New team members regularly start at our department – whether as resarch assistants, postdocs, or professors. Over the past few months, we’ve welcomed several new faces:

Daria Stumkat has been a Research Assistant at the Chair for Digital Innovation and the Public Sector and part of the Flow Factory since May. She completed both her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Information Systems at the University of Münster. Her research interests lie at the intersection of sustainability, AI, and strategy.

Celine Poppe also began her doctoral studies in May at the Chair for Digital Innovation and the Public Sector. She holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Public Administration and is now part of the research project “Public Sector Innovation and eGovernance”.

Timo Strohmann joined the Chair for Information Systems and Business Process Management and the Flow Factory as a Postdoc in May. His work focuses on design-oriented research and the collaboration between humans and AI.

Fumi Kurihara has been a Postdoc at the Chair for Information Systems and Business Process Management and the Flow Factory since June. She studied International Liberal Studies (BA) and International Affairs (MA), and completed her PhD in Management at the University of St. Gallen.

Tobias Zimmermann and Helene Müller began their doctoral studies in July at the Chair for Information Systems and Business Process Management and the Flow Factory. Both earned their Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Information Systems at the University of Münster.

We warmly welcome all new colleagues and look forward to working together!

On Wednesday, July 2, 2025, it was that time of year again: The annual summer party of the Information Systems department invited students, faculty, and staff to the Leonardo Campus. Starting at 4 p.m., the square was transformed into a lively festival area—characterized by a boisterous atmosphere, summer flair, and a varied program.

Whether it was a bouncy castle, ice cream, Aperol, beer pong, or exciting raffles—entertainment was provided in every respect. The numerous guests took advantage of the offerings with great enthusiasm: there was jumping, laughing, and celebrating into the evening.

Despite the changeable weather, the 2025 WI Summer Party was a complete success and once again provided an excellent opportunity to bring the summer semester to a close together in a relaxed atmosphere. We would like to thank everyone involved and are already looking forward to next year!

The team at the ERCIS Competence Centre for Crisis Management is delighted that the EU project DRIVER+ has won the Security Innovation Award 2025 in the category ‘Best Open Source Innovation’.

The award recognises visionaries who make a significant contribution to protecting our society and its citizens with innovative solutions. At the same time, the innovation award offers the opportunity to highlight and promote outstanding developments from EU-funded security research projects.

The DRIVER+ (Driving Innovation in Crisis Management for European Resilience) project, which was completed in 2020, aimed to address current and future challenges in crisis management, particularly in light of increasing natural disasters and terrorist threats. The focus was on developing and introducing innovative solutions tailored to the operational needs of practitioners in the field of crisis management.

One of the most important results of the project is the Trial Guidance Methodology (TGM) – a structured, practice-oriented approach for systematically testing and evaluating crisis management solutions under realistic conditions. The methodology was developed jointly by the DRIVER+ consortium and is now actively maintained and further developed by the ERCIS Competence Centre for Crisis Management. It continues to support innovation efforts across Europe and beyond.

Over several years, the DRIVER+ consortium has built up an international network of experts from research institutions, public authorities and industry to improve Europe's resilience to increasingly complex crises. The project placed crisis management practitioners at the centre of the innovation cycle and enabled them to take a leading role in evaluating technologies and procedures in realistic test environments.

The award at SRE2025 is a valuable endorsement of this practice-oriented philosophy and the lasting impact of DRIVER+ far beyond the official conclusion of the project. The TGM has since been used in numerous research projects (e.g. STAMINA, CARE-FLOW) and by practice organisations such as the Fire Service Institute of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Links to this announcement:

Access the methodology: tgm.ercis.org

Learn more about the DRIVER+ project: DRIVER+ website

From July 5 to 11, the science festival “SchlauRaum” is taking place, transforming the city of Münster into a vibrant campus. Under the theme “Why? How? Healthy?”, the festival focuses on the theme of health – organized by the University of Münster, FH Münster, Münster University Hospital (UKM) and Münster Marketing.

During the opening weekend, one of the highlights was a pavilion dedicated to “One Health – the health of humans, animals, and the environment.” At the booth, researchers Prof. Stephan Ludwig, Dr. Friederike Jansen, Johannes Ponge, Prof. Benedikt Heuckmann, and Dr. Ulrich Hobusch presented interactive, real-life examples illustrating the interconnection between human, animal, and environmental health. They demonstrated how scientific insights can help identify and combat risks at an early stage.

