Shaping digitalization – shaping public interests in the digital transformation of networked societies

Design expertise for the digital transformation

We are living in a time of profound social transformation, characterized by global networking and technological innovation in all areas of life. The need to perceive, represent, moderate and shape public interests in the digital transformation of networked societies opens up new fields of activity for designers. As a field of experimentation for new technologies and aesthetic practices, design is a strong driving force behind socio-cultural, economic, technological, scientific and communicative progress. The job profile of public interest design increasingly requires social, communicative, media-didactic and transdisciplinary skills, through which traditional strengths of design such as problem solving, design and information visualization can be strategically expanded.
Design competence for the digital transformation requires that designers:

1. Understand the problems of digital change: Be able to detect public interests in ‘digital change’ using research methods and expertise, identify causes and analyze consequences
2. be able to present influencing factors of digital change in a generally understandable way: Identify problems associated with digital change, present them in an understandable way and link them to all key influencing factors
3. Being able to communicate effectively in networked societies: Initiating thematically relevant discourses, moderating participation and opinion-forming processes, developing ideas and concepts and identifying meaningful solutions
4. Be able to design solutions for digital change: Being able to search for, recognize, present, communicate and design solutions to problems in the field of digital transformation
5. be able to evaluate the consequences of digital transformations: Test the effectiveness of results using suitable methods and develop suggestions for improvement
6. Know current specialist knowledge on digitalization: Know the state of research in the knowledge field of digitalization of networked societies and be able to apply it in concrete project situations.
7. Be able to apply digital research methods: Formulate socially relevant research questions, use relevant sources of knowledge and experience, know and apply scientific methods and be able to present and evaluate results

Shaping the future of networked societies

The digital transformation of networked societies has only just begun. The consequences of this profound change in the world of work and life are just as unpredictable today as the transformative forces of mechanization and electrification were in their early days. Anyone who wants to successfully and sustainably shape public interests in the digital transformation process of modern societies must therefore first approach design from a meta-perspective. Trends that are the focus of public attention today can soon become undesirable again. According to previous design concepts, design interventions can only be successful if they are needed in the present and remain useful in the future. Digital transformation is a process in which reliable predictions are difficult and often impossible. Sustainability can hardly be achieved if technologies and application practices develop at a rapid pace. In order not to lose sight of this, complex development scenarios must be designed, which requires specialist knowledge and methodological expertise. Problems can increasingly only be solved indirectly, as they are characterized by the consequences of digital change, which creates different social, economic and cultural conditions.

Global networking, artificial intelligence and self-controlling machines are changing the framework conditions for the creation of our material and intellectual culture. Designers must therefore first perceive and analyze whether a problem can still be solved in the existing context or whether it might make more sense to redesign the framework conditions. Where ‘wicked problems’ or seemingly unsolvable problems arise, creative skills such as lateral thinking are required[1]. The strategic composition and moderation of creative workshops can mobilize unimagined human potential. Designers must learn to initiate participation processes using analogue and digital means in order to tap into knowledge and experience potential, mobilize creative forces and bring about collaborative action. Participatory projects and transdisciplinary work give rise to a new form of authorship, the value of which must be negotiated with clients and contractors alike. The price for the production of commissioned works is easier to calculate than the value of processes where the course, goal and benefits are unpredictable.

[1] cf. Protzen, Jean-Pierre and David J. Harris. The Universe of Design: Horst Rittel’s Theories of Design and Planning. Taylor & Francis Ltd 2010

Shaping the values and common benefits of digitalization

The social debate on digitalization today is accompanied by similar fears and euphoria as the debate on the risks of electrification at the end of the 19th century.[1 ] The great technological revolutions of the modern age, such as mechanization, electrification and digitalization, are nevertheless irreversible, as they are transforming the basis of our working and living environment. Technological progress facilitates the realization of many fundamental needs of modern societies, such as work, prosperity, freedom of movement, culture, knowledge, health and safety. Technological change has and always has had many unintended side effects. The price of technological progress includes social consequences such as the alienation, uprooting and insecurity of people and ecological consequences such as environmental destruction, air pollution, radiation exposure and resource consumption.

Like any technology, digitalization is not an end in itself, but must serve the good of mankind. When shaping the transformation process, the focus must therefore be on the long-term benefits of digital technologies for the environment and society. The theoretical discourse on digitalization today is largely shaped by extreme positions, ranging from complete rejection to euphoric professions of faith. Many people believe in the self-actualizing powers of technological utopias and regard these processes as inevitable.[2] The new digital technologies are neither good nor bad in themselves. Their usefulness depends on the purpose for which we use them and how we design their use. What is therefore crucial for the process of digitalization is who decides on the use of digital technologies, what interests are pursued and what social benefits are associated with them

The benefits of digitalization for people today are largely driven by the interests of a few globally active IT companies. The almost unprotected comprehensive collection, linking and use of private data gives these IT companies an instrument of power that undermines the self-determination of citizens and the sovereignty of societies.[3 ] The fears of the population can now be measured and objectified.[4 ] In a survey conducted in Germany in 2017, 78% of respondents rated the handling of their personal data on the internet as somewhat or completely unsafe.[5] The Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information therefore makes the following recommendation: “From a data protection perspective, you should always exercise restraint when disclosing personal information about yourself or other people.”[6] If this sentence is taken seriously, adults must be warned against any use of the Internet, while children and young people must be excluded from using it.

The digital transformation of modern societies must not be negotiated according to the rules of global IT corporations. This can only be achieved if the public interests are formulated, negotiated and shaped in a participatory manner in every application. The well-being of citizens must be at the forefront of democratic decision-making processes. Societies, institutions and individuals do not have to do or allow everything that is technologically possible. The use of digital technologies must be compatible with the common good. Which social structures should be preserved or renewed must be negotiated on the basis of public discourse, democratic decision-making and participatory design methods.

