Chair of Public & Nonprofit Management

The Digilog project, Digital Transformation at the Local Level of Government, has been successfully completed. The project concluded with the tri-national conference of the Swiss, German, and Austrian Societies for Public Administration, held under the patronage of Swiss Federal Chancellor Viktor Rossi.

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping how cities and regions deliver public services, manage infrastructure, and engage with citizens. Alongside its benefits, it raises important questions around privacy, human rights, and democratic accountability.

The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe has adopted our report on AI developed by the DIGILOG team, offering a practical foundation for addressing these challenges.

As part of a research project, the impact of the FLEX:Unit in the state capital Kiel on workload and work outcomes is being investigated. During a visit to Kiel, the results of the exploratory pilot phase were presented.

Jakob Kühler, Nicolas Drathschmidt, and Daniela Großmann have published a book chapter for 'Agiles Arbeiten im öffentlichen Sektor' (Agile Working in the Public Sector). The chapter is titled "Ich tue, also bin ich? Facetten und Auswirkungen von Agilität auf öffentliche Organisationen".

With her project, 'The Deployment of Flexible Work Teams in the Public Sector – How Organizational Socialization Proceeds in Flexible Public Administration Deployment Teams, and How Employees Develop a Sense of Belonging and Role Identity During Their Assignments,' Luise Renneke is among the recipients of the September 2025 Explorer Grant.

The Chair of Public and Nonprofit Management participated in the research symposium in Lund titled 'Local Governments in Times of Transition – lessons from Sweden and Germany.' The academic exchange focused on comparative analyses of transformation processes and administrative adaptation strategies in German and Swedish local governments.

At the Federal Ministry of Finance's 2025 Tax Forum, Prof. Proeller presented key findings from our study “Flexible, digital, well paid?! How the public sector retains its employees” in the panel discussion “Generation Z in tax administration.”

In her presentation, "AI in Local Government: Building, Utilizing, and Assessing Skills," Prof. Proeller presented three key findings: Cooperation with external partners is crucial, smart cities and AI in government are empirically two separate discourses, onflicting requirements often lead to incremental solutions.