Research for the Networked Society

The Weizenbaum Institute investigates the current changes in all aspects of society occurring in response to digitalisation. Our goals are to develop a comprehensive understanding of these changes based on rigorous academic analysis and to offer informed strategies to address them at a political and economic level.

The Institute’s core objective is to conduct outstanding, interdisciplinary, and problem-oriented basic research, which at the same time drives application-oriented projects and, moreover, stimulates the formulation of new research questions. To do justice to the interplay between technology and society, the principle of interdisciplinarity will be implemented not only selectively, but in all research areas and projects. For the first time, the Institute will unite all relevant disciplines in a single research program and develop a holistic perspective on the process of digitalisation in society. A central social challenge is to ensure democratic self-determination and participation under the conditions of increasing digitalisation and automation. Accordingly, the Institute’s overarching question is the following:

How can the goals of individual and social self-determination be achieved in a world characterised by digitally mediated processes of transformation and demarcation, and which framework conditions and resources are necessary for their realization?

Here, self-determination is understood as the individual and collective competency to recognise, use, and design the scope of action. It is a fundamental prerequisite for the democratic organisation of society and a competitive market economy.