Federal Minister for Digital Transformation and Governement Modernization, Dr. Karsten Wildberger, met today at the Weizenbaum Institute with the directors and managing scientists of the network of Institutes for Digitalization Research (NIfD). The Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS) has been part of the network since its inception and was represented at the meeting by Prof. Christiane Eilders, Scientific Director of CAIS, and Prof. Hendrik Heuer, Head of the CAIS Research Program “Design of Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence.” The discussion focused on the current research of the six institutes regarding the societal impacts of digitalization, particularly on the digitalization of government and administration as well as the integrity of public opinion formation.
Since 2021, the network of Institutes for Digitalization Research (NIfD) has brought together leading institutions in Germany that conduct interdisciplinary research on the societal, political, and technological consequences of digital transformation. Network members include the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG), the Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation (bidt), the Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS), the Hans-Bredow-Institut (HBI), the Weizenbaum Institute, and the Center for Responsible Digitalization (ZEVEDI). The network strengthens cooperation, knowledge exchange, and joint initiatives to make digitalization research in Germany visible and effective.
The network discussed the joint paper “Current Attacks on Freedom in Digital Communication Spaces” with Minister Wildberger. The analysis highlights new challenges for democratic public spheres posed by disinformation, propaganda, and the use of generative AI. Another topic of discussion was data-driven modernization of government and administration, for which the institutes presented research results that contribute to improving administrative processes.
A practical example of a scientifically grounded digitalization solution is the Data Governance Guide developed at the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) – a digital handbook that supports municipalities and administrations in implementing data-driven projects in a legally secure and socially responsible manner. hiig.de/data-governance-wegweiser
Text / German: Jasmine Ait-Djoudi, Weizenbaum Institute e.V.
About the Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS)
Since April 2021, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia has been providing long-term funding for the Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS) in Bochum as a central institute for digitalization research. Through evidence-based solution proposals, CAIS contributes to shaping digital transformation in the interest of society. CAIS was founded as an institute for advanced study in early 2017 and has since awarded fellowships to national and international guest researchers in the field of digitalization research. In three research programs – on the topics of digital democratic innovations, educational technologies, and artificial intelligence and the design of trustworthy AI – as well as in the research focus on social cohesion in digital media environments, interdisciplinary teams investigate the challenges of digital transformation. At CAIS, disciplines ranging from the social sciences and humanities to computer science are interlinked, and research findings are tested in practice.