Digital Society and Societal Transformations - Master's Degree Programme

Please note that there will be no new admissions to this programme for the academic year 2025/2026. Please contact us if you are interested in applying for admission in 2026 or late.

Technologies shape society. AI, data, and algorithms transform the way we work, communicate, and live our daily lives. Who benefits from these technological transformations? That depends on the economic, political, and cultural contexts in which they evolve.

The Master in Digital Society and Societal Transformations educates social scientists to understand how data and AI work, and how technology impacts democratic society. This is not an overly technical program (no coding knowledge required), but it will give you the analytical and critical tools to better understand how technologies shape society, and to work and manage digital societal transformations.

Please note that there will be no new admissions to this programme in the academic year 2025/2026. You can contact us via magda.hognestad@uis.noif you are interested in applying for admission in 2026 or later.

About the program

Who is technology for? As we move towards a more sustainable future, digitalisation represents challenges as well as opportunities. Society needs more interdisciplinary competencies about how technologies affect political processes, social relations, identity, and sustainability. Digitalisation is not just a technical challenge that we need engineers to solve. We also need leaders who understand how the digital impacts on our everyday lives.

The programme gives students insight into how artificial intelligence alter the conditions for life and work, how datafication is changing public administration, and how social media transform the way we communicate. Students will tackle key issues in sociology, political science, media studies and data science to understand how the challenges and opportunities of digitalisation affects society as a whole. The programme prepares students for work in all sectors undergoing digital transformation, including organisations and management, civic and cultural sectors, public administration, and in media and communication.

Do you want to understand how AI shapes decision making? Are you curious about the conditions for digital democracy? Do you think citizens should be heard when authorities make technology decisions?

If you are looking for an interdisciplinary education that prepares you for working under digital transformations, then this is the right programme for you.

Work Placement

The programme offers work placement in the third semester with municipalities and private companies undergoing in digitalization processes in the region. UiS has a number of work placement agreements, but you can also propose work placements, evaluated in accordance with pre-defined criteria established by the Department.

The internship course is worth 30 credits

The work placement increases your awareness of your role in relation to others in specific work environments

The course will increase your capacity to perform new tasks in a dynamic setting, often this involves different and relevant tasks

You gain insight into how to analyse situations and make use of different theories, methods and skills to affect real processes

Learning outcomes

The student will, after having completed the programme, have the following knowledge, skills, and general competencies:

Knowledge:

Upon completing the programme, the student will have:

• advanced knowledge of digitalisation as a social, political, communicative, and technical process
• thorough knowledge of the theoretical and practical implications and impacts of digitalisation in contemporary societies
• in-depth interdisciplinary knowledge of the challenges and opportunities of digitalisation for society
• the ability to apply knowledge to new areas within the academic field
• the ability to analyse academic problems on the basis of the history, traditions, distinctive character and place in society of the academic field

Skills:

Upon completing the programme, the student can:

• analyse and critically assess different academic, political, and technical sources of information
• apply theories independently to practical and theoretical problems
• use relevant scientific methods and work independently as well as interdisciplinarily
• carry out an independent, limited research project under supervision
• shape the digital transformation for sustainable development

General competence:

Upon completing the programme, the student can:

• analyse and present relevant academic, professional, and research ethical problems
• apply knowledge to new and emerging areas within the social sciences
• communicate and master the terminology of the field
• communicate about academic issues, analyses and conclusions in the field, both with specialists and the general public
• contribute new thinking, entrepreneurship, and innovation processes related to the digitalisation of society

Career prospects

Relevance for working life and/or further studies

The programme gives students the skills to work in public administration, the civil society sector, and the private industries. Their unique interdisciplinary skills are suitable for jobs tackling:

• leadership of digital transformation processes
• advising organisations during assessment and management of technology
• citizen services, user engagement, and inclusive democratic processes
• regulatory compliance and business implementation of technology solutions
• ethical technology procurement and digitalization for sustainability
• digital rights, data protection and digital literacy
• the responsible use of artificial intelligence
• smart city datafication processes
• policy development and analysis
• business strategy, business models and monetisation of technology solutions
• risk management and regulatory compliance
• digital communication and social media strategies
• data analysis and data research

Sectors where students will find relevant roles include:

• in municipalities and other public sector organisations that service the public
• in smart cities seeking to build and utilise digital infrastructures
• at government ministries regulating and facilitating digitalisation and innovation processes in all sectors of society
• in organisations and private enterprises where digital services are key to customer relations, product development and resource management
• in the education sectors that seeking to strengthen digital literacy
• in the health sector where patient care is transformed by automation and robotisation
• in the media and cultural industries where information, heritage, and creativity is increasingly digitised

Graduates of the Digital Society and Societal Transformations master program will be qualified to further pursue further graduate and research education, such as a Ph.D. programme in social sciences.

Course assessment

All courses undergo evaluation in accordance with UiS system for quality control.