Johannes Ponge, a research associate at the Chair of Information Systems and Logistics, showed how simulations can support understanding, predicting, and containing disease outbreaks. The simulation models a virtual representation of the German population to test which interventions (e.g. social distancing or vaccinations) may help slow the spread of infectious diseases.

The One Health Platform brings together more than 1,300 researchers from various disciplines.

As part of the graduation ceremony on June 27, 2025, not only were numerous graduates of the 2024/25 winter semester bid farewell, but outstanding achievements from students of the School of Business and Economics were also honored.

In the field of Information Systems, Lars Heimann received the CHECK24-AlumniUM-Bachelor-Award for his outstanding achievements in his Bachelor's degree. Vanessa Twickler was honored with the REMONDIS-AlumniUM-Master-Award for her excellent results in her Master's degree. Both awards were presented in cooperation with the alumni association AlumniUM e.V. and CHECK24 or REMONDIS. They underline the high standard and practical relevance of the Information Systems program and recognize the dedication and commitment of the students.

A highlight of the event was the presentation of the “Preis der jungen Wirtschaft – Master Edition“ (Young Economy Award) to Enno Knollmeyer, awarded by AlumniUM e.V. in cooperation with the Wirtschaftsjunioren Nord Westfalen. His master's thesis, entitled ‘Addressing Institutional Voids in Childcare Emergency Staffing Processes: A Digital Social Innovation Approach,’ deals with the structural challenges faced by childcare facilities in the event of short-term staff shortages. As part of his thesis, Enno developed a digital tool that automates emergency planning, ensures legal compliance and improves communication with parents – with impressive results: planning time has been reduced by over 90%. His work is based on a research-based approach that combines design science research with the principle of digital social innovation.

We congratulate all award winners on their well-deserved recognition – and of course all graduates on their successful completion their studies. We wish them all the best and much success for the future!

This year, the Teaching Award of the Student Council of Business and Economics was presented to Dr. Thomas Haskamp and Prof. Felipe Scavarda. The award recognizes outstanding commitment to teaching and is based on the results of student course evaluations. 

As part of the graduation ceremony, two faculty members from the Department of Information Systems were honored: 

Dr. Thomas Haskamp received the award for his master’s seminar “Digital Product Innovation with Design Thinking” offered in the winter semester 2024/25.

For the first time, a visiting professor was also honored with the award this year. Felipe Scavarda (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro) received the award – together with Prof. Bernd Hellingrath – for the Bachelor’s seminar “Supply Chain Logistics Management”, which was also offered in the winter semester 2024/25. The Brazilian visiting professor has been regularly teaching at the University of Münster for many years and also collaborates closely with the Department of Information Systems on research projects.

Prof. Jörg Becker was invited as opponent for the doctoral defense of Tapio Versäläinen at the University of Turku, Finland. Versäläinen's dissertation is titled “Forecasting Future Events with Publicly Accessible Online Data – A Study on Finnish Parliamentary Elections from 2015 to 2023” and was supervised by Prof. Reima Suomi.

The University of Turku has been an active partner institution in the European Research Center for Information Systems (ERCIS) network since its founding.

Last week, students from the J. Whitney Bunting College of Business & Technology (Georgia College & State University) visited the Department of Information Systems at the University of Münster to take part in the second part of the international Design Thinking seminar.

This time, the focus was on a real-world challenge: supporting the further development of the sustainability initiatives at viadee Unternehmensberatung AG. Special thanks go to viadee – in particular to Dr. Nicolas Pflanzl, Christian Schulze Dieckhoff, and Dr. Hendrik Winkelmann – for designing the case study and for their dedicated support throughout the seminar.

The participating students presented their innovative solution ideas directly on site at viadee. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive and highlighted the value of students’ perspectives and creative approaches in addressing real business challenges.

Beyond the academic work, the seminar also offered numerous opportunities for intercultural exchange – including joint activities, shared meals, and watching the German Cup final together. The event once again demonstrated the importance of international collaboration in higher education – both in terms of academic content and personal exchange between students and faculty from different cultural backgrounds.

Thanks also go to the faculty members who continuously make this international seminar program possible: Joy Godin and Jeannie Pridmore from Georgia College, as well as Armin Stein and Katrin Bergener from the Department of Information Systems.

