About
Democracy
THE DSI COMMUNITY DIGITAL PUBLICS
THE DSI COMMUNITY DIGITAL PUBLICS
Digital technologies are fundamentally transforming public life, from how people communicate and form opinions to how information circulates and collective decisions are shaped. Alongside their potential to foster participation, inclusion, and transparency, digital technologies also raise concerns about manipulation, exclusion, and unequal access to information. How can digital technologies be designed and governed to strengthen public life?
We address key challenges related to the transformation of public life in digital environments through inherently interdisciplinary research. To this end, we bring together UZH researchers from across the social sciences, computer and data science, law, and the humanities. We disseminate our insights to researchers, stakeholders, and the broader public, and aim to develop practical, solution-oriented approaches for fostering inclusive, transparent, and sustainable digital information environments.
Community facts
3
Projects
89
Members
THE DIGITAL SOCIETY INITIATIVE (DSI)
What questions about digitalization are on your mind? And how has your life changed with the digital transformation? Digitalization is presenting society and science with new challenges. It is taking hold of a large part of our lives at an ever faster pace.
The Digital Society Initiative (DSI) shapes the digital transformation of society and science. With interdisciplinary activities in research, education and outreach, the DSI is the University of Zurich’s (UZH) competence center on digital transformation.
The DSI is a scientific institution supported by all faculties of the UZH, which promotes independent scientific reflection and innovation on questions of digital transformation. It prepares UZH students to help shape the digital transformation, engages in regular discourse with the public and supports policy-making on digital transformation issues.
DSI Community Digital Publics
The DSI Community Digital Publics addresses the profound transformations brought about by digital technologies in shaping public life. Digital technologies such as social media platforms, algorithms, and artificial intelligence affect how societies deliberate, how institutions and communities organize, and how individuals form attitudes and make decisions. These developments raise pressing questions about the quality of public discourse, the resilience of democratic institutions, and the political, social, and psychological consequences of digital environments.
To investigate these issues, the community brings together researchers from communication, political science, psychology, sociology, computer and data science, linguistics, law, and related fields. This interdisciplinary collaboration enables us to study digital publics from different methodological and theoretical perspectives and across varied contexts, ranging from global transformations of public opinion to local community interactions and individual digital behavior.
We strive to foster inclusive, transparent, and sustainable digital information environments that enable individuals to participate in meaningful dialogue, strengthen institutions and communities, and support democratic values in an increasingly interconnected world. By combining state-of-the-art interdisciplinary research with solution-oriented approaches, the community generates insights that inform academic scholarship as well as policymakers, media organizations, civil society, and the broader public.
Discover some of our Projects
The DSI Community Digital Publics focuses on research into how digital technologies transform public life, public discourse, and collective decision-making. Learn more about our projects
Membership in the DSI Community Digital Publics is open to researchers affiliated with a Swiss university. For other individuals, membership is conditional on an ongoing cooperation with the DSI Community. To become a member of a DSI Community, membership in the DSI Network is required. Please follow this link.
