1. Status quo, objectives and methodology

Status quo and objectives

Up until now, research on the subject of the Internet has focused almost exclusively on the user perspective. We therefore know a good deal about user behavior and user profiles, i.e. who is on the Internet and where, how often, and why.

But who actually shapes “the Internet” – its design, configuration and evolution? Who are the opinion-leaders and how are they influencing developments? How knowledgeable and experienced are they, themselves, when it comes to the Internet? How are requirements for security and freedom evaluated and negotiated? What new opportunities does the Internet offer society as a whole? What new risks and potential areas of conflict does it introduce?

The DIVSI Opinion Leader Study is designed to help answer these questions based on in-depth interviews with leaders from government, business, media and academia as well as civil society representatives. This volume presents the results of Part I of the investigation, which included in-depth interviews with over 60 experts. Part II of the investigation will employ a representative survey to assess the opinion-leader landscape in Germany. The combined result will provide the first detailed look at how the Internet is viewed by the people involved in defining the rules of the game.

Methodology

The object of the investigation is to analyze the stakeholder structures on the Internet and shed light on who is shaping the Internet …

  • … with what means?
  • … with which strategic partners?
  • … against what kind of resistance?
  • … with what kind of know-how?
  • … with what kind of basic attitude towards digital media and the digital world?

This involved a two-step approach, which is depicted in the following graphic:

Methodology

The interviews treated the following main topics:

Overview of the participant’s own working environment 
The role of the Internet in the working environment
Attitude towards the Internet and digitalization
The relevance of trust/security on the Internet; assessment of opportunities and risks for one’s own field
Perception of other players taking part in the discourse about the Internet
Assessment of the public’s level of awareness/knowledge
Responsibility for risks on the Internet and promoting digital participation
Assessment of contrastive pairs (e.g. security vs. freedom, bottom-up vs. top-down, trust vs. control, benefits vs. costs)
Assessment of the future development of the Internet

To do justice to the various levels of professional involvement in the Internet among the survey participants, the interviews were guided but conducted openly and with varying focus, depending on the interviewee’s respective area of responsibility.

Survey participants were selected according to a range of criteria:

Involvement in the main sectors politics/government, business, civil society, media and academia
Selection of survey participants at the highest decision-making levels in the respective sectors
Individual sectors weighted differently depending on variation within the sector with regard to positions, requirements, spheres of influence/activity (e.g. larger number of survey participants from the private sector in order to include various industries and service areas, i.e. IT service providers as well as social media platform providers, financial service providers, etc.).

This broad-range of survey participants ensures that the many dimensions of today’s Internet discourse are represented, and allows for the identification of the major aspects, important conflict areas and required action areas. At the same time, the interviewees introduce additional topics and the necessary differentiation for achieving adequate operationalization of the subject/topic areas.

The following table provides an overview of the number of interviews in the respective areas. A total of 63 interviews were conducted from June through September 2012.

Number Area Function
18 Politics/
Public Administration
  • Members of the German Bundestag,Members of the German parliament’s Enquete

    Commission “Internet and Digital Society”

  • Party heads
  • Mayors
  • State secretaries and State council members
  • Department heads from the federal ministries
  • Presidents of federal agencies
  • CIOs of federal states
  • IT heads from state ministries or similar
25 Business
  • Senior management executives/board members
  • Chief Executive Officers
  • Chief Information (Security) Officers
  • Heads of public policy or similar
7 Media
  • Senior management executives
  • Chief executive officers
  • Senior online editors and division heads
  • Freelance journalists, etc.
9 Zivilgesellschaft
  • Board members and officers of associations, clubs
    and foundations
  • CEOs or academic/research directors
  • Internet activists (e.g. bloggers)
4 Wissensgesellschaft
  • Professors in respective fields
Total = 63 interviews