Research Focuses

Focuses of our research

Research focus

Digital Democracy and Participation

The FZI coined the term “Digital Citizen Participation” to describe inclusive, modern, and democratic forms of digital engagement.

In addition to designing and developing digital participation processes and platforms, the research focus for the year 2023, under the theme of Digital Democracy and Participation, will shed light on the opportunities and challenges of democracy in times of digital transformation to contribute to shaping a digital society. In doing so, it follows the FZI Code of Ethics and aims at research and knowledge for the benefit of society.

By expanding this research focus, FZI projects such as DeFaktS, which aims to research and combat disinformation and societal polarization tendencies, can be better integrated into the FZI’s research and become more visible in the Digital Government sector.

The work of the FZI is not only aimed at citizens and potential users but also strengthens research collaborations, businesses, as well as city and municipal administrations. Through empirical and evidence-based research and engineering innovative applications, the FZI helps to make digital participation more visible and tangible for the benefit of individuals and society. With its expertise, the FZI also aims to enable digital engagement and participation in the fields of science and research, the public sector, organizations and companies, as well as technology development.

Expertise

The FZI combines technological and development expertise with knowledge about the societal challenges of our time. It benefits from over 30 years of experience in conceiving and implementing interdisciplinary projects, such as in the fields of health or mobility, transportation, and logistics.

Participatory procedures with a focus on human-computer interaction, visualizations, and data analysis
Market and platform design
Evaluation, behavior, and acceptance studies
Methodological consulting on involving citizens in technology development
Design and development of digital participation formats for companies, organizations, the public sector, science, and technology development
Evaluation of digital participation formats (e.g., for cities and municipalities) and platform design according to the latest human-computer interaction standards
Gamification and user experience approaches, as well as incentive mechanisms
Consumer behavior, data science, and design science research
Immersive systems (extended, virtual, and augmented reality)
Recommender systems
Applied Artificial Intelligence methods such as Machine Learning, Deep Learning, (explainable) Artificial Intelligence, and Process Mining

Trends

As a hub for decision-makers in government, society, economy, and science, the FZI has established the House of Participation (HoP) to facilitate the exchange on forms and applications of digital engagement and democracy. Together with decision-makers, the FZI develops customized solutions for current technological and societal challenges.

Transfer

Physical and virtual participation showrooms, along with a new podcast series

After establishing the House of Participation as a competence and advisory center for Digital Citizen Participation within the FZI in 2021, the goal for 2023 is to bring the topics of digital participation and democracy more strongly into government, administration, economy, and society.

This is supported by the HoP podcast series on participation, democracy, and representation in the digital age (HoPcast). It discusses challenges and success stories with relevant stakeholders, promoting international networking and knowledge transfer.

After primarily virtual public events due to the pandemic in the past two years, 2023 aims to see a resurgence of in-person events such as fairs, conferences and meetings on digital participation. Events will be organized for stakeholders in government, economy, and society. For example, the research focus theme will be addressed during the FZI Open House.

Research Infrastructure

Virtual and physical demonstrators

With a participation showroom in the FZI branch in Berlin, a physical space is created to make digital participation formats tangible and showcase selected works of the HoP. In addition, a presentation of the House of Participation, for example in the form of a demonstrator, is planned in the (virtual) FZI House of Living Labs in Karlsruhe.