for Information Systems
and Digital Innovation
Photo: UHH/Denstorf
24 July 2025
An English version of the German article: https://www.bwl.uni-hamburg.de/ueber-die-fakultaet/aktuelles/2025/0724-time.html
In the summer semester of 2025, participants in the Digital Innovation Lab at the University of Hamburg impressively demonstrated how digital technologies can contribute to solving societal challenges.
The Digital Innovation Lab at the University of Hamburg, headed by Prof. Dr. Jan Recker, offers a practice-oriented teaching format for master's students in business administration.
The focus is on developing digital innovations that address specific social or environmental challenges.
The students work in interdisciplinary teams on a problem of their own choice based on the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Over the semester, they go through the entire innovation process – from problem definition and design to the development of a functioning prototype.
We are pleased to present the solutions developed this semester:
Project 1: FocusFritz – Smart support for productive learning
Under the title “focusFritz,” Valentin, Robin, Jonah, and Kalle developed a digital solution to optimize the learning environment for school and university students. With the help of environmental sensors and a user-friendly app, learners can track their learning phases and receive real-time feedback on room climate, noise levels, and lighting conditions. The aim is to promote productivity and well-being while learning – a practical aid that makes invisible stress factors visible, especially during stressful exam periods.
We wish the focusFritz team all the best in the further development of their project.
Project 2: SpaceScout – Intelligent seat and room management
In the second group, Vanessa, Soner, Dilara, and Jiawei recognized the challenge of limited study space and inefficient room utilization at universities. With “SpaceScout,” they developed a smart room reservation system that uses IoT sensors to record the actual use of seminar rooms. A web and mobile app shows students available rooms in real time and can even detect “ghost bookings” – rooms that have been reserved but are not being used. This allows existing resources to be used more efficiently and reduces waiting times. The solution thus makes an important contribution to sustainable campus management and better study quality. A short video has been provided to present the project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypAhBPYLyjU&t=1s
The students designed their solution as an open-source project to enable interested parties to use and further develop it.
We would like to thank all students for their active participation in the Digital Innovation Lab. Both projects show how digital innovation can be implemented in a practical way. The Digital Innovation Lab thus remains a showcase project for practice-oriented, sustainable higher education. If you are interested in contacting the project groups or in the Digital Innovation Lab, please feel free to contact the Chair of Information Systems and Digital Innovation (isdi-teamassistenz.bwl@uni-hamburg.de).