However, we can only seize our opportunities to participate in, moderate and shape these transformation processes if we recognize and understand the driving forces and structures of this development. The main reason why public interests are pushed into the background is that they have not yet been researched to a large extent or are not addressed at the beginning of the design intervention. The following three points are of central importance for shaping digitalization:

[1] cf. Renz, Marcel. The Electrotechnical Exhibition in Frankfurt in 1891 and its consequences. Vdm Verlag Dr. Müller 2011 and Kuhn, Johannes. Technical innovations have been the subject of debate before. Essay Süddeutsche Zeitung online 27.05.2016 (retrieved 15.12.2017: http://www.sueddeutsche.de/digital/samstagsessay-vorsicht-zukunft-1.3008159)

[2] cf. Morozov, Evgeny. Smart new world: digital technology and human freedom. Karl Blessing Publishing House 2013

[3] cf. Han, Byung-Chul. In the swarm: views of the digital. Matthes & Seitz 2013

[4] cf. dpa report. Wave of arrests in Turkey. Thousands of proceedings against social media users. FAZ online 26.12.2016 (retrieved 19.12.2017: http://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/verhaftungswelle-in-tuerkei-tausende-verfahren-gegen-nutzer-sozialer-medien-14592235.html)

[5] cf. statista survey of internet users. How secure do you think your personal data is on the Internet in general? retrieved 19.12.2017: https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/217842/umfrage/sicherheit-von-persoenlichen-daten-im-internet/)

[6] Facebook, Twitter and Co.: Data protection in social networks. Website: The Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information. (retrieved 19.12.2017: https://www.bfdi.bund.de/DE/Datenschutz/Themen/Telefon_Internet/InternetArtikel/DatenschutzInSozialenNetzwerken.html)

1. Ethics: The consequences of digitalization for people and the environment must be researched, investigated and discussed with those affected against the background of the application situation! The task must be developed against the background of extensive participation processes!
2. Added value: The benefits and risks of technological innovations must be researched, investigated and weighed up against each other! The design of digitalization must not become an end in itself, but must demonstrate its concrete benefits for people and the environment!
3. Security and law: The possibilities of data protection must be researched, investigated and included in the definition of the task! Digitalization may only follow market economy principles to the extent that it complies with democratic principles and the rule of law!

One of the most important physicists of the 20th century. Werner Heisenberg is credited with the sentence: “Ideas are not responsible for what people make of them.”[1] Man is the creator of all technologies. We shape the performance spectrum of computers, programs, machines and network structures according to our will and for our benefit. The production, design and use of digital technologies must therefore always be based on our personal responsibility. Designers must develop an ethical attitude towards the development and use of digital technologies and apply the resulting responsibility in their design practice. We must use the new digital technologies to further develop and strengthen democracy and use them to shape a world in which we can live freely and self-determined lives.

[1] The quote has been attributed to Werner Heisenberg since 1969, but the source is missing.

Shaping the future of work in networked societies

The driving force behind digital change is the benefit and added value that new technologies bring to the well-being of people in modern societies. The digital age began in 1941, when Konrad Zuse invented the world’s first functional computer with his Z3. This achievement is based on preliminary work such as Charles Babbage’s mechanical calculating machine, which was used a century earlier. While the further development of digital technologies was delayed after the Second World War in Europe, it was driven forward in the USA despite some skepticism. Due to the size and production costs of digital technologies in 1943, the then head of IBM, Thomas J. Watson, was quoted as saying: “I think there is a world market for maybe 5 computers.”[1]

The breakthrough of the computer came in 1981 with the IBM 5150 model, which was used by companies worldwide to set up personal workstations due to its small size, sufficient performance for office work, economical price and the IT services available. Thanks to IBM’s market power in the field of industrial computers, the Microsoft DOS operating system quickly became the global industry standard for personal computers. Technologically superior models such as the Apple PC or the Commodore PC were marginalized as a result. In 2007, Apple regained its status as technology leader with the first iPhone model, which made it the most valuable company in the world. Today, more than 250 mill. PC models sold. The peak of this development was already reached in 2011 with more than 360 million euros. PC models.[2]

The triumph of smartphones continues unabated to this day and reached the mark of almost 1.5 billion devices sold in 2017[3]. At 7.3 billion, the number of mobile phone connections already corresponds to the global population, although the figure is distorted as people, institutions and companies in industrialized countries often have several connections. Nevertheless, the number of mobile phone connections in Africa is already 709 million, which illustrates the potential of the people we can reach with digital offerings.[4 ] The existence of global digital networking structures opens up new fields of thought and action that can be used to improve the education, living and working conditions of many people from all social classes and countries of origin around the world. Public interests can be promoted through the digital transformation, where the use of digital technologies helps to reduce existing inequalities and development deficits.

The digital transformation of networked industrial and service societies is shaping our present and creating fundamental structures for the future. Digitalization is a global technological transformation process, comparable to industrialization, in which major economic, cultural and social consequences are to be expected. The exact consequences of these technological upheavals cannot be reliably estimated, as the technological modernization process that has already begun will continue for many years to come. Current estimates of job losses due to the digitalization of the economy, or the world of work 4.0, vary between 47% and 9% [5]. All estimates of the local and regional effects of digitalization vary greatly because the effects of job rationalization can be reduced or offset by the growth in new jobs. The future of work in networked societies must be shaped responsibly, as all levels of the value chain and their consequences for people and the environment must always be taken into account.

[1] Electron robots in Germany. Der Spiegel. Issue 26.05.1965

[2] cf. statista. Forecast for global sales of PCs from 2009 to 2021 (retrieved 21.12.2017: https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/160878/umfrage/prognose-zum-weltweiten-absatz-von-pcs/)

[3] cf. statista. Forecast for smartphone sales worldwide from 2010 to 2021 (retrieved 21.12.2017: (https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/12865/umfrage/prognose-zum-absatz-von-smartphones-weltweit/)

[4] cf. statista. Number of mobile connections worldwide by region from 2005 to 2017 (retrieved 21.12.2017: https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/253072/umfrage/anzahl-der-mobilfunkanschluesse-nach-regionen-weltweit/)

[5] Studies for the US labor market: 47% (see Frey and Osborne 2013) or 6-15% (see Bonin et al. 2015; Dengler and Matthes 2015; Arntz et al. 2016), for Europe See: World of work 4.0: Prosperity growth or inequality and job loss – what will digitalization bring? Oliver Stettes, Melanie Arntz, Terry Gregory and Ulrich Zierahn, Katharina Dengler, Daniel Veit, Werner Eichhorst and Ulf Rinne (source updated 08.12.2017: http://www.zew.de/publikationen/arbeitswelt-40-wohlstandszuwachs-oder-ungleichheit-und-arbeitsplatzverlust-was-bringt-die-digitalisierung/)

Shaping forms of coexistence in networked societies

The hopes associated with the digitalization of all areas of life are particularly evident in the “smart cities” model, which is generating great euphoria among many social actors, although it also entails considerable risks. Smart cities and the ‘Internet of Things’ are no longer utopias, but are already taking shape.[1] Digital technologies are to be used to create a new urbanity that focuses on people’s needs such as health, social issues, work and leisure. Smart people are people who live in symbiosis with new digital technologies and benefit from them optimally. Smart governance makes it easier for citizens and the state to regulate necessary administrative processes. Smart mobility is based on intelligent ideas such as self-driving cars that can be used publicly on the basis of car-sharing models. The principle of the smart economy involves the more efficient use of material and energy resources. Infrastructures such as transportation and energy supply are to be made more ecological and efficient in the future. Citizens can do their shopping from home and receive their products delivered free of charge. A large part of the work can be done at home.

