The DPI is responsible for research and education on issues relevant to digital media.

Purpose.  The purpose of the Institute is to serve the Ball State University (BSU) academic community as an interdisciplinary association of faculty with a collective research interest in the structure of, and competition within, electronic communications industries and the public policy of digital creation, storage, transmission, reception, consumption and legal protection of information of various forms, including written, voice, data, still images, video and computer graphics, in the 21^st century.

Mission.  The mission of the Institute is to foster a mutually beneficial relationship among faculty of various disciplines across the Ball State University campus by:

(1) promoting the active participation and involvement of BSU faculty in public policy research related to the information age;

 (2) by serving as a vehicle to support faculty research in the areas of law, regulation, economics and technology as they relate to public policy issues of local, state and national interest;

 (3) by establishing a collegial environment that will foster critical thinking across disciplines on national public policy issues; and

(4) by promoting student involvement and immersion in timely public policy research questions at the graduate and undergraduate levels across various disciplines.  In fulfilling this mission, the Institute will insure that all of its efforts and activities are consistent with the university's mission, values, strategic objectives, policies, and procedures.

The DPI is involved in hosting symposia, workshops, and roundtables on current, highly relevant issues in the industry of digital media. By addressing the issues behind intellectual property, the DPI will raise the level of awareness on this campus (and, by extension, nationally) about what constitutes intellectual property theft, rationalizations about it, and models for protecting digital rights.

The Institute will also focus on such topics as file-sharing (i.e. software, music, and video), copyright and trademark infringement, online privacy and e-voting as well as other issues related to digital media and intellectual property. 

The DPI's goal is to be a neutral entity on issues allowing all sides of an issue to present their case. The DPI, through its neutrality looks to present society with the information from both sides and allow society to ultimately make an educated decision about these digital issues.