Projects

Vilnius University is a classical university with over 430 years of academic traditions and the widest range of study programmes in Lithuania. The university offers an academic environment focused on excellence in research and teaching. 

Vilnius University is 1st in Lithuania according to national ranking. It is the most popular and most acknowledged higher education establishment among Lithuanian secondary school graduates. The student body of the University includes 21,000 students. Number of staff: 3769. 

Vilnius University is among 1,5 percent top universities in the world according to the QS World University Ranking. Besides strong academic profile contributing to the high rankings, Vilnius University is continuously innovating in education and knowledge dissemination. Relevant to this project, are four newly established open access centres for providing access to available research and laboratory equipment to students, researchers, private companies, and faculty of other universities. Another relevant novel development is the newly launched MSc program in Financial Technologies, which will directly contribute to and benefit from this project. 

Kaunas Faculty

Institute of Social Sciences and Applied Informatics 

Prof. Dr. hab. Vladislav V. Fomin has recently joined VU, bringing along a strong portfolio of research, teaching expertise, and project experience, including FP7, Erasmus+, National Science Council’s projects from USA, Finland, Denmark, and Lithuania. Vladislav Fomin holds Professor position at Vytautas Magnus University in Lithuania, Visiting Professor positions at the University of Latvia and La Rochelle Business School in France, and Principal Researcher position at Turiba University in Latvia. Prior academic positions were held at University of Jyväskylä, University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Copenhagen Business School, Delft University of Technology, Montpellier Business School, and Rotterdam School of Management.

Vladislav has over 90 scientific publications in journals, conferences, and as book chapters, including Information Systems Research, Technology Forecasting and Social Change, Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, Journal of Strategic Information Systems, Communications of the Association for Information Systems, and other. Conference publications and presentations include The International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS), European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS), Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS), Academy of Management (AOM), and other.

Vladislav’s research interests are in the fields of organizational innovation, digital infrastructure development, technology standards and standardisation, technology strategy and policy.

In BlockNet Project, Vladislav joins efforts with Doc. Dr. Saulius Masteika, who is the Expert of the National Agency of Science, Innovation and Technology (MITA) on blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and fintech innovation.

The University of Tartu (UT, www.ut.ee), located in the city of Tartu (second largest city in Estonia), is the most prestigious and comprehensive university in the country and one of the most respectable educational and research centres in Central an Eastern Europe. UT belongs to the top 2% of world’s best universities (QS World University Rankings & Times Higher Education World University Rankings). Founded in 1632, UT is organised into four faculties (social sciences, art & humanities, science & technology, and medicine), which are the home of more than 14000 students and 1900 scientists and academic staff (including 1300 international students from 90 countries). On average, the University awards 100 PhD degrees and university researchers publish about 3000 scientific articles annually. 

The Institute of Computer Science (www.cs.ut.ee) has a long-standing reputation of outstanding educational programs, enabling students to grow with and adapt to rapidly changing technologies. It is a research-oriented institution, comprising 6 scientific research groups, which are specialised in (i) data science, (ii) programming languages and systems, (iii) security and theoretical computer science, (iv) software engineering, (v) distributed systems, and (vi) natural language processing. Further, the Institute manages a portfolio of over around 130 courses covering the entire spectrum of computer science and information systems (e.g., software engineering, distributed systems, and security engineering). Overall, the institute’s mission is to prepare students to learn, discover, innovate, and apply new knowledge in computer science through a balanced program of cutting-edge research, effective teaching, and outreach and service.

Prof. Raimundas Matulevičius received his Ph.D. diploma from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in the computer and information science. Currently, he holds a Professor of Information Security position at the University of Tartu (Estonia). His research interests include security and privacy of information, security risk management and model-driven security. His publication record includes more than 80 articles published in the peer-reviewed journals, conference and workshops.  Matulevičius has been a program committee member at international conferences (e.g., REFSQ, PoEM, BPM and CAiSE). He is an author of a book on “Fundamentals of Secure System Modelling” (Springer, 2017).

TU Dortmund University (https://www.tu-dortmund.de/en/) has been researching and teaching at the global intersection between man, nature and technology since its foundation in 1968. It has developed a unique profile with a combination of faculties in the natural sciences and engineering, the social sciences and the humanities. The vibrant structure with about 34,500 students in 16 faculties as well as about 6,300 employees – among them 300 professors – produces new knowledge, methodologies, and technical innovations. This is achieved through a wide spectrum of innovative research and by offering 67 bachelor’s and master’s programs including a broad-based teacher training curriculum in at least 30 subjects. There are more than 3,900 foreign students at TU Dortmund from 115 countries, which highlights its international character. TU Dortmund University maintains cooperation agreements with numerous universities all over the world, for instance in the United States, Great Britain, France, Spain, South Africa, China or Latin America. Furthermore, the university is a member of exchange organizations such as ISEP (International Student Exchange Program) and the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) and of course takes part in the European exchange program ERASMUS+. The university itself is located in the Ruhr region, one of the industrial centers of Germany, and has strong links to all major German as well as to a number of European companies.

The Chair of Enterprise Logistics (http://www.lfo.tu-dortmund.de/) at the faculty of Mechanical Engineering at TU Dortmund University can now look upon more than 45 years of experience and success. It stands for both theoretical and applied research and teaching in the fields of Enterprise Logistics and Supply Chain Management. Therefore we offer 15 lectures dealing with topics from the major fields of Logistics Management, Industrial Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. The international orientation and commitment of the Chair for both students and teachers will be a future priority. Within the framework of the ERASMUS scholarship approx. 60 students per year have the opportunity to study abroad at one of the 34 partner universities in Europe. Furthermore, the Chair has built strong ties to international universities such as the Georgia Institute of Technology, the Tongji University and the Stellenbosch University that are currently in the process of reconstruction and expansion. In return, an average of about 20 foreign students each year is supervised by the Chair of Enterprise Logistics during their studies in Dortmund. As the founding Chair of the Graduate School of Logistics – a unique institution based on the concept of a solely third-party funded doctoral program – since 2009, the Chair of Enterprise Logistics is highly engaged in scientific counseling of industry sponsored Ph.D. students. In collaboration with notable German enterprises, the Chair strengthens cooperative interdisciplinary research concerning recent topics in logistics and Supply Chain Management as well as promotes the intensive exchange between science and practice. The interest in and passion for the ongoing development and transmission of new knowledge to enhance the competitiveness in production, procurement and logistics unites the staff of the Chair. The TU Dortmund University in close cooperation with the Fraunhofer IML is building up and further developing Blockchain related education and research as integrated part of Supply Chain Management and as a driver for Cooperation of enterprises in the industry 4.0 environment.

Univ. Prof. Dr. habil. Michael Henke holds the chair of Enterprise Logistics at the faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the TU Dortmund University and completes the board of directors of Fraunhofer IML. His research focuses lie among others on the area of e.g. Management of the Industry 4.0, Blockchain Technology and Smart Contracts, Purchasing and Supply Management, Supply Chain Risk Management and Financial Supply Chain Management. Prof. Henke published both in leading academic journals and in practitioner handbooks and holds an adjunct professorship for Supply Chain Management at Lappeenranta University of Technology in Finland, as well as a guest professorship for Strategic Sourcing and Procurement at Louvain School of Management in Belgium.

Univ. Prof. Dr. habil. Michael Henke
Head of Chair, Chair of Enterprise Logistics
TU Dortmund University
Germany