From September 17 to 18, the University of Münster will host the second bootcamp of the EU-funded CURATE project. The bootcamp will be led by Prof. Tobias Brandt and Shariga Sivanathan from the Chair of Digital Innovation and the Public Sector. The aim of the project is to strengthen students from various European countries in their entrepreneurial and in dealing with artificial intelligence. 

Around 70 students from the partner universities Haaga-Helia (Finland), MCI The Entrepreneurial School (Austria), Université Côte d'Azur (France) und Technical University of Košice (Slovakia) are expected to attend the bootcamp, accompanied by coaches and experts. At the heart of the event are the challenge pitches, where the teams will present their solutions.

Over the past months, the participants have worked in international teams on practice-oriented challenges set by companies, focusing on the use of AI and digital technologies. At the bootcamp, the students will present their results as the project concludes.

A pre-pitch training will support the students in sharpening their presentation skills and delivering their results convincingly. In this way, the bootcamp not only serves as a platform for innovative ideas, but also as a hands-on learning environment in which young talents can demonstrate their skills in an international setting. 

The paper “The Open Prison of the Big Data Revolution: False Consciousness, Faustian Bargains, and Digital Entrapment” written by Ojelanki Ngwenyama, Frantz Rowe, Stefan Klein (long-time member of our department and recent retiree), and Helle Zinner Henriksen, was awarded the ISR Best Paper Award 2025. The paper addresses the fact that, while some scholars warn of the social harms caused by Big Data practices, there is a little critical social theory (CST) Information Systems research has been conducted into the structures and dynamics that drive these practices.

In this research, the authors examine how tech firms strategically shape social practices and platform design to encourage individuals to accept datafication and data assetization. While these strategies create positive network effects for companies, they often produce negative outcomes for individuals – including privacy violations, economic loss, and reduced freedom.

Drawing on the work of Heidegger and Marcuse, the paper introduces concepts such as false consciousness, digital entrapment, and Faustian bargains to explain how people become socially conditioned into a digital habitus and identify as homo digitalis, seeing all their social and economic relations as digital. The study uses the case of Microsoft Viva to illustrate how even everyday digital tools can shape reality and tether users to platforms, creating what the authors call an open prison.

The paper offers both a critique of the Big Data paradigm and a research agenda aimed at understanding and addressing the social consequences of these practices. It encourages further research into solutions that can reduce digital entrapment and protect freedom, privacy, and individual agency in the digital age.

The full paper can be found here.

In part 20 of the Alumni Stories, we feature Dr. Maik Lindner, who studied Information Systems at the University of Münster, where he also earned his doctorate. After completing his academic training, his career first took him to SAP in Belfast, followed by further positions in international technology companies such as Virtustream and TidalScale. Today, as Chief Information Security Officer and Innovation Lead at the U.S.-based health-tech company OMNY Health, he is responsible for the strategic development of security architectures and the implementation of innovative technologies in healthcare.

In Teil 20 der Alumni Stories porträtieren wir Dr. Maik Lindner, der an der Universität Münster Wirtschaftsinformatik studierte und dort auch promovierte. Nach seiner akademischen Ausbildung führte ihn sein Weg zunächst zu SAP nach Belfast, später zu weiteren Stationen in internationalen Technologieunternehmen wie Virtustream und TidalScale. Heute verantwortet er als Chief Information Security Officer und Innovation Lead beim US-amerikanischen Health-Tech-Unternehmen OMNY Health die strategische Weiterentwicklung von Sicherheitsarchitekturen und den Einsatz innovativer Technologien im Gesundheitswesen.