The ITM is the State Center of Excellence of North Rhine-Westphalia in the area of information, telecommunication and media law and is part of the Faculty of Law of the University of Münster. It is structured into a civil and public law department. In this way, cross-sectional topics can be dealt efficiently, a concept that has been unique in Germany since the Institute was founded in 1997. The research of the Institute is particularly focused on the field of information law. Comprehensive expertise exists in data protection law and in regard to legal issues related to artificial intelligence. Due to its interdisciplinary approach, the ITM is a member of the European Research Center for Information Systems (ERCIS) and collaborates closely with the institutes for communication sciences and information systems at the University, to promote the mutual exchange of academic expertise.