The Observatory on the special autonomy of South Tyrol is a forum for permanent monitoring of the regional and provincial autonomy within the context of the changes brought by the multilevel constitutional integration. 

Beside collecting relevant documents and carrying out applied research, the institute offers expertise, consultancy, training and legal advise to the local administrations on autonomy issues.

Many activities are carried out in cooperation with the Istituto Trentino di Cultura, Area di studi Istituzioni e Economia (ITC/IsEc) in Trento, which performs analogous research in the neighboring province of Trento.