The Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society has commenced its work. As soon as all positions at the institute are filled, around 120 academics will be working together as an interdisciplinary team on the societal changes which are accompanying and shaping society’s steadily advancing digitalization. Last Friday, at a first meeting held in the event center of the association partner Fraunhofer FOKUS, the network partners jointly agreed the strategic direction of the institute. Discussion rounds and workshops centered on exploring what future cooperation with the Weizenbaum Institute might look like. The 28 network partners who are involved to date as network partners of the Weizenbaum Institute are important multipliers and transfer partners in academia, industry, civil society, and politics. Alongside institutes such as the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW or the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften), the German Institute for Trust and Security on the Internet (DIVSI or the Deutsches Institut für Vertrauen und Sicherheit im Internet), and the Hasso-Plattner Institute (HPI), eco – Association of the Internet Industry is also represented on the network.
Alexander Rabe, Managing Director at eco, sees great opportunities for mutual inspiration and impetus: “The digital transformation of the economy and society can only be successfully managed if all of society’s stakeholders join forces. As an industry association with more than 1,000 member companies, we are thus committed as a network partner of the Weizenbaum Institute to engaging in such a long-term dialog and will play an active role in helping to shape it”.
An important part of the first network partner meeting were workshops which dealt not only with topics such as digital education and the digitalization of work and science, but also with the establishment of norms and standards, the connected city, and the technological transition. Â Here, new points of contact were opened up between the Weizenbaum Institute and its network partners. Moreover, the partners also expressed the desire to try out new approaches and to take up and build on the ideas of their partners.
The Weizenbaum Institute has teamed up with its network partner “Der Tagesspiegel” for the Digital Future event taking place in May 2018. Cooperation with partners from academia, industry, and civil society will be an important dimension of the Weizenbaum Institute’s work. Further network partner meetings are planned, with these also to bring in new partners.
