Media University Berlin// Wirtschaft /

B.A. Media- and Event Management

B.A. Digital Marketing and E-Commerce

M.A. International Marketing and Media Management

Background

Prof. Dr. Thomas Petzold is Professor of Management & Innovation and Head of the Department of Management & Business Studies at Media University Berlin. His research focuses on digital knowledge systems, platform dynamics, and management and innovation dynamics in networked organizations and markets. A central question of his work is why digital systems scale information distribution far more effectively than knowledge integration — and what this means for organizations, platforms, AI systems, and digital business models.

To address this problem, he leads the research program “Adaptive Knowledge Networks”. It investigates the structural conditions under which information becomes stable knowledge in digital systems — and under which conditions fragmentation, contextual instability, and knowledge failure emerge. A particular focus of his work is how organizations and modern societies transform distributed information into decision-relevant and actionable knowledge.
His research connects network science, management and innovation studies, digital media and knowledge systems, platform studies, AI-mediated communication, and organizational knowledge systems.

He holds a Ph.D. from Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, completed the Executive Program Sustainability Leadership at Harvard University, and has worked with research institutions including the Oxford Internet Institute, the Social Science Research Center Berlin, the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin.

Please keep and update the existing references to:

his TEDx Talk on global knowledge dynamics and social technologies
his book Global Knowledge Dynamics and Social Technology
the Trust Machines Lab, which he leads

“The defining challenge of digital societies is no longer information overload, but integration failure: we have more information than ever before, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to turn it into shared knowledge.”

Teaching Areas (selection)

Management & Innovation
Network Economics / Network Science
Entrepreneurship
Digital Business Models and Platform Economies
AI, Organizations and Knowledge Systems
Blockchain, Decentralized Systems and Digital Governance
Applied Workshop: Implementation of Generative AI Applications

Research Areas

Thomas Petzold examines digital knowledge systems, platform dynamics, and AI-mediated communication from a network, management, and innovation studies perspective. His research asks how organizations, platforms, and digital ecosystems distribute information, structure attention, enable innovation — and at the same time create new limits of knowledge integration.

The central starting point of his work is the observation that digital systems scale information distribution, visibility, and interaction very effectively, while mechanisms of knowledge integration, organizational learning, and strategic decision quality often remain structurally underdeveloped. He connects questions of digital platform economics, innovation dynamics, AI-mediated communication, and organizational knowledge formation.

His research focuses on three interconnected fields:

Knowledge Networks
Platform & Organizational Systems
Communication & AI Systems

Across these fields, his work investigates the structural conditions under which digital systems can produce knowledge, strategic orientation, and collective agency rather than merely distribute information.

Curriculum Vitae

Academic Career

2023	Harvard University, Executive Program Sustainability Leadership
2011	Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia, Ph.D. in Creative Industries & Innovation
2009	University of Oxford, Oxford Internet Institute, Summer Doctoral Programme
2007	Europa-Universität Viadrina, Frankfurt/Oder, M.Arts.
2002	The Open University, Milton Keynes, Großbritannien, B.Arts.

Academic Community Service

	Reviewer (selection): New Media & Society (SAGE), Social Science Computer Review (SAGE), Technological Forecasting and Social Change (Elsevier)
	International Editorial Board Member: Cultural Science Journal

Professional Activity (science)

Visiting Professor, European University Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder), University of Lucerne, Switzerland, Berlin School of Economics and Law
Visiting Researcher, ECRC Experimental and Clinical Research Center, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Associate Researcher, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
Associate Researcher, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
Postdoctoral Researcher, Social Science Research Center Berlin and ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, Brisbane, Australia
Visiting Researcher, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford
Visiting Researcher, Reuters Institute, University of Oxford

Professional Activity (practice)

Director of Research, Trust Machines Lab
Science & Innovation Lead, Disruptive Elements GmbH, Berlin
Startup and transformation consulting in entrepreneurship and innovation strategy

Co-supervision of doctoral theses (selection)

Reviewing Digital Transformation, Technical University Berlin
Complex Networks in Health Communication, Charité University Medicine Berlin
Music and Brands, University of Music, Drama and Media, Hanover

Research Awards and Honours

Research funding and awards from, among others, the Volkswagen Foundation, the Australian Research Council, the German Academic Exchange Service, the Australian Government, and private foundations in Germany.

