IT and Society: Google to open Internet Research Institute in Germany

Google is going back to school. Search engine has announced its plans for “Internet research institute” which will open in October 2011 on the campus of Humboldt University, Berlin’s oldest university. Three other German institutions will become Google’s partners.

The new institute will examine the evolution of the Internet, its impact on the society, science, politics and the economy, said Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

“It’s great that we could win such important institutions as partners. We are witnessing a new era, the era of the Internet. The institute will help describe the changes that are associated with the development of this breakthrough technology", Eric Schmidt said.

Google will fund the institute with $6.41 million per year for the first three years. After that the institute will look for other sponsors.

“The new institute will be fully independent of Google, which is very important", Eric Schmidt noted.

Other partners of the project include the Berlin University of Arts, the Social Science Research Center Berlin, and the Hamburg Hans-Bredow Institute.