From May 16 to 18, 2025, the first Transdev Mobility Hackathon took place at the Leonardo campus of the University of Münster. The event was organized by the Innovation and New Markets team in collaboration with Operations Planning and HR at Transdev – part of the Rethmann Group and the second-largest rail and bus company in Germany. 19 students from over 13 countries worked together to develop practical solutions for optimizing school bus routes.  

The goal was to develop route planning that is cost-efficient, regulation-compliant, and reflective of real-world conditions. Using real data, creative ideas, and operational requirements, participants developed impressive prototypes, interactive tools, and smart timetables aimed at making school transportation more efficient and sustainable. 

The software solutions included interactive maps, optimization algorithms, KPI dashboards, budget and resource calculations, as well as live cloud-based demonstrations. Beyond the innovative outcomes, the hackathon offered ample opportunities for networking and exchanging ideas with industry professionals. Some students have already expressed interest in internships or thesis collaborations with Transdev. The winning team received a prize of €1,500. 

The hackathon vividly demonstrated how young talents, real-world data, and operational challenges can come together to create innovative mobility solutions.  

Transdev is a project partner of the European Research Center for Information Systems (ERCIS). Together, they have launched the Future Mobility Lab – a project that enables students, faculty, and practitioners to contribute to shaping the future of mobility. 

Further information on the Future Mobility Lab can be found here.  

In the summer term, we are once again welcoming international guest professors at our department. One of them is Prof. Isabel Ramos from the University of Minho, Portugal. She arrived in April and will stay until May 31. During her stay, Isabel Ramos will teach the bachelor seminar “AI and Attention in the Organization”.

Isabel Ramos is an Associate Professor with Habilitation at the Department of Information Systems (DSI), School of Engineering of the University of Minho in Portugal. She has a PhD in Information Technologies and Systems, specializing in Information Systems Engineering and Management. From 2014 to 2019, she served as a Director of the Doctoral Program in Information Systems and Technologies and is currently President of the Portuguese Association for Information Systems.

Her research focuses on knowledge management, especially how emerging technologies influence the way organizations manage knowledge, foster innovation, and collaborate. A key area of her recent work explores how generative AI can support “AI attention” – the integration of human and machine abilities to detect relevant data, anticipate events, and act on opportunities in real time. Isabel Ramos places strong emphasis on sociotechnical systems, large-scale collaborative platforms, and the mechanisms that make them effective. Her research not only advances academic understanding but also provides practical insights into how organizations can better navigate digital transformation.

What makes her visit especially meaningful is the longstanding collaboration between her home institution, the University of Minho, and the Department of Information Systems of the University of Münster. Both departments share a strong commitment to design science research and focus on the unique challenges faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in adopting advanced technologies. This shared research ethos fosters smooth communication, impactful joint projects, and student-centered initiatives such as summer schools that benefit learners in both countries. Over the past ten years, this partnership has developed into a close academic connection, reinforced through international networks such as @ERCIS (European Research Center for Information Systems), which is headquartered here in Münster. Through ERCIS, both universities engage in European research consortia and global collaborations, further enhancing the international dimension of their work.

We are proud to host Isabel Ramos and look forward to the valuable insights, exchanges, and initiatives her visit will bring to our research and teaching community!

Exciting project seminars for bachelor's and master’s students are once again taking place at the Institute of Information Systems this summer semester.

The following project seminars have already started in the bachelor's program:

Eyes Wide Scroll - attention analysis in social media for AI training (Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian Grimme, Marie Griesbach): To analyze content in modern online media such as social media, pure text analysis is no longer sufficient - images, videos and audio data must also be taken into account. This so-called multimodal analysis is complex and requires a focus on essential content, especially in real-time analyses. The project seminar investigates how image analysis methods can be equipped with a ‘human focus’ - for example, by using eye-tracking data to recognize which image areas are relevant for people. The aim is to further develop analysis algorithms so that they concentrate on these relevant areas. To this end, the Institute's eye-tracking lab is being utilized and expanded in order to conduct experiments and develop initial focus-based analysis methods.

AI for sustainable cities (Comuneo) (Prof. Dr. Tobias Brandt, Ann-Kathrin Meyer, Johannes von Ivernois): Cities play a key role in sustainable development, but are faced with limited resources. Artificial intelligence can help, for example in planning and monitoring, but has so far been little used in the public sector - partly due to high data protection and reliability requirements. Students are working with the start-up Comuneo to develop AI-supported solutions that automatically evaluate digital data sources and transfer them to a platform. In addition to technical implementation, the focus is also on organizational, ethical and regulatory issues.