Publications (selection)

Knowledge Networks & Global Knowledge Dynamics

Petzold, T. (2017). Global knowledge dynamics and social technology. Palgrave Macmillan.

Petzold, T. (2012). 36 million language pairs. Cultural Science, 5(2), 106–119.

Petzold, T., Liao, H., Hartley, J., & Potts, J. (2012). A world map of knowledge in the making: Wikipedia’s inter-language linking as a dependency explorer of global knowledge accumulation. In M. Schich, R. Malina, & I. Meirelles (Eds.), Arts, humanities, and complex networks. MIT Press.

Liao, H., & Petzold, T. (2010). Analysing geo-linguistic dynamics of the World Wide Web: The use of cartograms and network analysis to understand linguistic development in Wikipedia. Cultural Science, 3(2).

Liao, H., & Petzold, T. (2014). Geographic and linguistic normalization: Towards a better understanding of the geolinguistic dynamics of knowledge. In Proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on Open Collaboration (OpenSym 2014). ACM Press.

Platform Dynamics & Digital Media Systems

Knuth, I., Petzold, T., & Richter, F. (2024). Digital transformation’s impact on media concentration and news diversity: A network analysis of cross-platform news usage in Germany. Journal of Media Economics, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/08997764.2024.2426993

Knuth, I., Richter, F., & Petzold, T. (2024). Flows and holes in digital news consumption: Mapping the gravity of media attention in Germany. SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4864128

Knuth, I., Petzold, T., & Richter, F. (2022). Who eats up the attention? Analyzing one day of digital news use in Germany – A network analytic approach. European Media Management Association Conference, Munich, Germany.

Petzold, T., & Knuth, I. (2021). Solution-oriented media management research: A meta-study to nurture a future paradigm of the field. Journal of Media Business Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/16522354.2021.1964190

Petzold, T. (2018). Bevorzugtes Verbinden in der YouTube-Ökonomie: Eine netzwerktheoretische Annäherung. In H. Haarkötter (Ed.), Das Youtubiversum: Chancen und Disruptionen der Onlinevideo-Plattform in Theorie und Praxis. Springer VS.

Human–Algorithmic Communication & Digital Systems

Petzold, T. (2015). Human-algorithmic scaffolding. In W. Been & P. Arora (Eds.), Crossroads in new media, identity and law: The shape of diversity to come. Palgrave Macmillan.

Petzold, T., & Konzal, W. (2015). Das schlagende Herz von YouTube. Der Digitale Wandel – Magazin für Internet und Gesellschaft.

Petzold, T. (2012). Das Big Data Upgrade: Neue Dimensionen der Datennutzung – Chancen und Risiken. WZB Mitteilungen, 137, 41–42.

Media, Communication & Global Representation

Petzold, T. (2008). Gewalt in internationalen Fernsehnachrichten: Eine komparative Analyse medialer Gewaltpräsentation in Großbritannien, Deutschland und Russland. Springer VS.

Rowe, D., Gilmour, C., & Petzold, T. (2010). Australia: Mediated representation of global politics. International Journal of the History of Sport, 27(9), 1510–1533. https://doi.org/10.1080/09523367.2010.481106

Rowe, D., Petzold, T., & Gilmour, C. (2010). Australia: A very Olympian year! International Journal of the History of Sport, 27(9), 1739–1758. https://doi.org/10.1080/09523367.2010.481123

More detailed publication list: Researchgate; other publication platforms; on request.