Research Initiative for the Information Society (RIIS)

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The Research Initiative is a collaborative enterprise of emerging researchers dedicated to researching the contemporary information society’s social, political, legal, economic, regulatory, and strategic dimensions. RIIS is interested in the study of how new technologies help shape, and are shaped by these factors. The overarching focus of RIIS would be the social dimensions of cyber security, examined through an interdisciplinary body of technical and non-technical experts generating bespoke research outputs. While RIIS is based in Australia, experts would not be bound geographically, in order to gain global perspectives of the information society. The convenors and co-chairs of the RIIS are Jack Goldsmith and Callum Harvey..  

 

RIIS members come from a breadth of disciplines and backgrounds, enriching the exploration of the information society through their new and unique perspectives. RIIS’ focus areas are captured by three main thematic pillars:

Pillar 1: Social & information environment. Concerns analysis of the contemporary information environment, and its impact on cyber security and policy.

Pillar 2: Regulatory & legal. Involves analysis of regulatory and legal impacts on cyber security and wider policy development for the information society.

Pillar 3: Strategic & environmental. Examination of strategic cyber security development and environmental implications of the information society.

 

Given the borderless nature of cyberspace and the information environment, capturing the marketised elements of the information society could be a research programme unto itself. As such, we’ve elected to keep any economic policy/research focuses as a supporting element for each pillar.

 

Structure

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RIIS is a self-administering entity in the nature of a cooperative. It is hosted and promoted by the Social Cyber Institute. Members would be early career scholars or practitioners in technology/cyber security and a different discipline (e.g. international relations, security studies, law, media and communications, public policy, engineering, physics, philosophy).

 

Members of the initiative can be considered for appointment as Associate Research Fellows in the Social Cyber Institute on a recommendation of the RIIS Co-Chairs. Nomination  of Associate Research Fellows would be based on their potential to undertake research fitting at least one of the three pillars, their publication experience and interest, and their own profile and engagement with the information society through research or professional work.

 

RIIS will aim to have gender balance and representation of disadvantaged demographics incorporated into each cohort.

 

Outputs

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RIIS Associate Fellows would be required to produce at least one (1) publication per calendar year to maintain their affiliation. A quarterly engagement meeting via Zoom or similar would be used to discuss progress on research and developments, with regular ongoing engagement through an online meeting platform to maintain cadence and build a sense of academic community among Fellows.