Founder & Vision Architect

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Harald Meier is  a geographer, researcher, and critical systems thinker exploring how intelligence becomes structure. Educated at the University of Münster, Harald Meier began his work in world-economic and social geography, studying how cities and global networks shape systems of connection and power. His academic path led him into the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) research network, where his early studies explored the infrastructures of global civil society.

"This is cutting edge innovative research at its very best.” 

— Prof. Peter J. Taylor, Director, GaWC) Research Network

This foundation in geography and systemic observation became the seed for his later work — translating spatial thinking into digital, social, and cognitive architectures.

Across research, journalism, and consulting, Harald Meier connects observation with structure. 

At the Social Media Research Foundation (SMRF), he contributed to the methodological advancement of social network analysis and NodeXL software development, and designed Power BI dashboards for advanced SNA reporting and analytical storytelling — refining how complex systems are visualized and understood. He has supported international investigative projects for major media — including BBC World, the Mail on Sunday, and the New York Times — translating data into narrative evidence and systemic insight for political, economic, and cultural contexts.  In parallel, he collaborates with consulting and innovation teams to apply network analysis to strategy, influence mapping, and organizational design. 

These cross-domain experiences converged in the creation of the Digital Space Lab — a long-term framework for exploring how intelligence can be designed and scaled across disciplines.

Founded in 2011, the Digital Space Lab has evolved into a continuous research environment dedicated to understanding complexity through networks, data, and design. It integrates methods from social science, network analytics, and system design — combining academic inquiry with creative modeling.
The Lab operates as a hybrid system of applied and explorative intelligence — a place where networks reveal meaning and complexity becomes navigable.

The long-term vision of Harald Meier and the Digital Space Lab is to advance the transition from knowledge to consciousness — creating systems that not only understand the world, but help it understand itself.

Over the past decade, Harald Meier has contributed to major international conferences and research events at the intersection of network science, digital methods, and investigative journalism. His lectures and tutorials explore how networks reveal meaning across media, politics, and society — from the architecture of online discourse to the ethics of data interpretation.  He also initiated the NodeXL Academy and co-organizes the annual international NodeXL Summer & Winter Schools, connecting researchers, analysts, and journalists worldwide.

Publication:

MEIER, Harald (2016) Global Civil Society from Hyperlink Perspective: Exploring the Website Networks of International NGOs. Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia Vol. 15, No. 1: 64-77

http://dx.doi.org/10.17477/jcea.2016.15.1.064

 2024 – Graph Drawing & Network Visualization (GD24, Vienna) Tutorial: Introduction to Social Network Analysis with NodeXL

2020 – INSNA Sunbelt (Online) Talk & Workshop: A Framework for Mapping Political Networks

2020 – Digital Methods Initiative Winter School (Amsterdam) Tutorial: Social Network Analysis with NodeXL

2019 – GIJC19 (Global Investigative Journalism Conference, Hamburg) Tutorial: Network Analysis for Investigative Journalists

2019 – SciCAR – Science & Computer-Assisted Reporting Conference (Dortmund) Talk & Tutorial: Mapping the Twitter Network of the German Bundestag

2019 – GOR – General Online Research Conference (Cologne) Talk: Insights from Mapping the Twitter Network of the German Bundestag

2019 – SMART Data Sprint (Lisbon) Tutorial: Extracting & Analysing Social Media Data with NodeXL Pro

2019 – Marketing Analytics Summit (Berlin) Talk: Connect to the Power of Social Network Analysis

2018 – SM Society - Social Media and Society Conference (Copenhagen) Tutorial: Social Network Analysis for Digital Research

2018 – PAWCON – Predictive Analytics World (Berlin) Talk:  How to think link with NodeXL

2016 – ASONAM – Advances in Social Network Analysis and Mining (San Francisco) Tutorial: Introduction to Social Media Network Analysis with NodeXL

2015 – DISC Conference – Data, Innovation, Social Network & Convergence (Daegu) Talk: Global Civil Society from a Hyperlink Perspective

Ongoing since 2020:

NodeXL Academy & International Summer / Winter Schools Annual online training series on advanced social network analysis, uniting researchers, data analysts, and journalists around the world.