E-mail, blogging, Twitter, Skype… digital communication and information technologies have long been a part of our everyday lives. But what seems to function completely naturally in person-to-person, person-to-object, and even object-to-object dialogue – and which is, of course, evolving faster all the time – is presenting science with new challenges.
The competent, innovative and committed way in which German science is addressing the manifold challenges of digital communication in universities, higher education institutions and research institutes is illustrated by a brochure recently published by the Alliance of German Science Organisations under the direction of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation). The richly illustrated new publication uses 70 concrete examples to demonstrate that Germany, as a location for science and business, understands how to position itself in issues of new computer and storage technology, intelligent objects, social networks and innovative platforms which connect their users just as well as it does in modern information presentation and processing, or in the opportunities and risks of digital cultures. Each of the five chapters is preceded by an explanatory text which places the individual examples provided by the experts into a cohesive context.
"Communication" is one of a five-brochure series published in German and English. The brochures are published by the Alliance of German Science Organisations, which, in addition to the DFG, also includes the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the German Academic Exchange Service, the Fraunhofer Society, the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, the German Rectors' Conference, the Leibniz Association, the Max Planck Society, and the German Council of Science and Humanities. The series is intended to provide journalistic support for the German federal government's High-Tech Strategy. Each edition, therefore, has a foreword written by Professor Annette Schavan, Germany's Federal Minister of Education and Research, and each title is overseen by a different Alliance organisation.
In addition to "Communication", "Energy" and "Health" have also been published, with "Security" and "Mobility" set to follow during the coming year.
Further Information
The Alliance brochure is available online as a downloadable pdf at: www.dfg.de/dfg_profil/gesamtliste_publikationen/index.html#micro234543
A printed version is also available and can be ordered free of charge from the DFG's Press and Public Relations Office, Kennedyallee 40, 53175 Bonn. E-mail michael.hoenscheid@dfg.de