09.09.2022 Aufrufe

Digital Economy

In dieser Ausgabe des "forward" Magazins legen wir den Fokus auf die „Digital Economy“ und beschäftigen uns mit den Chancen und Risken, die die digitale Transformation mit sich bringt. Die beiden Programmdirektor*innen des interdisziplinären WU Master Programms Digital Economy geben im F&A Interview einen Einblick zu den Voraussetzungen, den unterschiedlichen Spezialisierungen und praxisorientierten Research & Industry Labs des Masterstudiums.

In dieser Ausgabe des "forward" Magazins legen wir den Fokus auf die „Digital Economy“ und beschäftigen uns mit den Chancen und Risken, die die digitale Transformation mit sich bringt.

Die beiden Programmdirektor*innen des interdisziplinären WU Master Programms Digital Economy geben im F&A Interview einen Einblick zu den Voraussetzungen, den unterschiedlichen Spezialisierungen und praxisorientierten Research & Industry Labs des Masterstudiums.

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DIGITAL ECONOMY<br />

© Raimo Rudi Rumpler<br />

The new Master’s Program in “<strong>Digital</strong> <strong>Economy</strong>” at<br />

the Vienna University of Economics and Business pursues<br />

an interdisciplinary approach to offer students<br />

expertise in IT along with solid management training. The<br />

4-semester program, which features our practice-oriented<br />

Research & Industry Labs, is the ideal launchpad for those<br />

wishing to make their mark in disruptive digital businesses.<br />

At the same time, this research-led academic program aims<br />

to provide students with state-of-the-art knowledge on<br />

the rapidly developing digital environment. The program<br />

director, Prof. Axel Polleres, and deputy director, Prof. Verena<br />

Dorner, explain the entry requirements, the core content,<br />

exciting industry collaborations and potential career options.<br />

What qualifications do interested students need in order to<br />

be accepted onto the English-language Master’s Program in<br />

“<strong>Digital</strong> <strong>Economy</strong>”, and can you define the target group?<br />

In addition to a bachelor’s degree or equivalent first<br />

degree from a recognized educational institution, our main<br />

requirement is sound technical and mathematical knowledge<br />

or a background in business administration. Students<br />

who don’t meet specific criteria can first attend our<br />

bridging courses to acquire the requisite basic knowledge.<br />

Our target group are students from diverse backgrounds,<br />

who will be able to learn from one another and thereby<br />

develop a “common language” – that’s a core concept of<br />

our curriculum. Of course, students should also be prepared<br />

to do hands-on work, diving into the nuts and bolts, so<br />

to speak; or, if they already have a technical background,<br />

to broaden their perspective to include the management<br />

and strategy levels. This is a multidisciplinary program<br />

that demands comprehensive training in a range of fields.<br />

What content does the Master’s Program in “<strong>Digital</strong><br />

<strong>Economy</strong>” offer? Are there elective subjects that the students<br />

can choose from?<br />

The 4-semester master’s program is designed to provide skills<br />

in governance as well as technical expertise and the ability to<br />

lead change management processes in digital transformation.<br />

In the first year, students are taught basic knowledge about the<br />

digital economy in the areas of strategy, design, implementation,<br />

and law. This is supplemented by methods in the field of<br />

research and development. From the third semester onwards,<br />

the students begin to specialize. They can choose between three<br />

topics, namely “Information Systems”, “<strong>Digital</strong> Law and Economics”<br />