Where working hours are flexible and commutes are eliminated, many activities can be made more family-friendly and ecological. Communication will largely take place via instant messaging services such as e-mail, IP telephony, video conferencing, screen sharing, file transfer and social networks. Intelligent building technology systems recognize the needs of the users and adapt the living and working conditions in the building to the requirements. Use becomes more ecological, as important energy consumption sources such as heating and lighting are optimally adapted to the processes in the house. The use of surveillance technologies reduces crime and enables rapid assistance where people are in need. The elderly could particularly benefit from this, as they can manage most daily activities from home and maintain regular contact with family, friends and carers. Smart cities and citizens are highly networked both internally and externally.

Criticism of smart cities is primarily directed at the associated possibilities of misusing digital technologies for the realization of commercial interests and the total surveillance of citizens. Smart cities could develop into an instrument of power that provides state or private institutions with a tool for total surveillance and behavior control of all citizens. When designing smart cities, the public interests of democratic societies must be taken into account, which opens up new fields of action for design disciplines between architecture, urban planning and design. Social actors need good arguments and effective strategies for asserting public interests against the power of global IT and Internet companies, whose market capitalization already exceeds the gross national product of many economies.[2]

The digitalization of our living, learning and working environments is revolutionizing systemically relevant foundations of democratic societies such as security, education, the press, justice and freedom. In many cases, legal texts and social practices cannot be transferred directly from the analog to the digital space. The boundaries between privacy and the public sphere are becoming fluid and must be defined in public discourse and reassessed by democratically legitimized bodies. Since Aristotle, we have known that ethical principles and moral attitudes are based on habits, customs and practices. [ 3 ] When lifeworld practices are exposed to strong social transformation processes, ethical and moral foundations come under pressure. The pressure for change generated by digitalization and networking promotes uncertainty and fear, but also creates scope for redesigning the ways in which we live together. Digitalization not only harbours incalculable risks, but also opportunities for the renewal of society. The dynamics of change brought about by digitalization can already be felt today in key areas of social thought and action such as the environment, education, research, science, business, energy, justice, health, defence, transport, politics, work, family, social affairs and culture. As a result, questions about strategies for shaping digitalization processes are moving to the forefront of public discourse. If we want to help shape the future of urbanity, we must recognize the public interests of citizens, evaluate opportunities and risks, and discover and exploit the possibilities for successful interventions.

[1] cf. Jaekel, Michael. Smart City becomes reality: a guide to new urbanities in the digital modern age. Springer Vieweg 2015

[2] cf. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP: https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/services/audit-assurance/publications/global-top-100-companies-2017.html (retrieved: 16.11.2017)

[3] cf. Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. Reclam 2017

Shaping user rights and user behavior in digital worlds

The concepts and relationship between the public and private spheres must be renegotiated and legally secured in networked societies. The ethical basis for our actions cannot be easily transferred from the analog to the digital space, as many value-forming factors such as influence, trust, friendship, consent, power and violence change their meaning. Someone who is liked as a friend in the virtual space of the Internet can be a stranger in physical encounters. People who write hate comments on the Internet can hold completely different views in real life. The current regulations on the personal rights of individuals, as well as on the relationship between the public and private spheres, reflect the everyday practices and democratically negotiated legal concepts of analogous societies. When we are in analog space, physically moving between places, physically interacting with people and using their services, we can trust that our personal rights will be protected. We usually know where our actions remain private or where they become public and can adjust our behavior accordingly. This applies equally to the perception and respect of other people’s privacy. Total surveillance, which goes hand in hand with the use of digital media, would be incompatible with our fundamental rights.

When we move around on the Internet or change our location with our mobile device, all our actions are recorded by various digital players. This data retention turns citizens into suspects and private actions into a commodity.[1] Global IT companies are exploiting our data in a dynamically growing business area in which our right to privacy is taking on a new meaning. Our data protection legislation shows that state institutions have not yet found a way to create legal certainty. Instead of rules, warnings are issued that further contribute to the uncertainty of citizens.[2]

Computer programs and apps make our lives easier, they save us work, serve as a knowledge archive, monitor our health, promote our social communication and make it easier for us to organize our everyday lives. Algorithms help us to search for information, provide orientation, control social communication and promote our interests. Hardly anyone today wants to do without the use of computers and smartphones in their private life. The digital public sphere of the Internet is becoming the arena of our lives and has an impact on all areas of our physical reality. We therefore usually place our data online carelessly and voluntarily, as the advantages offered are concrete and often free of charge, while disadvantages such as a lack of data security and increasing dependency remain abstract.[3] We often agree to licenses and terms and conditions with one click without having read them carefully and checked their scope. There is no alternative for us to most programs because we are already strongly networked with other people and institutions, with our own database, other programs and hardware. We can also assume that our competitors will treat our personal rights in a similar way. The conclusion of license and business contracts with software providers is therefore often characterized by feelings such as carelessness and optimism of purpose or dependence and powerlessness. As a result, we are increasingly unaware of and less and less interested in who stores, analyzes, uses and passes on our data. The transition from the analog to the digital society is plunging us into crises that harbour enormous risks and at the same time open up opportunities for profound renewal.[4] Discussing, redefining and shaping the personal rights of all citizens is one of the most important challenges of networked societies.

The ‘transparent citizen’, who almost completely reveals their privacy in the digital space of the internet, is one of the hallmarks of networked societies. Hardly anyone is aware that powerful algorithms can determine a person’s identity from a few indicators such as details of friends, locations, purchases or habits.[5] As soon as we use the Internet, our actions are recorded by programs in the background, evaluated and linked to existing data. Through the sum of our actions, we ourselves create a personality profile on the Internet in which our private life situation is represented. Linking our data with that of our family, friends and colleagues creates a social profile that has never been visible in this way before. By documenting all our digital communication, recording the type and frequency of our contacts, as well as the links between conversations, texts, images and films, this structure grows, deepens and refines.

