Universität Siegen Fakultät III: Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Wirtschaftsinformatik – Tailor-Made IT for everyday challenges – Social informatics science is changing society

Information technology is increasingly penetrating almost all spheres of life. It can make a substantial contribution to solving social challenges in everyday life. For information science, the challenge arises of linking a suitable understanding of everyday practices with designing innovative IT applications. In this connection, the Social informatics science at the University of Siegen has developed the design case study method, which is based on empirical investigations into everyday practices by human actors. On this basis, innovative, solutions-oriented IT is designed together with parties affected while investigating and including the changes in everyday practice.

The Social informatics science research methods established by Prof. Volker Wulf at the University of Siegen since 2002 have proven useful for designing IT applications for supporting cooperative work in organisations, in the aging society, for energy efficiency and in institutions engaged in protecting against danger and civil safety. Examples of this are the “landmarke” research project for supporting navigation and communication with firefighters in burning buildings. Wulf’s work has also received many international awards.