Kassel/Meseberg. On 3 September 2018, the German government's "Future Discussion" on new forms of employment in the age of digitalization took place in the baroque Meseberg Palace near Berlin. Also present: Prof. Dr. Jan Marco Leimeister, Head of the Department of Information Systems and Director of the Scientific Center for IT Design at the University of Kassel. As a crowdsourcing expert recognized throughout Germany, Leimeister was invited to give a keynote speech and to be available for discussion with the members of the Federal Cabinet.

The discussion on the future, which was also attended by the chairmen of the four largest employers' associations and the chairmen of the four largest trade unions in Germany, focused on the digitalization of the world of work and crowdsourcing as a new form of work organization. In particular, the focus was on the question of how paid work can be organized in such a way that it is fair for everyone involved and also takes into account the long-term effects of such employment relationships. At the same time, their importance for the work of the future and Germany's competitiveness as the largest economy in Europe and the fourth largest economy in the world was discussed. Professor Leimeister was on hand to answer the ministers' questions with his broad expertise and many years of experience in this field.

"Crowd mechanisms are increasingly finding their way into external and internal company processes and play an important role in shaping new forms of digital work," said Leimeister. In order not to fall behind leading economies such as the USA in this area, it is necessary to deal with the design of this new form of work organization at an early stage. At the same time, potential risks for society and social systems must be effectively countered in good time. "I am very pleased to have made my small contribution to this success by advising the federal government and the social partners at the future discussion in Meseberg."

"It is a great honor for us to have Jan Marco Leimeister, a colleague whose expertise on a topic that is so important for the future of our country is so highly valued, invited by the German government to its future discussion on digital change in the world of work," said Professor Dr. Reiner Finkeldey, President of the University of Kassel. "It also underlines once again that our university is one of the leading universities in Germany in the field of business informatics," concludes Finkeldey.

About Jan Marco Leimeister:

Professor Dr. Jan Marco Leimeister (44) is Head of the Department of Information Systems and Director at the Scientific Center for Information Technology Design (ITeG) at the University of Kassel. He is also Full Professor of Information Systems and Director of the Institute for Information Systems (IWI HSG) at the University of St.Gallen. His research focuses on digital business, digital transformation, service research, crowdsourcing, digital work, collaboration engineering and IT innovation management. He teaches in various executive education programs on these topics.

Professor Leimeister studied (Dipl. oec.) and received his doctorate (Dr. oec.) at the University of Hohenheim (Stuttgart) and habilitated at the Technical University of Munich. Research stays have taken him to the University of Maryland, Columbia University, University of Queensland, University of California, Berkeley and Harvard University, among others.

He has received several international awards for his research and teaching achievements, including the TUM Research Excellence Award in 2010 and the AIS Award for Innovation in Teaching in 2016. The Handelsblatt has regularly ranked him among the top 1% of the most research-intensive German-speaking business administration professors (out of over 2,500 participants) since the business administration research ranking was established in 2009. According to a Research Scholar Ranking published by the Association for Information Systems (AIS), Jan Marco Leimeister is also one of the top 25 leading researchers in this discipline worldwide based on publications from 2015-2017 in the eight most important information systems journals.

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Sebastian Mense Volkmar Mrass

Press Officer Research Associate

University of Kassel University of Kassel / ITeG

Department of Communication, Department of Information Systems

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