It is a very conscious decision for us to regularly take time for research projects in addition to our project work for our customers. These projects give us the space to explore key social issues in the digital world and develop innovative solutions together with our project partners. In this way, we not only enable students to gain their first practical experience with us as a sparring partner. We can also use our tech stack to implement tools to combat hate speech, cyberbullying and fake news, which are currently being tested by public safety authorities – for example as part of the projects PREVENT and CYLENCE.

Of course, the exchange with our various project partners is central to this endeavor. Last month, we had the opportunity once again to get together live and in person in our Berlin office. The occasion for this was the conclusion of the RISE_SMA research project, which has been investigating the effects of social and crisis communication in social media since 2019. For the workshop, we were joined by two representatives from the Indonesian University of Padjadjaran [UNPAD] as well as students from the Student Innovation Team [SIT] at the University of Potsdam.

In addition to looking back on the successfully completed RISE_SMA project, we also discussed the progress and results of other current research projects, and took a look into the future. Specifically, the question “What does the future of work look like?” was discussed at length. It is quite possible that we will get to the bottom of this in more detail in our next research project.