The English-taught Master's degree program of Enterprise and IT Security (ENITS) builds and expands on the existing Bachelor’s degree program of Unternehmens- und IT-Sicherheit (UNITS) at Hochschule Offenburg. The program is also open, however, to graduates of other Bachelor's degree programs with some background in computer science and IT security. "Besides the technical side of hardening IT systems, the ENITS program focuses on the organizational and legal aspects of enterprise protection in terms of IT infrastructure," explains ENITS Program Director, Professor Dirk Westhoff. This interdisciplinary approach to IT security currently makes ENITS unique among comparable Master’s programs in Germany and will give graduates an edge for their future careers.
"The ever growing demand for IT-security specialists in light of alarming cyber-crime activities, which are increasingly affecting small- and medium-sized companies as well, has propelled the state of Baden-Württemberg to endow Offenburg with a further professorship in the area of technical information security," Westhoff says.
Cooperative R&D projects and final theses will practically prepare students for their future work in companies. The Federal Office for Information Security has lauded the creation of the program and may also provide cooperation by means of offering block courses or supervising thesis research work.
Another serious challenge of our time is the sustained supply of a growing world population with enough energy. This requires not only a fundamental transition of the energy sector on a global scale, but also well trained engineers to steer these change processes, stresses Professor Peter Treffinger, Director of the new Master’s degree program of Power and Data Engineering (PDE) at Hochschule Offenburg. Starting with the 2017/18 winter semester, and like ENITS taught in English, the main objective of the program is to meet this very demand for energy experts.
"It is a pioneering study program in the way it combines energy engineering with information and communication technology," Treffinger explains. Increasingly, electrical energy, thermal and process heat are supplied through many smaller, decentralized systems based on renewable energies. A growing number of both private and commercial consumers are installing local energy management systems with energy storages to optimize their supply. These systems are connected to distribution grids, allowing for the compensation of energy surpluses and shortages, first on a local level, then on a wider scale with the help of transmission networks that can transport energy sources further.
As a result, however, more and more IT expertise is required to connect the many different plants as well as their agents. "We will supply the experts that are necessary for the communication of the different stakeholders in this emerging system,” Treffinger says.