220005 VO VERBE: VO DIGMAN Management of Digital Media (2025S)

The course "DIGMAN: Management of Digital Media" provides students with in-depth knowledge and practice-oriented skills for planning, developing, and managing digital platforms. A central component of the course is a simulation focused on designing a European social media platform to explore what digital sovereignty could mean for EU citizens. An example of an existing platform is the microblogging service Mastodon. The goal is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the requirements for building and operating a social media platform. This concept serves as a countermodel to dominant platforms by U.S. corporations such as Meta, Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple, as well as to centralized and state-controlled data ecosystems like the "Chinese model." The development focuses on integrating a platform into the "European Stack" of the EU, embodying democratic, privacy-friendly, and agile principles.

Goals:

Analytical and Strategic Thinking: Students will learn to analyze and address societal and technical challenges of digital platforms in a global context.

Competence in Agile Management Methods: Practical approaches to agile project and product management will be taught, focusing on Kanban and Scrum elements throughout the entire development cycle.

Technical and Practical Skills: Development of core competencies in Prompt Engineering with Artificial Intelligence, UX/UI processes, business development, and strategic platform design.

Critical Thinking: Reflection and discussion of various data governance models, such as centralized systems or democratic alternatives.

Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Encouragement of teamwork and communication within complex projects.

Content:

Introduction to digital sovereignty and the European context (e.g., European Stack, General Data Protection Regulation, EU AI Act, EU Acccessibility Act).

Basics and methods of agile management: Kanban, Scrum, and hybrid approaches.

The five stages of Design Thinking: from ideation to prototyping and market introduction.

Discussion of global data models: Comparison of the "Chinese model" of state-controlled data ecosystems with U.S. approaches to surveillance capitalism.

Designing a concept for an EU-compliant social media platform as a practice-oriented case study.

Methodology: The content will be delivered through a combination of interactive lectures, practice-oriented group work, and theoretical inputs. Theoretical foundations will be illustrated using concrete examples and best practices. Additionally, methods from agile management will be applied in small groups excercises and AI simulations.

Discussion and reflection play a central role. Students will work on a project task during specific sessions, which involves designing a European social media platform. They will critically engage with existing models and develop alternative approaches. Guest lectures from experts in practice (e.g., datenwerk, EU digital policy) and academia will provide a multidisciplinary perspective and deepen understanding of current developments.

The course creates a space for creative exchange, critical analysis, and practical applications, laying the foundation for independent work in interdisciplinary teams within the digital media industry.