Oxford Internet Institute

The Oxford Internet Institute (OII) is a multidisciplinary department of social and computer science dedicated to the study of information, communication, and technology, and is a part of the Social Sciences Division of the University of Oxford, England. The OII is housed over three sites on St Giles in Oxford, including a primary site at 1 St Giles, owned by Balliol College. The department undertakes research and teaching devoted to understanding life online, with the aim of shaping Internet research, policy, and practice. Founded in 2001, the OII has tracked the Internet's development and use, aiming to shed light on individual, collective, and institutional behaviour online. The department brings together academics from a wide range of disciplines including political science, sociology, geography, economics, philosophy, physics and psychology. The current director is Professor Victoria Nash. Research at the OII covers a huge variety of topics, with faculty publishing journal articles and books on issues including privacy and security, e-government and e-democracy, virtual economies, smart cities, digital exclusion, digital humanities, online gaming, big data and Internet geography. The OII currently has the following research clusters reflecting the diverse expertise of faculty: Digital Politics and Government Information Governance, and Security Social Data Science Connectivity, Inclusion, and Inequality Internet Economies Digital Knowledge and Culture Education, Digital Life, and Wellbeing Ethics and Philosophy of Information The research conducted at the OII covers a wide range of topics in Internet studies and the social impact of online technologies. Online politics, online education, social media and mental health, Internet-based collaboration, online dating, digital economy, the geography of the internet, and ethical and legal aspects of online technologies are among the main research topics followed at the Oxford Internet Institute. OII has published several studies on Internet geography and Wikipedia.