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At the EFFEKTE Festival on May 17–18 in Karlsruhe, the KIT Zentrum für Mensch und Technik and FZI research group Digital Democracy and Participation showcased interactive research on Resilient Digital Democracy. Highlights included demos on detecting disinformation with AI and how platform design influences online debate. A special appearance in the late-night show STULLE – wissenschaftlich belegt brought science communication to the stage in a playful and engaging format. The weekend underscored the importance of public dialogue in shaping our digital future.

Nachdem wir am Wochenende schon mit dem Zentrum Mensch-und-Technik und der TRIANGEL beim Tag der offenen Tür des KIT und bei der EFFEKTE Wissenschaftszeltstadt teilgenommen haben, haben wir diese Woche noch zwei weitere Highlights für die EFFEKTE geplant: Vortrag von Oliver Resch und Christina Speck mit anschließenden interaktiven Ständen der Energieforschungsgruppe am WIN Doch was können wir aus diesen Daten hinsichtlich Produktivität, Stress und Wohlbefinden tatsächlich lernen?

In spring 2025, Dr. Jonas Fegert, head of the House of Participation at FZI Forschungszentrum Informatik and research group lead at WIN, spent two intensive weeks in Israel as part of the initiative “Tech for Democracy: German-Israeli Research Initiative on Digital Democracy.” The visit marked a significant step in strengthening an emerging interdisciplinary network of scholars working on the intersection of technology and democracy

 “Democracy needs science, and science needs democracy” – with this message, Prof. Dr. Christof Weinhardt, speaker of the KIT-Center “Mensch und Technik”, addressed the visitors of the Europe Days on the market square in Karlsruhe. In his speech, he emphasized the relevance of open and critical thinking as a link between science and democratic culture and of spaces that enable exchange between science and society. Further words of welcome were given by Mayor Dr. Frank Mentrup and Markus Thomas, President of Department 2 of the Karlsruhe Regional Council.

Overall, 9 members of the Institute for Information Systems (WIN) attended CHI 2025 and contributed 4 full papers and 3 late breaking work papers. Furthermore, the workshop Hybrid Automation Experience – Communication, Coordination, and Collaboration within Human-AI Teams was co-organized and a workshop poster titled “Wearable Brain-Computer Interfaces for Everyday Mental Fatigue Research” was presented in the HCI and Health Workshop.

The Institute for Information Systems (WIN) will be represented with 8 papers at the European Conference on Information Systems, which will take place in Amman, Jordan in June. Congratulations to all authors!

In the new public funded project MenschKI! the impact of the introduction and use of Generative AI on employees is investigated and practical solutions empowering employees for effective use of Generative AI with personalized learning and adaptation are developed. MenschKI! is is coordinated by the Institute for Information Systems (Prof. Mädche, Prof. Weinhardt) and funded by the Artificial Intelligence in Work and Society Observatory of the Digital Work Society Think Tank at the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (BMAS) with €1.67 million.

The second day continued with presentations from the Digital Democracy and Participation and Smart Grids for Energy Markets groups. The retreat offered a valuable opportunity for each researcher to present their ongoing projects, receive constructive feedback, and refine their ideas and methodologies. The team explored the exquisite technology-inspired art exhibits at ZKM Karlsruhe, with engaging discussions on digital art, evolution of humans with technology, and its subtle roles in shaping society.

Leo Semmelmann successfully defended his PhD thesis titled “Dynamic Tariff Adoption in Electricity Markets: Bridging Policy, Technology and Behavior“ on April 17th 2025.

Am Montag, 14.04.25 ist das Konsortium des Forschungsprojekts D²HeaTEC zum ersten Mal in Präsenz zusammengekommen – bei unserer Projektpartnerin RheinEnergie in Köln.
Mit dabei waren Oliver Resch, Laura Selgrad und Christof Weinhardt von dem Institut für Wirtschaftsinformatik (WIN) und das Institut für Regelungs- und Steuerungssysteme (IRS) des KITs, die Aachener Wohnungsbaugesellschaft, RheinEnergie und die ASEW.

Carolin Stein successfully defended her PhD thesis titled “Designing Digital Involvement in a Datafied Society“ on April 1st 2025. Her work advances the fields of crowdsourcing, e-participation, and citizen science by analyzing and structuring design knowledge for digital participation projects across domains. Her findings offer valuable insights for researchers and practitioners, helping them shape participatory practices and better address citizens' data-related needs in participation formats and tools.  

Just ahead of the 2025 federal elections, the Tagesspiegel is once again publishing exclusive insights into the research data from SOSEC. In the interactive article, readers can scroll through the analyses independently and are also offered exciting visualizations. This allows the scientific data from SOSEC to be experienced directly and the controversial political issues in the election campaign to be seen from new perspectives.