Overcoming Multilevel INformation Overload

In today's world, access to information thought of as the resolution of uncertainty; is often considered as a benefit or even as an indisputable human right. There is, however, the “dark side” of information: the abundance of data beyond one’s capacity to process them leads to so-called information overload (IOL). This notion had troubled mankind long before even the print was invented and examined from different points of view, ranging from neuroscience to journalism.

IOL is, however, usually considered at the individual level by examining a single factor or a specific level that eventually leads to switching off an active individual. The influence of IOL appearing simultaneously at different levels, i.e., a multilevel information overload is unknown, though. These observations lead to setting the main aim of the OMINO - Overcoming Multilevel INformation Overload project in a form of the following objectives:

(1) create and apply means to measure multilevel IOL in different systems as well as methods to model IOL and counter-measures to mitigate this phenomenon,

(2) training and knowledge exchange on IOL between partners in different domains using expertise from universities in U.S., Singapore and Japan,

(3) intersectoral knowledge transfer between academia and the media industry (Slovenian and Austrian Press Agencies) by exposing researchers to real-life problems and giving business access to innovative methods and tools for information analysis.

One of the most important aspects of the undertaken research area is its interdisciplinary nature, requiring joint work of experts in different fields and topics, i.e., social sciences, neuroscience, journalism, computing, data mining and complexity science.

OMINO will accelerate individual careers of involved researchers, especially early stage ones and increase their employability. The project will lay foundations for long-term collaboration by strengthening existing links between partners and creating new ones.