These project seminars in the master's program had their kick-off:

Future Mobility Lab (Prof. Dr. Jan vom Brocke, Mara Burger): The Future Mobility Lab is a cooperation between ERCIS and Transdev, the largest private mobility company in Germany. This semester, the seminar focuses on  crises prevention through process optimization. To this end, machine learning techniques and GenAI are being applied to real data from Transdev. In order to better understand crises in local public transport, they will also visit a control center of the S-Bahn Hannover to exchange ideas with the dispatchers there.

Digital entrepreneurship: Building a technology-driven startup (Prof. Dr. Tobias Brandt, Shariga Sivanathan): This semester, the entrepreneurial team from MOTO will be working on their own startup idea for open all-day schools. What makes this seminar special: the participating students already bring a specific, digitally focused business idea to the table, which they will further develop during the course of the project seminar, and it fully counts towards their academic credit.

The Sims, Startup Edition: Simulating entrepreneurial decision-making with Generative AI (Prof. Dr. Tobias Brandt, Shariga Sivanathan): Six students will work together throughout the semester. The aim is to explore how entrepreneurial decision-making can be simulated using Generative AI agents, offering participants an immersive learning experience. 

Hilti Seminar (Prof. Jan vom Brocke, Sandro Franzoi): In this project seminar, students collaborate with the global manufacturing company Hilti to tackle a real-world challenge at the intersection of artificial intelligence and business process management. Their task: to design and develop an LLM-based learning assistant that helps process managers acquire relevant knowledge more efficiently and engagingly – using cutting-edge AI capabilities and Hilti’s real training resources.

We are already looking forward to the results of the project seminars!

On May 2, 2025, the farewell lecture of Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Jörg Becker took place in lecture hall Leo 1 at the Leonardo Campus. Numerous colleagues from across the School of Business and Economics, long-time companions, former and current doctoral students from three decades, as well as his family, attended the event.

The Rector of the University of Münster, Prof. Johannes Wessels, the Vice Dean of the School of Business and Economics, Prof. Christoph Watrin, and the Director of the Department of Information Systems, Prof. Jan vom Brocke, honored Prof. Becker in their welcoming speeches. They expressed their gratitude for his outstanding commitment –particularly in establishing and advancing the field of Information Systems in Münster –as well as for the many forward-thinking projects he initiated and shaped.

Jörg Becker then gave his farewell and inaugural lecture titled “The best of both worlds”, in which he reflected on his beginnings at the department and provided insight into his future plans as a senior professor.

The Senior Professorship of Information Management continues the long-standing work of the Chair of Information Systems and Information Management. Jörg Becker and his team conduct research in the fields of process and data modeling. In addition to the development and evaluation of new methods, the focus is on the transfer of results into practice – particularly in the areas of services, e-government, and trade – remains a key focus. Through integration into the European Research Center for Information Systems (ERCIS), an interdisciplinary approach is pursued that brings together core competencies from information systems, computer science, business administration, and law.

Since 1990, Jörg Becker has profoundly shaped the Department and the field of Information Systems. His research in process management, data management, e-government, information modeling, retail information systems, and hybrid value creation has left a lasting impact. As the founder of ERCIS, he has decisively advanced the network in Information Systems not only throughout Europe, but also internationally.

The Department of Information Systems would like to thank Jörg Becker for everything he has done for the Department and the SBE – for his extraordinary commitment, many years of loyalty, and for preserving the founding spirit that has inspired so many of his colleagues along the way.

The first Bootcamp as part of the EU-funded CURATE project took place in Košice on 7 and 8 April. The event was hosted by the Technical University of Košice (TUKE), which is working with five other partner universities in the Ulysseus network to set up an innovative, student-centred incubator programme.

The aim of the CURATE project is to enable students to develop entrepreneurial skills and build AI-supported problem-solving capabilities. A total of around 70 students from the partner universities took part in the boot camp - accompanied by coaches and other project participants.

The University of Münster was represented by 15 students under the direction of Prof Dr Tobias Brandt and Shariga Sivanathan. While eight of them were able to experience the inspiring atmosphere on site in Košice, the other students joined in digitally.