Today, data protection is largely run by companies that also earn money from the use of our data. We digitize our data ourselves and ensure its distribution by connecting to the Internet and using programs. Data collection does not stop at the threshold of your own living space, nor does it stop at your body. When we use internet services, we consciously or unconsciously digitize a lot of information about our lives and our education, our social contacts and our social behaviour, our movement profile and our actions, our attitudes, problems, preferences and wishes. The sum of the publications of private information forms the data capital of gigantic IT companies, whose economic power repeatedly and successfully prevents state attempts at regulation.[6] The Internet creates an autobiographical memory of its users, over which we have no complete control. Attempts to delete data often prove unsuccessful, as our data is duplicated countless times and stored in such a way that it remains out of the direct reach of the state and citizens. National data protection laws do not apply at the data storage location if this is outside the country’s borders. Unlike US citizens, EU citizens are largely without rights when using social media such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and Xing, video portals such as YouTube and Vimeo, search engines such as Google and Bing and online retailers such as Amazon and eBay.[7] The sovereignty of states is considerably restricted by the global transfer of data.[8]

Our data is not safe anywhere, as cybercrime is constantly growing due to rising values, global networking, lawless areas and a lack of law enforcement. In a cyber attack on the Playstation Network digital service portal in 2011, credit card information and personal data of 77 million subscribers were stolen, who were only informed about it 6 days later. In 2013, a cyber attack gave hackers access to the accounts of around 1 billion Yahoo users, which contained names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth and encrypted passwords. Also in 2013, hackers captured the data of 38 million Adobe customers. In 2014, 145 million registered customers of the online marketplace ebay fell victim to cyber criminals. In 2015, the addresses, credit card numbers and sexual preferences of around 40 million users of the online portal Ashley Madison, which is used to contact sexual partners for flings, were published by a hacker group. These included 15,000 government and military addresses. The publication also revealed that data was not deleted following termination or customer requests.[9] This makes it clear that the security of citizens in networked societies is no longer guaranteed due to the changed framework conditions. This reveals a huge potential for shaping the future, as existing problem-solving strategies such as national laws and regulations have little impact in a global context. Even international regulations will be almost impossible to enforce, as breaches of the law can be carried out at any time from any part of the world using mobile, low-cost technologies.

A far-reaching renunciation of the use of digital technologies currently offers the only effective protection against the intrusion of state and private actors into our privacy! But is this even possible or is it perhaps enough if we change our communication behavior and use effective security programs? Perhaps we don’t need new laws, but programs that we can trust or that curb the data hunger of other programs? Perhaps we just need to behave differently in the virtual space of the Internet? The design of our living environment has a major influence on user behavior, which is why this task offers a socially highly relevant field of activity for designers. The design of user behavior on the Internet is one of the great challenges of the present and will keep us busy for a long time to come!

[1 ] As of July 1, 2017, we are all suspects. Independent State Center for Data Protection Schleswig-Holstein
(retrieved 06.02.2018: https://www.datenschutz.de/ab-dem-1-juli-2017-sind-wir-alle-verdaechtig/)

[2] cf. Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG) 2017 (4) This Act applies to public bodies. It applies to non-public bodies if (3) the controller or processor processes personal data in Germanythe controller or processor does not have an establishment in a Member State of the European Union or in another Contracting State to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, but falls within the scope of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament … falls.

General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (116) If personal data is transferred to another country outside the Union, there is an increased risk that natural persons will not be able to exercise their data protection rights and, in particular, to protect themselves against the unlawful use or disclosure of this information.

Similarly, supervisory authorities may not be able to investigate complaints or conduct investigations relating to activities outside the borders of their Member State.

[3] cf. Morozov, Evgeny. Smart new world: digital technology and human freedom. Karl Blessing Publishing House 2013

[4] cf. Han, Byung-Chul. In the swarm: views of the digital. Matthes & Seitz 2013

[5] cf. Kucklick, Christoph. The granular society: How the digital is dissolving our reality. Ullstein Paperback 2016

[6] see S&P Index data. Published on the website: http://fortune.com/global500 (retrieved 08.12.2017)

[7] cf. Spehr, Michael. Fished from Facebook. FAZ-online 29.12.2016 (retrieved 08.12.2017: http://www.faz.net/aktuell/technik-motor/digital/datenkrake-abgefischt-von-facebook-14590869-p2.html)

Jannis Brühl and Thomas Kirchner. More security for EU citizens in the USA. Süddeutsche Zeitung 12.07.2016 (retrieved on 08.12.2017: http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/datenschutz-mehr-sicherheit-fuer-eu-buerger-in-den-usa-1.3074903)

[8] cf. The Spy Files. wikileaks (retrieved 08.12.2017: https://wikileaks.org/the-spyfiles.html) On Thursday, December 1st, 2011 WikiLeaks began publishing The Spy Files, thousands of pages and other materials exposing the global mass surveillance industry.

[9] see The biggest cyberattacks on companies. Computerwoche. (retrieved 21.12.2017: https://www.computerwoche.de/a/die-groessten-cyberangriffe-auf-unternehmen,3214326)

Shaping education, science and research in networked societies

The digital transformation of modern societies has a particularly strong impact on education, science and research. The transformation of the way we learn and research, how we generate, disseminate and use knowledge, has only just begun. Since we cannot see into the future, we can use comparisons with historical events to imagine the effects of digitalization. At this point, comparisons are often drawn between the transformative powers of book printing and the Internet. The invention of printing in the 15th century became the driving force behind the comprehensive modernization of medieval societies.[1] However, the success of extensive literacy and enlightenment of the population cannot be attributed solely to the direct advantages of printing technology, such as low production costs, large print runs, rapid distribution and easy availability. Indirect benefits such as multilingualism, general comprehensibility and user-friendliness of the content were just as important. The printing industry no longer geared its products solely to the wishes of a tiny educated elite, but discovered the economic potential of the masses, who first had to be educated. Since then, the spread of printed matter in all languages and countries of the world has not only led to an exponential expansion and networking of the knowledge base of our species.

The economic, social and cultural transformation of medieval societies created the age of modernity, which did not end with digitalization, but reached a new stage of development. In my view, the term postmodernism, which is to be understood in purely programmatic terms, is directed against the drive for innovation in free, globally oriented market economies. The modern age is by no means at an end, but is entering a new stage with digitalization, which is characterized by ever greater networking in all areas of society. With the current volume of data on the Internet, our stock of information has once again reached a quantum leap. The monthly global data volume is estimated at more than 15.3 zetabytes (¹⁰²¹ bytes), which exceeds the data volume of all existing print products many times over.[2] However, the quality of digital information is far more heterogeneous than that of print media, as the distribution of data on the Internet is possible almost free of charge from any private network connection. Only a tiny proportion of the data is produced by professional authors and under editorial responsibility. The majority of all publications are made by private individuals, whose authenticity and qualifications are often obscured. New information channels are created every day on editorially managed websites, personal blogs, video formats such as YouTube, social networks such as Facebook or short message channels such as Twitter.

