Dr. Nina Czernich is a specialist at the Center for Industrial Organisation and New Technologies within the ifo Institute in Munich. He work focuses on examining the impact of digitalisation on the world of work. As part of her doctoral studies, Ms. Czernich examined the effect which the spread of broadband internet had on economic and social development in Germany and other OECD countries. After gaining her doctorate, Ms. Czernich spent five years working as a research assistant for the Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation in Berlin. She helped to prepare the annual report issued by the commission, which advises the federal government by providing analyses and recommendations for action for Germany’s research and innovation system.

Prof. Maaß is a university professor of business administration focusing on information systems in the service sector, (co-opted) professor of Business Informatics at Saarland University, scientific director of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), and adjunct professor of Biomedical Informatics at Stony Brook University, NY. He studied computer science at RWTH Aachen and at Saarland University. His PhD in computer science was funded by a DFG scholarship from the ‘Cognitive Science’ research training group. He completed postdoctoral studies at the Institute of Technology Management (ITEM) and the Institute of Media and Communications Management (MCM) at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, where also completed his ‘Habilitation’ qualification. He was a visiting professor in the Department of Bioinformatics & Computational Biology at the University of Texas (M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, 2009) and in the Department of Biomedical Informatics at the University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine in Stony Brook, NY (2016). His research examines the transformation of the industrial sector using artificial intelligence applications.

Lutz Stratmann was born in Oldenburg in 1960. After studies in law, he headed the Office of Government Affairs and International Relations within the Saxony-Anhalt state chancellery and became a member of the Lower Saxony state parliament in 1994. He was also admitted to the bar in Oldenburg. He was named Lower Saxony’s Minister of Science and Culture in 2003. He held this post until 2010, when he decided to return to working as a lawyer specialising in renewable energy, public planning, foundation and data protection law. Stratmann has been the managing director of Demografieagentur für die Wirtschaft GmbH since September 2014. Lutz Stratmann has a wealth of experience drawn from memberships of a wide variety of supervisory boards and foundation committees, including serving as chairman of the board of trustees for the Volkswagen Foundation from 2004 to 2014.

Career:

• 1990 - 1993 Kiel economic academy | Commerce, business administration (BA)
• 1990 - 1997 Working time systems consultant | Famila Handelsmarkt Kiel
• 1997 -2010 HR coordination manager | Globus SB-Warenhaus Holding GmbH & Co. KG
• 2010 - 2013 Commercial director | OOO Hyperglobus Moskau
• 2013 - 2014 HR manager | Globus SB-Warenhaus Holding GmbH & Co. KG
• 2014 - 2018 HR/IT/controlling director | Globus SB-Warenhaus Holding GmbH & Co. KG
• 2018 - present Infrastructure and sales director | Globus SB-Warenhaus Holding GmbH & Co. KG

He has been with Globus since 1999. During his career he was responsible for WEB systems and IT developments. He has been Head of IT Innovation & Development since 2015 and is involved in the transfer of IT projects, in particular innovation projects, into the operating system landscape of Globus.

Career:

• 1982 - 1985 University of Applied Sciences | Diploma in production technology
• 1985 - 1999 Logistics, planning & consulting manager | Festo, Esslingen
• 1999 - 2013 Head of Central Department Logistics | Sick AG, Waldkirch near Freiburg
• 2014 - present Head of Corporate Customer Fulfillment | Sick AG, Waldkirch near Freiburg
• 2017 - present Vice President CD Customer Fulfillment | Sick AG, Waldkirch near Freiburg

is the technical director (CTO) and business lead of Cisco’s openBerlin Innovation Center. He has been in the IT industry for 22 years and has been with Cisco since 2001. The graduate engineer completed his training at the Technical University of Berlin in the areas of computer engineering and economics and holds a diploma in this field. During his career he gained experience in several positions like Server Specialist, Project Manager, Account Manager, Service Creation Manager and Business Development Manager. He was involved in closing the SetTop Box and Data Center deal with Deutsche Telekom ($20m in 2006 to $80m in 2008). This unique deal is a key reference in Europe for Deutsche Telekom and all its affiliates. André also was responsible for 18 OpCo’s of Vodafone. He has worked on a range of technologies, such as Data Center, Storage, Cloud services, Networking and more and for that reason knows the hardware, software and sales side of the business like no other. He has strong market analytical skills for business strategy and opportunity tracking and consequently is a strong lead in a cross-matrix organization collaborating on complex projects. André is known for his Thought Leadership in interactive business models and business cases and loves to contribute his knowledge and mindset to the projects of openBerlin. Career:

• 1992 - 1996 Technische Fachhochschule Berlin | engineering degree, industrial engineering
• 1988 - 1992 Technische Fachhochschule Berlin | engineering degree, computer engineering
• 2001 - 2004 Account Manager | Cisco Systems
• 2004 - 2006 Business Development Manager | Cisco Systems
• 2006 - 2009 Worldwide Business Development Manager | Cisco Systems
• 2009 - 2012 Sales Business Development Manager | Cisco Systems
• 2012 - 2016 Solution Executive Service Sales | Cisco Systems
• 2017 - present Technical Leader Cisco Innovation Center openBerlin | Cisco Systems

He is a research associate at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI GmbH) and head of the commercial Innovative Retail Laboratory (IRL) that is run by the DFKI in conjunction with the retailer Globus. After completing his computer studies degree at Saarland University in November 2007, he began examining the development and implementation of digitalisation opportunities in retail so as to be able to project the strengths of online trade into a physical space and offer personalised customer experiences. He is in particular responsible for the innovation partnership programme that was established in July 2015, aiming to work with partner companies to transfer findings from research into practice.

Patrick Walther is a senior partner of the consulting agency Walther Learning Solutions. The agency assists companies in the field of digital learning and talent management, focusing on providing consulting to help digitalise staff training. As well as traditional e-learning software and content, projects increasingly also incorporate immersive systems and artificial intelligence. Patrick Walther studied computer science at Saarland University. He then worked as a research associate at the Centre for e-Learning Technology, a senior software engineer at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, and principal consultant for IMC AG. Alongside his work as a senior partner, he is also involved with the Project Management Institute (PMI) and founded the Local Group Südwest, creating a network of project managers in the region and organising events covering associated topics.

Er ist Gründer und Geschäftsführer der i-bring GmbH. Nach seinem Studium an der Fachhochschule Erfurt im Fachbereich Verkehrs- und Transportwesen war er mehrere Jahre als Leiter Logistikprojekte bei der Dachser Group SE & Co. KG sowie der LC Logistic Solutions GmbH tätig. Die stetige Zunahme der Sendungen an Privatkunden, sei es über KEP-Dienstleister oder über Serviceleistungen des lokalen Handels gab den Impuls, Lösungen für den Endkunden zu finden, diese sinnvoll zu koordinieren und auf seine Bedürfnisse auszurichten. Die i-bring GmbH entwickelte ein intelligentes, IT-gestütztes „just-in-time“-Konzept im Bereich der „Last-Mile-Delivery“. Es ermöglicht erstmals, die komplette Versorgung eines Privathaushaltes durch einen Dienstleister erbringen zu lassen. Das revolutionäre Element von i-bring ist, dass der Kunde entscheidet, wann er seine Ware oder Pakete erhält, selbst zu jeder Zeit in den Lieferprozess eingreifen und unterschiedliche Sendungen zu einer Lieferung bündeln kann.