The boot camp offered a varied programme: In addition to practice-oriented workshops on the topic of design thinking, the participants gained exciting insights from expert presentations from the industry as well as targeted coaching sessions. One particular highlight was the keynote speech by Prof Dr Tobias Brandt on the topic of ‘AI-Driven Innovation’. The event not only enabled the students to develop their specialist skills, but also provided them with their first valuable experience of intercultural and interdisciplinary collaboration.

The next boot camp will take place in September at the University of Münster. We are already looking forward to welcoming not only our students, but also our partner universities here in Münster!

Professor Dr. Jan vom Brocke from the University of Münster has been elected the next president of the Association for Information Systems (AIS), the global association for Information Systems research and education. He will take up the honorary position on July 1, 2025, leading the international association for a three-year term as its 32nd president – and only the third representative from a German university to hold this office.

Jan vom Brocke holds the Chair of Information Systems and Business Process Management and is Director of the Institute of Information Systems at the University of Münster. He also serves as Academic Director of the European Research Center for Information Systems (ERCIS). He is considered one of the pioneers in the fields of Information Systems, design-oriented research, and sustainability, and as a founder of the Process Science discipline, which uses digital traces to analyze and improve business processes.

"I am truly honored by the trust placed in me and excited to help shape the future of the AIS," said Jan vom Brocke. "As president, I am particularly committed to strengthening the economic and societal impact and recognition of our discipline." His candidacy was based on a strategic agenda, which includes the proposal of an AIS Impact Agenda – a collaborative initiative to identify key questions and challenges together with stakeholders from business and society and to develop innovative solutions. He also plans to introduce new formats of science communication, such as AI-powered media services, to enhance the dialogue between academia and practice.

Founded in 1994, the Association for Information Systems is a nonprofit organization with members in over 100 countries. It publishes leading academic journals, hosts international conferences, and fosters collaboration between individuals and institutions engaged in the study, teaching, and practice of Information Systems worldwide.

All AIS members across the three strategic regions – the Americas, Europe/Middle East/Africa, and Asia-Pacific – were eligible to vote in the election. Jan vom Brocke will succeed Andrew Burton-Jones (University of Queensland, Australia, 30th president) and Dorothy Leidner (University of Virginia, USA, 31st president). Previous presidents from Germany include Claudia Loebbecke (University of Cologne, 11th president) and Helmut Krcmar (Technical University of Munich, 20th president).

Jan vom Brocke has been actively involved with AIS for many years, serving as Vice President for Education and being named an AIS Fellow in recognition of his academic contributions. He brings extensive international experience to his new role: he is Vice Dean for Internationalization at the School of Business and Economics at the University of Münster, Academic Research Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Honorary Distinguished Professor at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, and Visiting Professor at the University of Liechtenstein. He is regularly listed among the most influential scholars in Information Systems, as recognized by rankings such as the WirtschaftsWoche and the Stanford study of the world’s most cited researchers.

Links:

You can find the AIS announcement here.

Find out more about Jan vom Brocke here.

The 2025 Design Thinking Seminar successfully launched with its first virtual session. Students from the University of Münster and Georgia College met online for the first time, laying the foundation for a transatlantic, interdisciplinary academic collaboration.

Special thanks go to SAP facilitators Julie Bartholic, Brandi Starks, and Rebecca Reagan-Thieme for delivering an interactive  webinar that combined methodological depth with interactive elements centered around Design Thinking.

Appreciation is also extended to the faculty members who make this international seminar possible year after year: Joy Godin and Jeannie Pridmore from Georgia College, as well as Armin Stein and Katrin Bergener from the Department of Information Systems.

The seminar will continue in May with the visit of the U.S. students to Münster.

In the latest episode of the “Born & Kepler” podcast, Andreas Deptolla speaks with Prof. Benedikt Berger (Junior Professorship for Digital Transformation and Society) about the real-world challenges and opportunities of using artificial intelligence (AI) in business and society.

Prof. Berger shares insights from his academic career and discusses current developments in the media landscape – including the influence of influencers, emerging platforms, and ongoing digital trends. Key topics also include the use of AI tools like ChatGPT and DeepL in teaching, as well as preparing students for a job market increasingly shaped by AI.

The conversation further explores responsible data management and governance, human-AI interaction, ethical questions surrounding predictive policing, and broader legal and societal implications.

The episode is now available on Spotify and all major podcast platforms.

On April 1, 2025, the Department of Information Systems welcomed Dr. Johannes Sedlmeir as Acting Professor for Statistics, Security & Trust.