Most people today already use the Internet as a primary source for learning activities such as research, experience acquisition and knowledge building. This applies not only to leisure activities, but now also to school learning and university studies.[3] Access to information of all kinds is provided by Internet search engines such as Google, which alone processes over 3 billion search queries from more than 1.17 billion users per day. The next search engines, such as Baidu, Yahoo and Microsoft, are each used by just under 300 million users. 4] In Germany, more than 17 million people already use the Internet today. 5] In the age group of 14- to 29-year-old Internet users in Germany, 92% already use Wikipedia, the world’s largest Internet encyclopedia[6], which today contains a knowledge base of around 45 million pages. articles, which are created, edited and constantly updated in almost 300 languages by well over a hundred thousand freelance authors. This free knowledge resource is available to every Internet user in the world, which can cause problems if Wikipedia permanently replaces your own research efforts and comprehensive information. However, if we look at this frequently cited problem from a different perspective, the benefits of public digital knowledge archives for the education of the world’s population become apparent. Most people in the world today have access to the Internet, but still no access to libraries and no money for books.

Due to the spread and use of the Internet as a source of information and communication platform, digital media are also increasingly being used for education, science and research. Almost all private and public institutions of this type use the Internet as a digital representation of their institution for internal and external communication purposes. Objectives, structure and fields of activity can be derived from this, as can offers and contact options. In addition, many educational institutions offer numerous e-learning courses, such as webinars, podcasts, chat rooms and moocs or combined forms such as blended learning.[7] Other educational institutions dispense with direct contact with learners altogether and rely completely on e-learning. Initiatives such as the Free Online Courses – edX, supported by universities such as MIT, Harvard, Berkeley, Sorbonne, TU Delft, RWTH Aachen, make it possible for people from all over the world who want to learn to study at the best educational institutions in the world, regardless of their origin, wealth or place of residence.[8 ] Digital studies are still a long way from being an equivalent substitute for attending schools and universities, and perhaps never will be. Digital learning may make people smarter, but it will never make them part of a network based on personal contacts, understanding and trust. Physical encounters with teachers and other learners during and after learning times enable discourse and new insights, build relationships of trust and promote personal development. The formation of knowledge is based on the formation of multisensory experiences, imaginary worlds grounded in reality and the trust of personalities that do not manifest themselves in projections but reveal themselves in interpersonal encounters. Digital teaching and learning methods offer a great opportunity to renew and expand analog educational offerings, but they are no substitute. The transfer of knowledge through print media has not led to the abolition of the spoken word, but has increased its value and sustainability.

The development and design of digital offerings for education, science and research opens up a growing and socially highly relevant field of activity for designers. Digital technologies can be used at any age and at all levels of education, from pre-school education and general education to specialist education and lifelong learning. The conception and production of educational programs requires specialist skills and responsibility in fields such as media design, media use and media communication. Participatory design research methods are particularly effective when new educational programs are based on the following points:[9]

• Understanding: Observation of teaching and learning processes in the context of real application situations and definition of the added value of new educational offers
• Inform: Thorough research of the target group, usage situation and existing offers, including the development history, present conditions and future prospects
• Development and formulation of the objective: Participatory encounters involving teachers and learners, decision-makers and technical experts in the context of the application situation
• Conception: Search for ideas, design and creative design of forms and methods for solving problems using usability strategies such as user experience design and visionary thinking
• Prototyping: exemplary implementation of a functional model on which the favored solution can be tested, analyzed, explained, criticized and further developed
• Test: Evaluation of usage characteristics, observation of user behavior and analysis of open usage potentials by applying quantitative and qualitative research methods as well as direct user feedback strategies

[1] cf. Morozov, Evgeny. Smart new world: digital technology and human freedom. Karl Blessing Publishing House 2013

[2] cf. IDC study. New approaches for a new data age. (retrieved 30.04.2018: https://www.seagate.com/de/de/our-story/data-age-2025/#)

[3] cf. Klöck, Gerd. Zeit-online. Students are at a loss without Google. (retrieved 12/11/2017 http://www.zeit.de/studium/hochschule/2011-05/lehre-google)

[4] See Statista. 1.17 Billion People Use Google Search. (retrieved 11.12.2017: https://www.statista.com/chart/899/unique-users-of-search-engines-in-december-2012/)

[5] See Statista: Number of internet users in Germany who use the internet for reference purposes, by frequency of use from 2013 to 2016 (in millions) (retrieved 11.12.2017: https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/168882/umfrage/internet-fuer-die-nutzung-von-nachschlagewerken/ )https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/168882/umfrage/internet-fuer-die-nutzung-von-nachschlagewerken/

[6] see Statista: Do you use the online encyclopedia Wikipedia? (retrieved 11.12.2017: https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/500757/umfrage/anteil-der-nutzer-von-wikipedia-nach-altersgruppen-in-deutschland/

[7] cf. Kerres, Michael. Media didactics: Conception and development of media-supported learning opportunities. De Gruyter 2013

[8] cf. Harvard Online Learning portal: http://online-learning.harvard.edu/ (retrieved 03.11.2017)

[9] cf. Buether, Axel. Design. in Lexikon der Kunstpädagogik. Athena publishing house Oberhausen 2017

Shaping forms of communication in networked societies

The Internet brings its users a considerable increase in freedom of information and opinion. For the most part, we are free to decide where and how we want to obtain information and what content we want to publish. Even where authoritarian governments suppress civil liberties such as the right to freedom of expression, the Internet’s diverse information channels can never be completely eliminated. Protests and revolutionary movements such as the ‘Arab Spring’ were significantly promoted by social media despite internet censorship.[1] However, the new digital freedom of information and communication is not without risks for individuals, institutions and societies. ‘Fake news’ and criminal activities such as digital hate speech, cyberbullying, cyberbullying and cyberstalking are the dark side of the new freedoms of the internet.[2]

There is also a problem with the validity of information from the Internet, which often remains as uncertain as the ethical stance and intentions of its often anonymous or unknown authors. Users of social networks are particularly affected by this, as they can rarely recognize the sources on which the information is based or the credibility of those disseminating it. The uncritical and unreflective attitude of users contributes significantly to the abuse of the new freedoms of the Internet. Criteria for professional search queries and the selection of valid information should therefore be part of everyone’s general education. As part of the necessary digital education, everyone should be empowered:

1. Research skills: Being able to search for valid information on the Internet
2. Critical faculties: being able to form criteria for the credibility of digital information
3. Evaluation skills: being able to check the truthfulness of digital information in case of doubt
4. Judgment: Being able to form one’s own judgment based on careful research
5. Responsibility: Being able to handle personal data and your own opinions responsibly
6. Empathy: being able to align your own actions with the legitimate interests of other people and society

Net policy issues such as the preservation of digital freedom rights, media policy and net culture engagement are already being addressed and promoted by many private and public initiatives. These include Internet platforms such as netzpolitik.org, which cover socially relevant topics such as data protection, surveillance, big data, scoring, data leaks, cyber-military, net neutrality, broadband expansion, free networks, freedom of expression, censorship, human rights, whistleblowing: Data protection, surveillance, big data, scoring, data leaks, cybermilitary, net neutrality, broadband expansion, free networks, freedom of speech and press, censorship, human rights, whistleblowing, transparency, public change, data journalism, open data, copyright, Creative Commons, free knowledge, education, freedom of information, consumer protection, general terms and conditions, algorithms, artificial intelligence, drones, cyborgs, robots, IT security, art, music, computer games, digital democracy, e-government, lobbying, campaigning and social movements.[3]

New digital disclosure platforms such as WikiLeaks are of particular political significance. The anonymous publication of data in which the operators believe there is a public interest is intended to promote unrestricted freedom of opinion and information on the internet.[4] The sometimes drastic side effects are accepted by the campaigners. Cyberactivist forms of political engagement are also demonstrated by globally active hacker movements such as Anonymous, which express their protests through massive public relations work and attacks on digital representations of their opponents.[5 ] The right to freedom of information and freedom of expression on the Internet can only endure if society resists all forms of abuse. Solutions have to be found again and again, creating a new socially relevant field of activity for designers.

[1] cf. net publication Federal Agency for Civic Education. The role of new media in the Arab Spring. (retrieved 11.12.2017: http://www.bpb.de/internationales/afrika/arabischer-fruehling/52420/die-rolle-der-neuen-medien?p=all)

[2] cf. Ingrid Brodnig. Lies on the net – How fake news, populists and uncontrolled technology manipulate us. Brandstätter publishing house 2017

[3] cf. website netzpolitik.org. Platform for digital liberties. (retrieved 11.12.2017: https://netzpolitik.org/team/)

[4] cf. website of the WikiLeaks revelation platform (retrieved 11.12.2017: https://wikileaks.org/)

[5] vg. Herb, Ulrich (ed.). Open Initiatives: Openness in the digital world and science. universaar, Saarbrücken 2012. Open Access (retrieved 11.12.2017: http://universaar.uni-saarland.de/monographien/volltexte/2012/87/)

Designing digital knowledge networks and research methods

The linguistically described knowledge of our species was initially preserved in the memory of individuals and passed on via oral narrative forms. With the invention of writing, we have given this knowledge a material form that is independent of our memory. Printing, in turn, accelerated the production, reproduction and dissemination of our knowledge, the material form of which was always dependent on time and space. As a result of advancing digitization, our knowledge is constantly shifting to the Internet, where it is available to any user at any location for a fee or, in many cases, for free. The digitalization of our knowledge frees us from constraints such as time, space and material. Every digital source could theoretically be read simultaneously by all of humanity, as all data is available at any location at any time. Utopias of unrestricted availability of human knowledge have so far ended at solvable problems such as data provision and data use, data security and data rights. For the present, pragmatic solutions are required here, which must be designed while safeguarding public interests. Shaping the future of the Internet, on the other hand, requires visions that bring us closer to the dream of free knowledge.

The digitalization of our material written culture promotes the production of new knowledge in very different ways. More and more publications are now being produced directly for the Internet by a growing number of authors, as digitization has significantly reduced costs and simplified distribution channels. More and more scientific publications are appearing in English, thereby addressing a global specialist audience. In 2017, English already accounted for over 50% of all websites and is becoming the global language of knowledge production on the internet as it continues to grow.[1 ] The internet is also increasingly home to digitized print media, such as manuscripts, images and out-of-print publications of all kinds, which are only accessible in the analogue world with great time and financial effort. The IT company Google has estimated that there are 129 million digital documents on the planet to date. different books were printed. 20% of this should be free of private usage rights. According to Google, most of the 80% of the remaining books are no longer available in stores.[2] The company’s Google Books division has set itself the target of selling around 15 million books by 2015. books into its database for users to view by means of retro-digitization. [ 3 ] As the company itself does not publish any figures on this due to many unresolved copyright disputes, we can only speculate on the scale achieved to date. The company is thus creating facts and at the same time trying to reach a comprehensive agreement with authors and author representatives from all over the world. The Google Books Settlement provides for the creation of a monopoly of the entire world’s knowledge, in the marketing of which authors and publishers are to participate with a percentage to be agreed. [4 ] The monopoly position of a few global corporations is causing fears in society, which is why there are many calls for the state and the public to take responsibility for the provision of digital knowledge and cultural offerings.[5]

Our knowledge of the world cannot be reduced solely to data that has been and is produced in the form of professionally designed, editorially supervised and systematically distributed media products for a broad public. The everyday culture of individuals, groups and societies is represented in the countless texts, voice recordings, images, pieces of music and films of private Internet users. Also known as big data, these expressions of life from broad sections of the population represent a unique resource for education, science and research. We can use texts, images and videos to get an up-to-date picture of how other people live, what moves them and what is happening in their environment. If we succeed in looking behind the staged forms of self-disclosure in social media, we can draw a picture of people and milieus that can be used to effectively expand quantitative and qualitative methods of social research. Today, data from social networks is largely used for commercial purposes such as interest-based advertising or the creation of customer loyalty. The authenticity of the data is also particularly valuable for scientific purposes, as they represent everyday expressions of people’s lives that have undergone no or only very rough editorial filters. If this wealth of knowledge is used in anonymized form for the benefit of the general public, there is a public interest in the use of this information.

One form of artificial intelligence is self-learning programs. With enormous computing power, storage capacities and self-learning algorithms, these programs search through unimaginably large data streams for meaningful patterns and constantly find new and meaningful ways of linking them. Today, intelligent search programs already take into account around 200 criteria such as familiarity, credibility, networking and user-friendliness, according to which they hierarchize the knowledge found. Text and image information is evaluated and linked in the same way as user data, links, references, location and time information. The current state of research is based on the development of powerful algorithms that are not only self-learning like neural networks, but also use this information independently to develop new programs.[6 ] The digitalization of our knowledge and the development of forms of artificial intelligence are opening up broad fields of activity for designers, as digital knowledge networks and research methods must be developed and designed in collaboration with experts from all fields of knowledge and research.

