This page contains automatically translated content.

05/17/2021 | Pressemitteilung

Walter Blocher is the new CIO

In March 2021, Prof. Dr. Dr. Walter Blocher succeeded Prof. Dr. Alexander Roßnagel as the new CIO (Chief Information Officer) of the University of Kassel.

Image: Sonja Rode/Light Catch.
Prof. Dr. Dr. Walter Blocher, CIO of the University of Kassel and Head of the Department of Civil Law, Corporate Law and Information Law.

The CIO steers university-wide development in the area of technical information management in coordination with the Presidential Board. He chairs the CIO committee, which coordinates the university's central institutions involved in technical information management, taking into account data protection and information security issues, the Commission for Information Management (for the strategic coordination of technical information management with the departments) and, together with Chancellor Dr. Oliver Fromm, the steering committee for the central digitization projects. In the future, he will be supported by the Digital Transformation Office.

Blocher has headed the Department of Civil Law, Corporate Law and Information Law at the University of Kassel's Faculty 07 since 2006. He is spokesperson for the Blockchain-Center.eu at the University of Kassel, which was launched in 2016, chairman of the board of the German Society for Law and Informatics, and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for Digital Transformation at AOK Nordost.

"The COVID-19 pandemic made it surprisingly clear how important digital literacy has become for most social contexts. Thus, it proved immensely helpful that the University of Kassel has built up relevant know-how and appropriate structures over the last decade," says Blocher. "Digital teaching and learning environments and new forms of digital work will continue to be the focus of the University of Kassel's development. They are intended to complement and support the face-to-face encounters that are essential for our university, so that we can make the most of the valuable time spent researching, learning and working together. I would like to accompany the University of Kassel on this path and, together with my highly motivated colleagues in the field of technical information management and from the departments, do my utmost to ensure that as many university members as possible experience the digital transformation as an opportunity to develop their creative potential even more fully."

"I am pleased that with Prof. Blocher we have succeeded in finding a worthy successor to Prof. Roßnagel for this important position, whom I would like to thank for his many years of work as CIO. He has been instrumental in bringing the new governance structures created in 2010 to life and has initiated and supported the digital transformation of the University of Kassel in key areas such as campus management, the introduction of e-examinations, the restructuring of the IT Service Center and the initiation of major projects that are now underway. Prof. Blocher will continue to drive this development and the digital transformation at our university so that all university members benefit from this potential," says university president Prof. Reiner Finkeldey.

Roßnagel was appointed the first CIO of the University of Kassel in 2010. He held this office continuously until February 2021. As a senior professor, he continues to head the Department of Public Law with a focus on the law of technology and environmental protection at the University of Kassel. At the beginning of March 2021, he took office as the Hessian Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information.

 

Press contact:

Christine Graß
University of Kassel
Communications, Press and Public Relations
Tel.: +49 561 804-1961
E-mail: presse[at]uni-kassel[dot]de
www.uni-kassel.de