OFFIS - the Institute for Computing Science - was founded 25 years ago. Since then, the affiliated Institute has developed rapidly. In this interview, CEO Wolfgang Nebel talks about what has been and what will be.
QUESTION: OFFIS was founded 25 years ago - how do you think the world has changed since then?
NEBEL: Let's take an example from my own academic appointment: I still remember one of the first meetings of the OFFIS Advisory Board very clearly. That was in 1993. We drove up in a VW bus, but we already had a mobile phone with us. In a clunky suitcase format. We never actually used it to make calls. But we were aware of its symbolic power. The mobile phone was a status symbol that signalled: "We are innovative, visionary and always there for you! Today, mobile phones are a "personal device" with apps for all situations in life that everyone carries with them at all times. They are synonymous with technologies that have changed our lives. We are integrated into networks, communicate more non-verbally and are always available. On the one hand, this creates many new degrees of freedom, both privately and in our academic appointments, and promotes social interaction. On the other hand, it creates new constraints. We are becoming unfree, as the previously natural boundary between work and leisure time is becoming increasingly blurred. The new, permanent contact opportunities are becoming both an enrichment and a burden. A good example of the rapid change in our living conditions, driven by technological progress.
QUESTION: As one of the drivers of this progress, how has OFFIS itself fared over the last 25 years?
NEBEL: The development of OFFIS can best be described as a continuous upward trend - measured in terms of employee and turnover figures. Two things have been particularly successful: on the one hand, maintaining and expanding core competences and, on the other, being agile and flexible enough to open up new, promising fields of IT application. Let's take the example of the energy transition. It doesn't just work by building photovoltaic or biogas plants. The right infrastructure is crucial. Keyword "smart grid": we need an intelligent power grid that makes the energy supply more efficient through the interaction of generation, storage, grid management and consumption in an overall system. My colleagues at OFFIS - above all Hans-Jürgen Appelrath, Sebastian Lehnhoff and Michael Sonnenschein - identified this as an important information technology topic at an early stage. They also helped with the necessary political persuasion. It is now widely recognised that IT is a necessary key to the intelligent control of such a complicated energy supply network.
QUESTION: How much has the long-standing CEO Hans-Jürgen Appelrath shaped OFFIS?
NEBEL: Very much! As a founding member and leading figure, he was instrumental in the development and expansion of the Institute - he was therefore synonymous with OFFIS for a long time. With his flair for new topics, his rigour in implementation and his excellent networking, he shaped the Institute's special dynamic over 13 years as Chairman of the Board and a total of 25 years on the Board. And he continues to do so, as Jürgen Appelrath is still very active for OFFIS in the areas of energy and health as well as on the Board of Directors, a valued advisor and dear friend.
QUESTION: What is the actual relationship between the university and OFFIS?
NEBEL: The development of OFFIS has always been supported by the university in a very favourable and trusting manner. Both see the win-win situation: on the one hand, many professors at the university are able to become involved in OFFIS in addition to their original duties at the university. On the other hand, the university benefits from the attractive environment and network that our Institute offers students, research assistants and staff, graduates and doctoral candidates. Together, we have managed to put Oldenburg firmly and visibly on the map of Computing Science in Germany. My dream is that we will one day have a similar reputation as a Computing Science location and university city as the supposedly provincial St. Gallen has today in the field of economics.
QUESTION: The energy, health and transport sectors are the focus of your Institute's applications. What overlaps do you see?
NEBEL: The biggest common denominator for us is, of course, IT, but you can also look at it in much more detail: What are the biggest scientific challenges in terms of Computing Science? At OFFIS, we have a total of six competence centres, each of which looks at the three sectors in their own way. For example, there is the topic of the human-machine interface. How do people interact with machines - in an automated car, for example? Or in the health sector: how can I provide a navigation system for blind people, for example? Completely different modes of communication are required here, such as tactile interfaces that vibrate. In the energy sector: how can I present a complex supply system in such a way that the operator of a network control centre can work with it - here, too, it's a question of the human-machine interface.
To give another example: The topic of safety is also an important cross-sectional task, which we map via our own Competence Centre. Safety is a decisive factor in automated driving. With computers, you can accept weaknesses here and there - the PC crashes, blue screen, it can happen. In traffic, on the other hand, there is no tolerance; everything has to work at all times and in real time. Otherwise it will be a disaster. The same applies to energy supply or medical devices. These are all highly safety-critical systems in which IT plays a crucial role.
QUESTION: Over the past 25 years, the range of expertise and the organisation of OFFIS have been constantly scrutinised and optimised. What were the milestones?
NEBEL: OFFIS has grown organically. It all started in 1991 with a very small nucleus. A few employees who - similar to the university - were strongly focussed on their professors. OFFIS then continued to grow. During this phase, the department heads were added. These were particularly experienced scientists, usually with a doctorate. At that time, the basic orientation was still classically orientated towards the core topics of Computing Science and less towards industries and applications. This was to change in 2008. With six divisions, OFFIS had already grown enormously. It was becoming increasingly difficult to clearly communicate what we actually stood for. How do I explain in three sentences what OFFIS actually does? And how can we better utilise our own synergies? A clear positioning was needed - even at the risk that this would entail considerable structural changes. Our approach at this point was actually quite simple: we are a transfer and application-orientated research institute - so let's take a look at which applications are particularly important to us. What are we particularly good at? Where do we have the best networks? In which areas do we best understand the concerns and grades of our partners? The bottom line was the three application sectors of energy, health and transport - and at the same time the biggest organisational change in the history of OFFIS.
QUESTION: The digitalisation of our society is leading to drastic changes. Are we on the brink of the next technological revolution?
NEBEL: The word revolution always sounds very dramatic. It sounds like rapid change. But that's often not the case - after all, the French Revolution took 30 years. If the term revolution primarily describes significant effects on society and the economy, then my answer is a resounding yes. The buzzword "big data" is a good illustration of this. The availability of all kinds of data is already turning the world upside down. Let me give you the example of Uber. Uber is the largest taxi company in the world without its own vehicles. Traditional taxi companies have been "wiped out" virtually overnight, so the rules of the game have already changed massively, and this is just the beginning.
QUESTION: What is your vision for OFFIS as Chairman of the Board?
NEBEL: That OFFIS continues to grow. Because the opportunities and challenges presented by the dynamics of Computing Science and its applications require us to act responsibly. This requires knowledge and education, both in terms of technological developments and their economic, societal and social impact. OFFIS is already the largest IT Institute in Lower Saxony, but compared to the rest of Germany, Lower Saxony still has some catching up to do. I therefore firmly believe that OFFIS will be given the opportunity to continue to flourish. This would be desirable in the form of joint funding from the federal and state governments - in other words, through inclusion in one of the major scientific institutions. As far as our topics are concerned, we will be even more interdisciplinary in future. That's the way it has to be, after all, Computing Science is increasingly permeating all areas of people's lives. In order to understand this better, we need to have the appropriate contacts and enter into further co-operations. Which areas will that be? Industry 4.0 is certainly one topic. Others will be added and will gain in importance: for example, energy and healthcare, mobility issues and increasingly intelligent cities and regions.
Interview: Volker Sandmann