[1] cf. statista: https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/2961/umfrage/anteil-der-verbreitetsten-sprachen-im-internet-seit-2006/ (retrieved 2.11.2017)

[2] See Jackson, Joab. Google: 129 Million Different Books Have Been Published. PCWorld. (retrieved 22.12.2017: https://www.pcworld.com/article/202803/google_129_million_different_books_have_been_published.html)

[3] cf. Reitz, Tobias. Judge puts pressure on disputing parties. Time online (retrieved 07.03.2018: http://www.zeit.de/digital/2009-10/google-book-settlement-vergleich)

[4] see Google Book Settlement. Current statements by Google on this topic. (retrieved on 07.03.2017: https://web.archive.org/web/20130210211417/http://www.googlebooksettlement.com/)

[5] Information platforms such as iRights provide information on copyright and other areas of law in the digital world. Source: https://irights.info/

[6] cf. Zoph, Barret; Quoc V. Le. Neural Architecture Search with Reinforcement Learning. Cornell University Library arXiv.org > cs > arXiv:1611.01578 (retrieved 12/13/2017: https://arxiv.org/abs/1611.01578)

Shaping the exploration and use of big data

One of the most important innovations of the Internet is the large amount of data or “big data”, the storage, analysis and use of which is so complex that specific programs such as search engines are required. The knowledge potential and benefits of big data are so great that it is creating pressure for transformation, the effects of which can already be felt in many areas of life such as education, science and research, health and nutrition or work and leisure.[1 ] By using big data, we no longer have to be guided by majorities, average values and standards. Stakeholders from science, culture and business can perceive the will and needs of individuals in their respective locations and in their specific life situations more clearly, understand them more precisely and promote them in a more targeted manner. The recording, collection and linking of large amounts of data reveals the experiences, thoughts, behavior and actions of individuals, bringing us closer to many utopias and dystopias of the “transparent” or “transparent” citizen. The phenomenon of the transparent citizen has both positive and negative effects for individuals and society. Big data can be used for the common good and thus in the public interest, or it can be instrumentalized for private interests. It becomes difficult when public interests such as research, health or safety are affected. This shows that we need to develop an ethical approach to handling data as quickly as possible, which must be negotiated in social discourse and secured by a legal framework.

The use of big data can violate the personal rights of data subjects if they are not sufficiently informed and do not explicitly consent to it. But what does the act of our consent mean in the context of digitalization? Today, the ownership and right of use of personal data is almost automatically transferred to the companies behind it through the use of programs. According to a survey, 72% of users in Germany accept the terms and conditions, license and usage conditions of programs when installing or updating them without reading the terms and conditions thoroughly beforehand. This behavior is not solely due to trust or carelessness, as respondents equally stated that they would pay for the security of their data.[2 ] The interests of the public are not sufficiently protected here, which is why sustainable solutions to increase security, control and responsibility in the handling of personal data must be urgently sought and designed.

However, the use of big data also promises great opportunities where it is used in the public interest for the benefit of society. There is great potential in the synthesis of analog and digital research methods. Quantitative research methods are used for the representative collection of individual data, which are statistically extrapolated to average values and generalized as a result. Quantitative research is also usually based on theses and questions that are defined in advance of the study and confirmed or falsified on the basis of the statements collected. Phenomena, on the other hand, are often reduced in experimental set-ups and isolated from their context to such an extent that they can be observed in controlled environments. This ensures the repeatability of the experiments and the verification of the theses. Although the results obtained using quantitative research methods are considered representative, they often do not do justice to individual cases, as the complexity of the effects in reality is much more complex.[3 ] Due to the amount and networking of personal data, a social space is created on the Internet that can be researched using methods such as netnography[4], cyberanthropology[5 ] or Internet sociology[6]. The extent to which analog and digital representations of our being are similar or different has yet to be investigated and clarified.

The collection and analysis of big data provides us with a new scientific method that enables us to obtain precise information about people, places and events. Professional big data analyses such as the algorithms of search engines are hardly limited by obstacles such as time, data volume, processing capacity, location or language skills.[7] Analog processes are also reduced to the concepts of our language. Diseases are usually characterized by terms, described by symptoms and treated according to standardized procedures, while individual characteristics and treatment options are neglected.[8] Big data provides us with information about people’s micro-actions, such as eye movements, gestures and action details, which we can use to perceive, observe and influence the reality of their lives in high spatial and temporal resolution. Big data enables us to gain a deeper understanding of complex processes in nature and society, which in a positive case can lead us to more truthful explanatory models and more effective solutions to problems. The research and use of big data is becoming increasingly important in the humanities and cultural sciences, which can benefit from collaboration with designers when shaping these processes.

[1] cf. Stalder, Felix. Culture of digitality. Suhrkamp 2016

[2] cf. data protection. The view of consumers in Germany. TNS Emnid results report survey commissioned by the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations and Consumer Associations October 2015 (Retrieved 14.12.2017: https://www.vzbv.de/pressemitteilung/verbraucher-wuerden-fuer-mehr-datenschutz-zahlen)

[3] cf. Kucklick, Christoph. The Granular Society. Ullstein 2016

[4] cf. Kozinets, Robert V.. Netnography. Sage Publications 2015

[5] cf. Knorr, Alexander. Cyberanthropology. Hammer 2011

[6] cf. Bartsch, Simone. … would you tell me your e-mail address? Nomos Universitätsschriften 2012

[7] cf. Reichert, Ramón (ed.). Big Data: Analyses of the digital transformation of knowledge, power and economy. transcript 2014

[8] cf. Ming, Vivienne. Tracking my Son’s Diabetes. Lecture Global Conference Quantified Self 2013. Weblink: https://vimeo.com/81272562 (retrieved 02.11.2017)

Shaping democracy and freedom in networked societies

The success story of the Internet began with the worldwide opening of the first World Wide Web server “httpd”, the development of the first client program (browser and editor) and the “Hyper Text Markup Language” (HTML) by Tim Berners-Lee in 1990.[1 ] Berners-Lee created the conditions for the success of the Internet by standardizing digital structures and founding the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), whose 431 member organizations guarantee the free flow of data.[2 ] All standards developed by the W3C are published as open source software and released for improvement and further development by the community of all users. The waiver of patent fees and free access to all source codes still form the basis for the openness, accessibility, free of charge and neutrality of the global network.