or “<strong>Digital</strong> Strategy, Marketing and Transformation”.<br />

What kind of employment opportunities do you see for<br />

graduates?<br />

The multidisciplinary program, leading to a Master of Science<br />

(M. Sc.) degree, prepares students to work in the digital sector.<br />

In particular, they are trained to understand the structure and<br />

functioning of digital markets and the digitalization of existing<br />

industries. Students learn to successfully negotiate their way<br />

through the world of digital business. Their career prospects are<br />

incredibly diverse: Our graduates<br />

initiate, design, and implement<br />

Career<br />

prospects<br />

are incredibly<br />

diverse.<br />

digital innovations in companies<br />

and organizations or found their<br />

own digital start-ups.<br />

A concrete example of a career<br />

path, depending on the chosen<br />

specializations, is the profession<br />

of data scientist or data architect,<br />

i.e. experts who apply advanced analytical methods to prepare<br />

the groundwork for corporate decisions or who design and operate<br />

a company’s information and data architecture. Another<br />

option is to enter the field of digital marketing and product<br />

design, in which psychological models are used to explore how<br />

certain algorithms influence decision-making behavior. Other<br />

employment routes for graduates include IT consulting and, of<br />

course, more general positions in companies and organizations<br />

involved in the planning, management, and implementation<br />

of various elements of digitalization such as blockchain.<br />

Does the program also offer practice-oriented teaching?<br />

In particular, do you collaborate with companies and<br />

organizations as part of research projects?<br />

We have a targeted practical component within our Research &<br />

Industry Labs, which get underway in the third semester. This<br />

is an integral and highly useful part of the program for students,<br />

who are given the opportunity to work on innovative<br />

research projects together with experts from companies and<br />

organizations. We are delighted to have three strong partners<br />

on board, namely ÖBB, VERBUND and WKO. In the<br />

fall, we are launching the first concrete projects with ÖBB<br />

and WKO. We hope that students will be able to apply<br />

their very different skill sets and various fields of<br />

expertise. The aim is not only to realize purely technical<br />

projects in digitalization but also to incorporate<br />

knowledge on the management<br />

of organizational change. Ideally,<br />

these projects should always<br />

encompass both aspects.<br />

WKO is an important partner for us because it provides a link<br />

to SMEs in specific industries. Let’s take a company in the field<br />

of electronics, for example, to serve as a practical case for the<br />

students. How can such an enterprise optimize its business<br />

to reflect the digital transformation? What does the market<br />

demand? To what extent should businesses adapt their services?<br />

Here we certainly have to consider the massive disruption<br />

caused by Apple or Google in the smart home sector.<br />

With ÖBB and VERBUND, we have two strong partners on board<br />

who can provide students with exciting practical cases. Clearly,<br />

transportation and power generation are two closely intertwined<br />

industries, which are both being transformed by digitalization<br />

processes. Here the goal of sustainability is becoming<br />

ever more relevant. So, for example, we can investigate in realworld<br />

cases how to optimize the transportation of goods and<br />

people or how energy generation and consumption pathways<br />

can be made completely transparent. And we can ask how supply<br />

chains can be streamlined to boost sustainability.<br />

The synergies in these areas are particularly exciting. We are<br />

delighted that ÖBB and VERBUND have helped us set up a<br />

newly endowed professorship for “Data Ecosystems for Environmental<br />

Accountability”, which will take a holistic view of<br />

this field while integrating WU’s focus on sustainability and<br />

digitalization.<br />

We are always open to further collaborations with the hope of<br />

establishing long-term partnerships. Here the plan is to expand<br />

our industrial network. From an initial cohort of 60 students,<br />

we now aim to enlarge the program to 120 places each year.<br />

With the simultaneous expansion of our portfolio of partners,<br />

industries, and projects, we will be able to provide students<br />

with valuable, practice-oriented experiences while pursuing<br />

the goal of research-led teaching. Moreover, this means that<br />

companies will directly benefit from new synergies and innovations<br />

from WU research. This will create a win-win situation<br />

for the students, for WU as a research institution and, in particular,<br />

for the participating firms or organizations.<br />

Univ-Prof. in Dr. in Verena Dorner ist Leiterin des IInstitute for <strong>Digital</strong> Ecosystems am Department für<br />

Wirtschaftsinformatik und Operations Management der WU und stellvertretende Programmdirektorin<br />

des Masterprogramms „<strong>Digital</strong> <strong>Economy</strong>“. Ihre Expertise liegt in den Bereichen Data-Science, <strong>Digital</strong><br />

Nudging und Human-Computer Interaction.<br />

Univ-Prof. Dr. Axel Polleres ist Leiter des Institute for Data, Process and Knowledge Management an der<br />

WU, dem er seit September 2013 als Professor für den Bereich „Data and Knowledge Engineering“<br />

angehört. Seine Forschungsschwerpunkte reichen von Datenbankabfragesprachen über Semantic-Web-<br />

Technologien und Linked Open Data bis hin zu verschiedenen Anwendungen künstlicher Intelligenz.<br />

© WU<br />

Prof. Verena Dorner is head of the WU’s Institute for <strong>Digital</strong> Ecosystems at the Department of<br />

Information Systems and Operations Management as well as deputy academic director of the Master’s<br />

Program in “<strong>Digital</strong> <strong>Economy</strong>”. She is an expert in the fields of data science, digital nudging and humancomputer<br />

interaction.<br />

© WU<br />

Prof. Axel Polleres is head of the WU’s Institute for Data, Process and Knowledge Management,<br />

where he has been a professor in the field of “Data and Knowledge Engineering” since September<br />

2013. His research interests encompass database query languages, Semantic Web technologies, Linked<br />

Open Data and various applications of artificial intelligence.<br />

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