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Saarbrücker Zeitung reports on SOUNDS
On 23 August, an article appeared in the Saarbrücker Zeitung introducing the new SOUNDS project, that is funded by the Saarland Ministry of Finance and Sciencefrom the Transformation Fund. It is intended to help develop a kind of early warning system - a democracy barometer - to monitor the mood within our society. To achieve this, it combines interdisciplinary social and computer science approaches. It analyses social transformation processes using innovative data sources such as satellite images, social media and barcode scanners. The aim is to link computer and social sciences and strengthen the use of data-intensive methods. In the long term, the aim is to create an institute based on the structures that have been established.
Millions in state funding: analysing society and the economy with new data sources
Satellite images, social media and barcode scanners in shops offer a wealth of data that has so far been little used in the social sciences. New AI-supported methods are helping with the evaluation of this data, but they require a great deal of IT expertise and legal and ethical classification. This interdisciplinary expertise is now to be pooled in a competence centre called "Societal Observatory Using Novel Data Sources (SOUNDS)".
The state government is supporting this with 29 million euros from the Transformation Fund in order to generate not only scientific insights but also concrete economic impetus for the transformation of the Saarland economy.
SR reports on SOUNDS
In its latest report, Saarländischer Rundfunk (SR) covers the SOUNDS project at Saarland University, which is dedicated to evaluating unconventional data such as social media analyses, satellite images and web search trends. SR interviewed political scientist Prof. Dr. Daniela Braun and computer scientist Prof. Dr. Ingmar Weber about the project. By combining the expertise of Saarland University in the field of computer science with findings from social science research, SOUNDS aims to become a central hub for innovative, empirical studies addressing current social challenges. Ultimately, SOUNDS aims to inform decision-making processes, promote public engagement and support democratic resilience, thereby positioning itself both as a research centre and as a think-and-do tank dedicated to solving real social problems.