About the organisation

FZI Forschungszentrum Informatik is an independent and non-profit research institute headquartered in Karlsruhe,  Germany. Conducting innovative research not just on information technology but also on how new technologies affect democratic institutions and society, FZI aims to shape Germany’s digital transformation. Through its House of Participation, FZI is uniquely positioned to conduct research on participatory democracy in a digital age. In the TWON-Consortium, the FZI-based researchers will analyze the results from two case studies the digital twin will be applied to, and communicate findings with policymakers, stakeholders, and the general public. Together with community leaders, they will also host citizen labs, in which European citizens will be given the opportunity to weigh in on the results from TWON and shape policy proposals FZI researchers will subsequently recommend to EU lawmakers.

FZI Website

HoP Website

The team

Prof. Dr. Christof Weinhardt is a director at FZI Forschungszentrum Informatik and professor of information sciences at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). His research centers on market engineering, including e-services, predictive market analyses as well as energy markets of the future. Prof. Weinhardt obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Karlsruhe in 1986 and has served in his current position since 2000.

weinhardt@kit.edu

Dr. Jonas Fegert serves as the head of the Information Management & Analytics department at FZI Forschungszentrum Informatik. His research focuses on polarization tendencies, disinformation, and digital citizen participation such as e-participation and digital citizen science. He obtained his Ph.D. from KIT under the guidance of Prof. Weinhardt, writing a dissertation on the use of immersive systems in public participation, local politics, and urban planning.

fegert@fzi.de

 

Cosima Pfannschmidt

is a research associate at the Berlin branch of FZI.
Cosima Pfannschmidt studied Economics (B.Sc.) and Sociology (M.A.) at Ludwig-Maximilians-University München, as well as Buddhist and South Asian Studies. From 2022-2024 she worked in the German Bundestag as parliamentary assistant.

As a sociologist she has a particular interest in societal polarization, the influence of online social networks on democratic debates and the role of AI in the spread of disinformation.

pfannschmidt@fzi.de

 

Dr. Carolin Stein

is department manager in the division Information Process Engineering (IPE) of the FZI. With the House of Participation (HoP), the department forms a competence center for digital democracy and participation. She is affiliated with TWON in the field of project management.

Dr. Carolin Stein completed her doctorate in 2025 at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), where she conducted her research at the Institute of Information Systems. Her dissertation, titled “Designing Digital Involvement in a Datafied Society”, examines the design and application of digital systems and platforms for participatory processes such as e-participation, crowdsourcing, and citizen science in the context of a data-driven society. She previously studied Economics Engineering (B.Sc.) and Information Systems Management (M.Sc.) at KIT and the Technical University of Berlin.

stein@fzi.de