2010 - ERCIS

University of Münster –
Department of Information Systems –
Chair for Information Systems and Information Management
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About the Chair
The Chair for Information Systems and
Information Management at the WWU
Münster, directed by Prof. Dr. Jörg Becker,
currently comprises 21 postgraduate research
assistants and seven post docs
as well as 25 undergraduate research assistants.
Since April 1st, 2010, PD Dr. Axel
Winkelmann serves as acting professor,
as Prof. Dr. Jörg Becker is actually doing a
sabbatical as Prorector of the University of
Münster and as driver of the Universitie’s
Excellence Initiative.
The courses offered as part of the Bachelors
and Masters programs on Information
Systems comprise Process Modeling (Application
Systems, Information Modeling,
Workflow Management) as well as Data
Modeling (Data Management, Management
Information Systems and Data Warehousing)
topics. Early on in their studies
students can enroll in additional domainspecific
courses such as Elective Modules,
Project Thesis, and Seminars. Soft-skills
like presentation techniques and rhetoric
are also conveyed. All courses consequently
focus on integrating with current
research and industry projects.
Research Topics
Focus areas of research are Process
Modeling and Data Modeling. Besides
developing and evaluating new modeling
methods, the methods are transferred into
practice to generate business value for
companies and governmental organizations.
Focused domains of research comprise
Service Science Management and
Engineering (SSME), E-Government and
Retail/Wholesale. As the chair is embedded
into the European Research Center for
Information Systems (ERCIS), the research
projects incorporate Information Systems,
Computer Science, Business Administration,
and Legal points of view.
Selected Research Projects
Network e-Volution
One of the largest challenges for the
whole University of Münster is the participation
in the next stage of the German
Excellence Initiative. The Department of Information
Systems is taking a lead role in
pushing the Excellence Cluster “Network
e-Volution”.
Our network society is characterized by
the rise of electronic communication en-
vironments. As a result, we witness the
emergence and proliferation of new forms
of networking.
Networks access every area of life and
connect people and computers with each
other in new ways, allowing for rich communication
and collaborative work that is
distributed around the world. Examples
can be identified in all societal subsystems.
For instance, complex information
systems enable companies to build up
or enter global value networks to further
increase their efficiency and to offer their
goods and services on a global scale. On
the personal level, IT-supported social
network sites such as Facebook, XING or
studiVZ have become quasi standards for
social networking. Public administrations
increasingly establish Public Private Partnerships
in cooperation with companies in
order to exploit synergetic benefits based
on an electronic exchange of data.
Given the breadth and interconnectedness
of network phenomena, the proposed
Cluster of Excellence “Network e-Volution”
has an interdisciplinary focus in order to
study various facets of networking. Apart
from network uncertainty, issues such as
governance and organization, information
systems and software applications,
psychology and communication, structure
and dynamics, are covered. Research will
focus on the evolution, structure and impact
of networks that rely on an electronic
exchange of data.
The organizational root of the proposed
cluster is the European Research Center for
Information Systems (ERCIS).
ServDEA
Beginning on September 2010 to June
2014, the new joint research project
ServDEA is going to use the operations-