New at HNU: Prof. Dr. Andy Wee­ger

After graduating from high school and doing my community service, I completed an apprenticeship as a media designer for digital and print media at an advertising agency, and then founded an office for design, photography and web development with friends. Because I wanted to further expand my knowledge and skills parallel to self-employment, I started to study "Digital Media" in Ulm. After finishing my bachelor's degree and working full time at the agency for a year, I wanted to acquire more knowledge. That's why I studied "Advanced Management" with a focus on "Information Management" at HNU. After completing my Master's degree and a year as a project manager in industry, I returned to HNU to support the development of the Institute for Service Management as a research assistant. Parallel to international research projects, the development of transfer formats, the acquisition of third-party funding and many other exciting tasks, I was able to work on my dissertation on the topic of "Operational Business-IT Alignment in Healthcare". After submitting my dissertation, I returned to industry. There, I was most recently responsible for the "Strategy & Development" area of the global IT of the Wieland Group. Among other things, I was responsible for the global IT project portfolio, business-IT alignment, advanced analytics and enabling colleagues to deal with digital innovations.

As a university lecturer in information management and part of the research team at the Institute for Service Management, my primary interest is in shaping the interplay between information technology, people, organization and society in a way that generates sustainable added value for as many people as possible and thus also for our economy. Currently, I am particularly interested in the technology-driven transformation of "professional services", especially healthcare services. In addition, I would like to devote more time in the future to issues surrounding digital innovations and innovators and their social responsibility – for example, how we can integrate human and machine problem-solving skills in a responsible and value-creating way. The findings from these and other research projects are incorporated into teaching at various points. I would divide my current courses and those planned for the coming semesters into the following three areas: (a) Foundations of Information Management, (b) Digital Innovations, especially in the service sector, and (c) Applied Research in Information Systems Research.

At the core, two passions: I am constantly on the lookout to learn new things and take great pleasure in imparting up-to-date knowledge.

Thinking tools, concepts and methods for the value-creating and responsible use of IT in organizations – from the basics of information management to digital innovations.

I received a very appreciative welcome. And yet the start was challenging. On the one hand, I only had a very short time to prepare for the start of lectures. On the other hand, I was infected with SARS-COV-2 shortly after the start of lectures. I didn't think that this virus would knock me out so quickly and that my body would need so much time to regenerate.

I like the dynamics at HNU and its great potential to encourage and challenge young people. In addition, HNU's profile fits me almost perfectly - an exciting mix of IT, communication, design, business administration, healthcare, theory, practice and entrepreneurship. What I like about the region is its down-to-earthness, work ethic and the many opportunities it offers. Also and especially for non-academics like me.

Spending time with my wife and our almost one-year-old daughter, youth work and sports. The latter preferably on the mountain bike or road bike, alternatively swimming or running.