Sociotechnical Systems

Research in the field of Sociotechnical Systems is concerned with how people in groups, networks, organizations, and societies use and can use information and communication technologies, and how interactions in such social contexts can be analyzed using appropriate methods. This includes software solutions for supporting planning processes, organizing interactive forms of civic participation, supporting social and economic relationships, agent-based modeling of collective action, and supporting learning processes in both school and out-of-school contexts. Researchers in this field also develop methods for analyzing and visualizing of social interactions as well as formal and informal structures within organizations based on digital information. 

Research problems in this field originate, among other areas, from the social and economic sciences. The field addresses topics such as the technological organization of complex planning and decision-making processes in politics and public administration (including the interactive participation of citizens through information and communication technologies); the detection of latent interaction patterns in political parties and parliaments; social relationships and communication on the internet; the effects of social media on traditional communication patterns and online mobilization processes; visual communication in the internet; intra- and interorganizational relationships in corporate management, knowledge networks and interorganizational alliance management; the effects of social media on economic processes and behavior; the actions of individuals and organizations in online environments; the regulation of social networks and, in particular, cyber-physical systems in "digitized production"; as well as technology-oriented methods for occupational competence assessment. Methodologically, agent-based modeling of voting and decision-making processes and social network analysis are the key areas of focus.

• Business Administration
• Educational Research
• Information Systems
• Communication Studies
• Political Science
• Sociology