Ongoing Strategy Process
The University of Bonn is pursuing an ongoing process to implement its Digital Strategy and advance it in a dynamic way in order to keep up with the constantly changing conditions underlying the digital transformation. It has put specific structures and processes in place to this end. The Digital Science Center (DiCe) acts as the strategic hub for these efforts.
DiCe’s Board of Management and fields of operation
The DiCe Board of Management is the central steering committee for the process to implement and further develop the Digital Strategy. In particular, it initiates DiCe projects, signs off project results and prepares resource recommendations for approval by the Rectorate.
Its members include the directors of the DiCe’s three fields of operation—Research, Teaching and Services—which pool and coordinate its activities in each area.
Digitalization management in the faculties
The digitalization management representative for a faculty helps its dean’s office, institutes and other faculty-level structures (e.g. departments) to build up and further develop its own IT governance structure.
Together with the directors of the DiCe’s Research, Teaching and Services fields of operation, who sit on the DiCe Board of Management, the digitalization management representatives for the faculties discuss the progress made on implementing the Digital Strategy on the Visions-Projects-Strategy Committee. In particular, the new strategic priorities to be set are identified once a year.
Services & Infrastructure and the DiCe Coordination Office
Resource planning and project steering for relevant digitalization projects are discussed and the specific strategic decisions requiring approval are prepared for the DiCe’s Board of Management by the staff responsible for the central IT service structures via the Services & Infrastructure Committee in DiCe’s Services field of operation.
The DiCe Coordination Office supports the members of its Board of Management with their work and performs various tasks for putting the structures and processes in place to achieve the structural objectives.
Structural objectives for implementation and further development
The University has set itself some concrete structural objectives for implementing and advancing its Digital Strategy. Specific structures and measures have been defined for achieving each individual structural objective.
Structural objective 1: information
Quality-assured top-down and bottom-up processes are in place for how the University tackles digitalization issues from a strategic perspective, for assessing progress made on implementing the Digital Strategy and for identifying practicable DiCe projects.
Measures and structures:
Structural objective 2: projects
DiCe projects are commissioned in a clear process and adequately resourced; their implementation is monitored and their results signed off.
Structural objective 3: adaptation
The vision and ongoing strategy process are reviewed, added to and adapted continuously.
Maßnahmen und Strukturen:
Overview of the structures and measures
Responsibilities
Developing, implementing and advancing the University of Bonn’s Digital Strategy
Executive bodies
- DiCe Board of Management
- DiCe Coordination Office
- HPC/A Lab
Fields of operation
- Research
- Teaching
- Services
Responsibilities
- Launching DiCe projects in particular
- Preparing decisions for the Rectorate on digitalization topics
Members
- Vice Rectors for Digitalization, Research, and Teaching and Learning plus the Provost
- Directors of the three fields of operation—Research, Teaching and Services—plus the Scientific
- Director of the HPC/A Lab
- Chair of the Faculties’ Conference
Characteristics
- Initiated by the DiCe Board of Management
- Resourced by the Rectorate
- The responsibility of the organizational unit tasked with its implementation
- Support and coordination usually provided by the DiCe Coordination Office
- Research field of operation: Coordination of relevant digitalization activities by its Director, currently Prof. Dr. Petra Mutzel
- Teaching field of operation: Coordination of relevant digitalization activities by its Director, currently Prof. Dr. Klaus Sandmann
- Services field of operation: Coordination of relevant digitalization activities by its Director, currently Dr. Holger Impekoven
- Faculty of Protestant Theology: Martin Stuke
- Faculty of Catholic Theology: Martin Stuke
- Faculty of Agriculture: Mats Liedhegener
- Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences: Dr. Jens Barth
- Speaker for the Faculty of Medicine’s IT Strategy Committee: Prof. Dr. Valentin Stein
- Faculty of Arts: Stephan Herritsch
- Faculty of Law and Economics:
- Department of Law: Gregor Wiescholek
- Department of Economics: Petra Störring
Responsibilities
- Discussing the progress made on implementing the Digital Strategy
- Identifying new strategic priorities
Members
- Directors of the three fields of operation: Research, Teaching and Services
- Digitalization managers in the faculties
Responsibilities
- Resource planning and project steering for relevant digitalization projects
Members
- Director of the Services field of operation
- Staff responsible for the central IT service structures
- University IT
- IT and Computing Services Division (central administration)
- Bonn University and State Library
- Bonn Center for Higher Education
- Digitalization of Administrative Processes program
- EGovG/OZG Coordinator
Responsibilities
- Supporting the DiCe Board of Management and the directors of the fields of operation
- Putting structures and processes in place to achieve quality objectives
- The digitalization management representative in a faculty coordinates its internal harmonization processes.
- Input on a specific issue can be channeled via the structures in place in the Research, Teaching and Services fields of operation and submitted to the DiCe Board of Management via the director of the relevant field.
- Research field of operation: dedicated structures for supporting researchers and academic advisory boards for preparing relevant decisions for approval by the DiCe Board of Management are in place for the issues of research data management and high-performance computing and analytics in particular.
- Teaching field of operation: its activities are pooled by the Vice Rectorate for Teaching and Learning.
- Services field of operation: in particular, a structured approach to requirements management ensures that new and improved IT services are introduced.
- Strategic input is discussed on the Visions/Projects/Strategy committee and, if applicable, leads to adjustments to the vision and/or strategy process or becomes topic-specific input given via the field of operation structures.
Cross-cutting meetings to discuss...
- ... central IT services (organized by University IT, e.g. HRZ-Café, Confluence-Café, Web-Café, eCampus-Café)
- ... projects relating to administrative processes (organized by the Digitalization of Administrative Processes program, e.g. the regular PDaP faculty representatives’ meetings)
The DiCe Confluence page
Providing transparency to all University members on:
- The progress made on implementing all DiCe projects
- The Digital Strategy
- Other digitalization activities
The DiCe blog
Push notifications within the University on key milestones reached in implementing the Digital Strategy, such as:
- New projects
- Landmark decisions
- Project results
- Updates on e.g. digitalization-related vacancies
... the DiCe Confluence page and blog may be accessed from within the university's subnet
Responsibilities
- A format for dialogue between the digitalization managers and the managers of the digitalization projects
- Reporting on current developments in the IT-related units
- Transparency regarding the progress made on digitalization projects
- Organizing faculty participation in the project processes
Members
- Digitalization management representatives
- Managers of the digitalization projects
- Interested University members
... more on the DiCe project forum (access from within the university's subnet)
Responsibilities
- Providing advice among colleagues
- Organizational standards
- Escalation in the event of “roadblocks”
Members
- Managers of the DiCe projects
- DiCe Coordination Office
- Resources provided by the Rectorate
- Resources and milestones monitored by Services & Infrastructure
- Reports via the DiCe project forum
- Support for project management from the DiCe Coordination Office
Find out here how the strategy was put together
Development of the strategy 2020–2023
The foundations for our Digital Strategy were laid between 2020 and 2023 in a participatory development process.