The decision taken at the University of Bonn to establish seven dedicated digital managers within the faculties is unique within Germany. “We found it important to ensure that the faculties are supported in their efforts to establish their own structures for the digital transformation of their teaching, research and administration,” stressed Carolin Müller from the University’s Digital Science Center (DiCe). Whilst this concerns strategic coordination within the faculties—such as in the Faculty of Medicine, where Valentin Stein heads the faculty’s internal strategy commission—central digitalization projects have also been established to address cross-university issues.
Such issues often involve hurdles to operational implementation. For example, the new student ID is to be available in digital form via the University of Bonn app. Nevertheless, the University often recommends that students do not take their cellular telephones into many examinations.
This is where the work of the Digis—as the digital managers are informally known— begins. They take up feedback from the faculties, point out pitfalls and work with all the stakeholders to develop solutions. Involved at an early stage, they act as a link between the faculties and the project managers. “On the one hand we have an advisory role and help make decisions, for example when it comes to projects involving the administration or other central units, such as University IT,” says Mats Liedhegener, Digitalization Manager at the Faculty of Agriculture. The managers work closely with stakeholders such as members of staff in the Digitalization of Administrative Processes Program (PDaP) and University IT (HRZ).
They collaborate on a range of tasks, such as oversight of the introduction of a central document management system, where they work to clarify relationships to existing systems and requirements. On the other hand, however, there are instances in which the Digis manage projects in their faculty, which can later be adopted across the University, such as the development of electronic examinations and standardized plagiarism detection software.
Design and communication
The nature of their role means that the Digis work within the structures of faculties and institutes. [PA1] “We often need to convince actors in the faculties that the use of other processes and tools will make their work easier,” says Jens Barth, the digital manager at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. They are not trying to enforce a one-size-fits-all solution: “We don’t want to change everything, but to do things in a way that makes sense locally.”
The Digis are also working to establish digital networks that link the faculties. “We are increasingly exploiting synergies between the IT capabilities of the faculties without abandoning the faculties and their bespoke needs. In so doing, we are trying to move away from the use of stand-alone IT solutions that were born of a lack of time or information,” reports Gregor Wiescholek from the Department of Law.
The seven Digis all come from very different backgrounds. The expertise and experience that they bring from their different areas complement each other very well and lead to a fruitful exchange, which benefits the further collaborative development of a range of digitalization projects. Some have worked as university researchers and at CERN. Others have gained experience in large media and digital groups or bring legal expertise to the table. The panel is completed by Professor Valentin Stein, who has long been committed to the cause of the digital governance at the Faculty of Medicine using its own IT structures.
An important building block in the University digital strategy
The University of Bonn’s new digital strategy is called “Going Forward Together”. “The University digital strategy has been based directly on the faculties’ own visions for the digital transformation of our university,” says Professor Maren Bennewitz, Vice Rector for Digitalization and Information Management and speaker for DiCe, which is responsible for the implementation and further development of the digital strategy. It was therefore only logical that the University created new positions with responsibility for the management of the digitalization in the faculties as a first step even before the strategy was developed. “The digitalization managers are a very important component of the University-wide aspects of the strategy,” says Dr. Benjamin Seyfferth from DiCe. He is satisfied with the results so far. “It represents a form of collaboration previously unknown at the University of Bonn. The decentralized contribution to our digital transformation is fundamental to the future of our University.”