After completing his master’s degree in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics, he did  his doctorate at the University of Bayreuth and the Branch Business & Information Systems Engineering  of the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technologie FIT, focusing on the challenges and potential of using blockchain technology in organizations. Since October 2022, he has been conducting research in the FINATRAX (Digital Financial Services and Cross-Organisational Digital Transformations) research group at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT) at the University of Luxembourg. There, he investigated both economic and technical aspects of new digital technologies, particularly in the field of applied cryptography. In addition to blockchain technology, a particular focus of his research lies in digital wallets (the underlying paradigm is also known as ‘self-sovereign identity’). Dr. Sedlmeir is also a lecturer at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH), where he holds block seminars on blockchain technology and digital identity management twice a year.

We would like to welcome Dr Johannes Sedlmeir to the Department of Information Systems and asked him a few questions at the beginning of his work:

Dear Dr. Sedlmeir, after your time in Luxembourg, you are continuing your academic career at the University of Münster. What motivated you to return to Germany and teach and research at the University of Münster?

Firstly, the University of Münster in general and the Deparment of Information Systems in particular enjoy an excellent reputation, and I am sure that the university and the European Research Center for Information Systems (ERCIS) founded there offer the perfect environment for my interdisciplinary research. In addition, there are many points of contact with my new colleagues' areas of focus, both in terms of methodology (e.g. design science research) and content (e.g. new mobility concepts, the detection and combating of disinformation and the management of cross-organisational processes), which I would like to discuss with them. I would also like to contribute to establishing the topics of digital identity management and applications of modern cryptography in the areas of security, data protection and trust in data at a new location and to bring them into teaching and research projects.

I am also very much looking forward to being able to give large and, for a Information Systems  degree program, highly technically-oriented basic lectures at the University of Münster, as my previous work had a stronger focus on industry cooperation and specialised seminars and I was therefore limited to smaller and more specialized courses. I have enjoyed teaching since I was a student and I hope that I can inspire the students in the lectures for my research topics and at the same time emphasize the relevance of basic education for current challenges in society and the economy.

One of your main areas of research is digital identities. What exactly is this about and what fascinates you most about this topic?

Digital identity management is one of the basic prerequisites for successful digital transformation, both in terms of IT security and the efficiency of processes based on data exchange and access rights. Today's identity management is extremely fragmented – both for end users as well as for organizations and networked devices. This inevitably leads to low user-friendliness, security gaps, high costs and lock-in effects for providers of solutions for IAM systems. These challenges can be addressed with a unified, user-centric system that uses modern cryptography and stores machine-verifiable proof of identity locally. At the same time, an approach based on ‘digital wallets’ increases users' control over which data they pass on to which organizations, which can largely address the usual criticism of a lack of data protection in the digital space. Furthermore, reducing the dependencies of digital identity ecosystems is also a key to greater European digital sovereignty, for example as an alternative or supplement to single sign-on solutions from large technology platforms and web PKI. Last but not least, secure digital identities also enable machine-verifiable transaction data, on the basis of which the creation of many digital proofs becomes possible in the first place, especially in cross-organisational processes.

On the other hand, many projects to improve digital identity management have also failed in the past due to various technical and non-technical hurdles. In this respect, I find it very exciting to learn from these attempts and to actively support the hopefully successful implementation this time, both as a scientific observer and by developing innovative solutions for and based on digital identities. I also appreciate the combination of cryptographic and economic aspects in the successful implementation of digital wallets, which make interdisciplinary research necessary and provide a holistic perspective that can also offer valuable insights in other areas of digital transformation.

What research projects are you currently working on?

Similar to the German Fraunhofer Institutes, the SnT is characterised by a very strong industry focus, where research projects are strongly demand-oriented and interdisciplinary. My current favorite projects deal with potential security issues of Bitcoin induced by the quadrennial “halving”, the controversy around qualified website certificates and European digital sovereignty between browser providers, the European Commission and European trust service providers in the context of the amendment of the eIDAS regulation, as well as applications of digital wallets in organizations and general security and privacy challenges arising from the current implementation plan of European digital wallets (EUDI wallets). In addition, I am also working on the development of verifiable data-driven processes between financial institutions and the privacy-oriented tokenization of artworks on public blockchains - the latter is a public research project funded by the Luxembourg Fonds National de la Recherche, which I was able to acquire in collaboration with the APSIA research group for applied cryptography at the SnT and which ultimately attracted me to Luxembourg.

What courses will you be offering students in the future?

