Berlin has high hopes for digital solutions to become more efficient, greener and more participatory. At the same time, however, digital technologies are increasingly associated with the risks of increased environmental consumption and with environmental and socio-political problems. It is therefore all the more important to identify the necessary course settings in order to shape the digital transformation in Berlin in accordance with ecology, participation and economic development. These decisions lie in particular in the regulation of data, the decisive economic and technological basis of digitalisation.

The question posed by this project was therefore: What forms of data regulation are possible and necessary at the level of the city of Berlin so that data-driven services, products and platforms can be developed and utilised in line with social and ecological sustainability goals? The project initially identified potentials and challenges in Berlin's digitalisation landscape together with relevant stakeholders from administration, business and civil society. This involved clarifying the conditions under which local and sustainable data-driven business models can prevail over less ecological offerings and technologies in order to drive forward Berlin's sustainable economic development. "Principles of sustainable data governance for a socio-ecological Berlin" were then developed with the stakeholders involved and concrete options for sustainable data governance or regulation were formulated.

The project took place as part of the joint project "Knowledge.Change.Berlin: Transdisciplinary Research for a Social and Ecological Metropolis" of the Ecornet Berlin research network and was carried out with the financial support of the Governing Mayor, Senate Chancellery - Science and Research Berlin. Further information on the research network is available at here to find.