more sustainable? Researchers at the Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS) at the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam explored the opportunities and risks of digital supply chains for environmental sustainability.

C. Hanebeck, G. Mewes, S. Kunkel on 1 March 2023
Man sieht eine*n Lieferant*in eines Online-Lieferdienst für Essen auf einem Motorroller. Das Bild steht sinnbildlich für die Arbeitenden in der Gig Economy in Kenia. You see a delivery person from an online food delivery service on a scooter. The image is emblematic of the workers in the gig economy in Kenya.

Towards a socially just gig economy in Kenya: Stakeholder engagement and regulatory processes

The gig economy in Kenya is growing rapidly but conditions for workers are often precarious. We investigated the livelihoods of gig workers.

Kutoma J. Wakunuma & Tom Kwanya on 1 February 2023
Man sieht mehrer Spiegel, die in unterschiedlichen Formen angeordnet sind und verschiedene Oberflächen, wie den Himmel, eine Hauswand und so weiter widerspiegeln. Das Bild steht sinnbildlich für die vielen verschiedenen Bedeutungen von autonomen Systemen in unserer Gesellschaft. You see several mirrors arranged in different shapes reflecting different surfaces, such as the sky, a house wall and so on. The image is emblematic of the many different meanings of autonomous machines in our society.

The age of machine autonomy?

Can machines be autonomous – or is it a human prerogative? This categorical question dominates many discussions on our relationship to purportedly intelligent machines. A human vs. machine rhetoric, however, does not get us very far.

Thomas Christian Bächle on 31 January 2023