I will be offering two lectures and two seminars in the  summer semester 2025. In the bachelor's lecture ‘Security of Distributed Systems’, I will first introduce the general basics of distributed systems and then use this preliminary work to provide an insight into both classic (e.g. security of email and web PKI) and highly topical security-related issues in the context of distributed systems, such as challenges for the security of cryptocurrencies and blockchains as well as digital wallets, where both cryptographic and economic design aspects are crucial. In the master's lecture ‘Trust and Security in Data Science’, I will first highlight challenges regarding access control in cross-organizational data exchange and the verification of the origin and trustworthiness of data.

We will then look at typical problems and paradoxes in data analysis and statistical and cryptographic approaches to solving them. The seminars then delve deeper into more general current issues in European digital wallets and a critical examination of perspectives on the potential and challenges of blockchain technology that are often one-sided or driven by business interests. To give one example: Proponents of bitcoin mining often argue that mining hardware can easily be switched off, thereby stabilizing power grids, promoting the expansion of renewables or using waste heat for heating. However, counter-arguments are sometimes ignored, such as the fact that mining is initially an additional consumer from a grid perspective, that the high investments in mining hardware make grid-friendly behavior with volatile generation economically difficult and that heating with waste heat makes little sense in summer and has major efficiency disadvantages compared to a heat pump in winter. So, you can see that I approach passionately controversial topics with a high degree of interdisciplinarity from the perspective of business informatics in order to provide a balanced perspective that can then inform the broader discourse.

In the coming winter semester, I will be giving the introductory lecture on data and probabilities for business IT specialists, which I am particularly looking forward to as a former mathematical physicist.

Is there a course that you are particularly interested in and would like to take yourself?

This is probably the most difficult of the questions because there are simply too many topics that interest me. As an enthusiastic supporter of electromobility, for example, I would be interested in courses on battery management or the quantitative evaluation of data on battery health during operation, the coordination of charging processes in a more system or grid-friendly way and more user-friendly charging planning and payment. On the other hand, I find the mathematical foundations of the latest generation of artificial intelligence (large language models) very exciting and would like to delve even deeper into the unfortunately often underestimated challenges and possibilities of supplementing these with fundamentally different (e.g. neuro-symbolic) approaches.

As of April 1, 2025, God’sgift Okoebor (M.Sc.) has joined the Junior Professorship for Digital Transformation and Societey as a research assistant and doctoral candidate.

She holds a Master of Science in Information Systems from the University of Münster, where she specialized in Information Management and Business Networks, and a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems from Covenant University, Nigeria.

God’sgift brings both academic and practical experience to her role. Her master’s research explored the integration of Generative AI in academic work, highlighting her interest in the intersection of technology and organizational processes. Professionally, she has supported strategic initiatives in digital transformation and data management at BASF Coatings, and has held roles in project management, IT support, and business development across Nigeria and Germany.

Her research interests lie in digital transformation, AI-driven business innovation, and the evolving role of information systems in organizational change.

We wish her the very best and are looking forward to working together!

On April 7, 2025, the Department of Information Systems bid farewell to Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Jörg Becker during his “last” lecture.

Since 1990, Jörg Becker has significantly shaped the department and the field of Information Systems. His research has left a lasting impression in the areas of process management, data management, e-government, information modeling, retail information systems and hybrid value creation.

He is also the founder of the European Research Center for Information Systems (ERCIS) and currently heads the research group “Digital Mittelstadt of the Future”, which researches innovative solutions for the digital transformation of municipalities and local administrations.

As part of the farewell, colleagues, long-time companions and former and current doctoral students looked back on three decades of academic excellence, leadership and mentorship - all wrapped up in a creative and inspiring program.

Fortunately, this is not really a farewell, as Jörg Becker will remain with the department as a senior professor. We would like to thank him warmly and look forward to the next chapter!

On March 31, 2025, members of the Department Board Meeting gathered for a strategy day at the REACH EUREGIO Start-up Center to shape the future of the department.

The day began with a vision workshop, using the innovative “Lego Serious Play” method. This hands-on approach encouraged creative and collaborative thinking and led to several inspiring models that reflected visions for the future of the department.

In addition, there were stimulating discussions on topics such as teaching, research, and knowledge transfer. Together, participants explored new approaches to strengthen the department’s impact and further development in the field of Information Systems.

A big thank you to everyone who contributed their ideas, creativity, and commitment!