Information and Society Research Group
This group researches the role of information in modern, technologized, societies, the impact on individual lives, communities, society and the role of governance in regulating the information society.
We live in an information rich environment, and a society which is dependent upon knowledge and information. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are becoming an essential part of life and society. The changes they are bringing, perhaps the most significant since the Industrial Revolution, are far-reaching and global and they will affect everyone, everywhere. What is the social, cultural, and political impact of the information revolution? This information and communication revolution is creating opportunities, but is also presenting a challenge to overcome a digital divide and promote inclusion and participation in the context of disparities in information infrastructure and dissemination, knowledge generation and management.
The Information Society Research Group is concerned with the relation between information technology, individuals and society; modern communications, institutions and social control; management of information; the dissemination and impact of technologies on society and its groups, while also examining the historical and social context of the information revolution.
Research Areas
Our current research interests include the following:
- Information policy : freedom of information, data protection, censorship, freedom of information
- E-governance: e-participation, e-inclusion and policy formation; communities, social networks and social capital
- The Internet, social change, and the Information Society debate: the impact of technology on social relations and cultural beliefs, changing information flows
- Philosophy of information, communicative action and the public sphere
- New forms of community: migration, integration and electronic communities; trans-national identity; long-distance nationalism and diaspora studies; the Irish community abroad
- Ethnographic studies of organisations, information systems and work practices
Current Research
- social media, information and community amongst foreign nationals in Ireland. Two year project (January 2009 - December 2010), funded by Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences under Strand 1 (Research Stimulator Grants) of the Research Development Initiative.
- information needs in an urban community (PhD research)
- ICTs in a rural Irish community (PhD research)
- identity fraud: negotiating identity and managing personal information in an information society (PhD research)
- e-participation and inclusion in Ireland (PhD research)
- community informatics (PhD research)
- community, technology and sustainable development (PhD research)
- social networking, social capital, and the Asian community in Ireland (PhD research)
Information Society Research Group Staff and Postgraduate Students
Co-ordinator, Information Society Research Group
Dr. Lee Komito
Research Group Members
Dr. Kalpana Shankar
Dr. Eric Cook
Postgraduate Students
Mr. Shane Mc Loughlin
Mr. Paul O'Reilly
Mr. Declan Tuite
___________________________________________________________
Back to Research Home
Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net