This idea of freedom is at the heart of the Internet, which is why it is still available to every user in the world today, despite many restrictions:

1. to inform themselves independently of the enormous power of commercial and institutional applications as far as possible
2. to form their own opinion against the background of their efforts and abilities
3. publish almost any message

Irrespective of the criticism, which in many cases is entirely justified, it is important to note that the power of the Internet to promote democracy internally and externally must be preserved. It is equally important to note that undemocratic and antisocial behavior on the Internet calls into question the liberal structures of society as a whole. What democracy means must therefore be negotiated and defended in the analog and digital space of networked societies, as both worlds have long since merged into a new entity. The Internet is already the most important communication medium in modern societies. Every day, more than 3 billion people worldwide are connected online, a huge number of users that continues to grow and has a significant impact on our lives[3].

The transformative potential of digitalization will open up completely new opportunities for future generations to help shape networked societies. Millions of digital spaces already exist worldwide in which young people shape their lives independently of the rules and conventions of mainstream society. These digital freedoms are not limited to the internet, but have an indirect influence on opinion-forming processes and action dynamics in society, as can be seen in many reform movements around the world. The digital transformation is shaking up social power centers and established institutions, which is spreading strong fears and uncertainty, but also offers opportunities and potential for progressive forces. Established networks from politics[4], business[5], science[6], media[7 ] and culture[8] are losing influence, disappearing or being forced to modernize and innovate by powerful new competitors. Digital information can reach global dimensions of impact in fractions of a second and bring about social change dynamics that can neither be controlled nor contained. The positive and negative effects of digital transformation processes are already becoming apparent. However, the consequences of technological and social change are not yet foreseeable. We therefore need a new educational project for networked societies so that all citizens can form their own opinions. We need a global digital literacy project that is operated in our educational institutions under state responsibility so that all people can use their knowledge, reason and responsibility to shape networked societies. The educational project can only be successful if it takes shape in practice. Designers can make an important contribution to this.

Digital education and literacy require:

1. Responsibility to act: Everyone is aware of the social, cultural and societal responsibility associated with the opportunities for free publication and unrestricted communication of information in the public space of the Internet.
2. Promotion of democracy: Everyone promotes the basic democratic structure of the Internet through their behavior and respects human dignity, civil and human rights, free development of the personality, freedom of information and opinion, truth, equality, freedom of belief and data protection.
3. Knowledge acquisition: Anyone can research relevant information on the Internet, check its meaning and truthfulness, place it in context and evaluate it.
4. Critical faculties: Everyone develops a critical attitude towards information from the Internet and is able to assess the trustworthiness of sources.
5. Design skills: Everyone is able to use rhetorical means to design their own messages in textual, pictorial, graphic and filmic form and to publish them on the Internet using suitable technologies and media-specific methods.

This collection of topics on shaping the digital transformation of networked societies opens up a broad field of future-oriented and socially relevant activities for designers. The points are neither intended as a scientific presentation of the subject area in scope and depth, nor do they claim to be exhaustive. They are described in a popular scientific language that is intended to motivate designers to deal with these or other fields of research and action as part of a public interest design course and to develop their own interests in the subject.

[1] cf. Berners-Lee, Tim. The web report. The creator of the World Wide Web on the limitless potential of the Internet. Econ Publishing House 1999

[2] cf. homepage World Wide Web Consortium W3C (retrieved 15.12.2017: https://www.w3.org/Consortium/facts)

[3] see S&P Index data. Published on the website: http://fortune.com/global500 (retrieved 1.11.2017)

[4] cf. Pick, Yussi. The echo principle. How online communication has an offline effect. Czernin 2013

[5] cf. Schwab, Klaus. The Fourth Industrial Revolution. Pantheon 2016

[6] cf. Kucklick, Christoph. The granular society: How the digital is dissolving our reality. Ullstein 2016

[7] cf. Berger, Hannes. Public service broadcasting and digitization. Ibidem 2016

[8] cf. Becker, Jörg. The digitalization of media and culture. Springer VS 2013

Bibliography:

Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. Reclam Leipzig 2017.

Bartsch, Simone. … would you tell me your e-mail address? Nomos Universitätsschriften Baden-Baden 2012.

Becker, Jörg. The digitalization of media and culture. Springer VS Wiesbaden 2013.

Berger, Hannes. Public service broadcasting and digitization. Ibidem Stuttgart 2016.

Berners-Lee, Tim. The web report. The creator of the World Wide Web on the limitless potential of the Internet. Econ Verlag Berlin 1999.

Brodnig, Ingrid. Lies on the net – How fake news, populists and uncontrolled technology manipulate us. Brandstätter Verlag Vienna 2017.

Han, Byung-Chul. In the swarm: views of the digital. Matthes & Seitz Berlin 2013.

Herb, Ulrich (ed.). Open Initiatives: Openness in the digital world and science. universaar Saarbrücken 2012.

Jaekel, Michael. Smart City becomes reality: a guide to new urbanities in the digital modern age. Springer Vieweg Wiesbaden 2015.

Kerres, Michael. Media didactics: Conception and development of media-supported learning opportunities. De Gruyter Berlin 2013.

Knorr, Alexander. Cyberanthropology. Hammer Leipzig 2011.

Kozinets, Robert V.. Netnography. Sage Publications Thousand Oaks (USA) 2015.

Kucklick, Christoph. The granular society: How the digital is dissolving our reality. Ullstein Taschenbuch Berlin 2016.

Kuhn, Johannes. Technical innovations have been the subject of debate before. Essay Süddeutsche Zeitung online 27.05.2016 (retrieved 15.12.2017: http://www.sueddeutsche.de/digital/samstagsessay-vorsicht-zukunft-1.3008159)

Morozov, Evgeny. Smart new world: digital technology and human freedom. Karl Blessing Verlag Munich 2013.

Pick, Yussi. The echo principle. How online communication has an offline effect. Czernin Vienna 2013.

Protzen, Jean-Pierre and David J. Harris. The Universe of Design: Horst Rittel’s Theories of Design and Planning. Taylor & Francis London 2010.

Reichert, Ramón (ed.). Big Data: Analyses of the digital transformation of knowledge, power and economy. transcript Bielefeld 2014.

Renz, Marcel. The Electrotechnical Exhibition in Frankfurt in 1891 and its consequences. Vdm Verlag Dr. Müller Saarbrücken 2011.

Schwab, Klaus. The Fourth Industrial Revolution. Pantheon Munich 2016.

Stalder, Felix. Culture of digitality. Suhrkamp Berlin 2016.

Link Source of supply Book publication: What is Public Interest Design?