Following the think tank workshop in February 2017, surveys were conducted in the form of expert interviews (especially with experts from civil society), a representative, online public opinion poll and an online community, i.e. in a closed discussion forum. The key findings of these surveys are as follows:

• Trust is a central factor in the digital world and a fundamental prerequisite for the transfer of responsibility. Experts were asked how trustworthy the actors involved in a secure information society are. The Data Protection Officers of the federal states and the government, civil society organisations and the BSI are viewed as particularly trustworthy. Key factors for establishing trust are: specialist know-how and staff expertise, personal contact with the public (via workshops, events, etc.), no scandals, objectives that are geared towards promoting public welfare, as well as transparent, independent and self-determined action. In the representative online opinion poll, the public viewed national authorities as the most trustworthy. According to the public, the key factors for establishing trust in the security of products and services are user-friendliness, minimum legal standards and independent tests.
• Two preferred approaches to improving security: respondents see little need for new forms of security technology. Instead, they welcome the introduction of a labelling system for IT security (taking into account political, economic and technical challenges). When it comes to defining the requirements for this system, they consider the BSI and a heterogeneous panel of experts (yet to be established) to be well suited for the task. Finally, they consider it necessary to introduce a liability system. The public believes that security tests, security policies and clear liability regulations would improve security.
• The experts were asked to propose requirements for a fictitious national institution that would establish information security. They responded that this institution would have two primary responsibilities: firstly, as an expert authority, it should make this complex topic accessible and manageable (with a duty to inform, educate and advise private users, businesses and politics); and secondly, it should practise a new form of cooperation with civil society. This implies close collaboration with civil society and the active promotion of dialogue. The online opinion poll also suggests that there is a duty to inform and educate. There are also reservations about the use of digital technology due to a lack of knowledge. Less than half of public respondents are personally very familiar with the topic of "security on the Internet" or inform themselves on a regular basis. At the same time, 87% of them consider the issue to be important.
• Both in the expert interviews and in the online opinion poll and online community, the government was considered to play an important role in establishing information security. The experts call for tasks to be executed in a cooperative manner.

Digitale Gesellschaft: smart & sicher (SuSi) - Zusammenfassung der Studienergebnisse