Global network for internet research

The Global Network of Internet and Society Research Centers (NoC) is an initiative started in 2012, which aims to increase cooperation between participating centres in order to facilitate knowledge exchange, realise synergies and collectively confront transnational issues on a global level. In the process, they grapple with a variety of topics of both domestic and global importance: policy, regulation and governance, human behaviour and social impact, new markets and business models, intellectual property, privacy and security, and many other issues.  The Network initiates and facilitates joint research activities and events and thereby has added a global perspective on the current debates on internet and society.

In August 2020, the NoC launched its international research project "Ethics of Digitalisation - From Principles to Practices". The two-year project aims to develop groundbreaking and actionable answers to challenges in the area of conflict between ethics and digitalisation. Apart from HIIG, the main project partners of the joint initiative are the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard University, the Digital Asia Hub, and the Leibniz Institute for Media Research I Hans-Bredow-Institute. The research project is funded by Stiftung Mercator; German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is its patron.

The European perspective on global issues

In October 2017, representatives from 15 European research institutes of the NoC launched the European Hub. The aim is to coordinate European cooperation on Internet and society research and to harness synergies between research projects in order to strengthen European Internet research at an international level. The Hub's work focuses on independent and interdisciplinary research on the opportunities and challenges of digital technology, innovation and European society. The European network currently comprises 58 institutions from all over Europe.