ArtISTRAT

Communication culture for regional AI-innovation

The ArtISTRAT project is part of the WIR! alliance ArtIFARM, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and is based at Stralsund University of Applied Sciences. More than 60 researchers, business representatives and farmers have joined forces in the alliance to work on the automation of agriculture in the region between Rügen and the Müritz.

In the ArtISTRAT project, Prof. Dr. Kerstin Thummes and Anna Gros (M.A.) are analysing the communication and decision-making processes within the ArtIFARM alliance using methods common to the social sciences (in particular observation, interviews). The research primarily focuses on how the alliance deals with conflicting internal and external expectations in areas of potential tension between automation, sustainability and regional value creation. At the same time, we will identify and analyse communicative barriers to innovation and potential for innovation in close collaboration with the partner project in the field of economics at Stralsund University of Applied Sciences. The aim is to use findings from the field of communication science to develop measures to support communication and strategic decision-making within the alliance and thus to continuously contribute to and enhance the alliance’s strategy. As a result, we plan to produce a transferable model of innovation-promoting communication culture in regional networks for the promotion of structural change.