ICTS AND SOCIETY: THE SALZBURG APPROACH - ICT&S

ABSTRACT
ICTs and Society: The Salzburg Approach
There is an international debate revolving around the question whether or not the
field of overlapping studies and research in Internet, Information Society, ICTs and
Society, Social Informatics, Informatik und Gesellschaft, New Media, and the like, is
or shall become a discipline. The answer the authors of this paper intend to give is
that the best option for research in ICTs and society is to become a “transdiscipline”.
The paper will explain how the term “transdiscipline” can be used to characterise a
field shaped to meet what the authors think contemporary society is in need of.
Aims, scope, and tools of ICTs and society research will be elaborated on.
This paper is a revised version of a paper three of us presented at the IR 7.0: Internet
Convergences, a conference held by the Association of Internet Researchers
in Brisbane, Australia, in September 2006.
KEYWORDS:
ICTs, Internet, Social Software, Web 2.0, Transdisciplinarity, Complexity, Critical Theory
Hofkirchner | Fuchs | Raffl | Schafranek | Sandoval | Bichler 2