Digitization officer dedicates herself to new challenges

After two and a half years,digitalization officer Manuela Meyer is leaving the city administration of Jena. Manuela Meyer played a pioneeringrole in developing the strategyfor thelarge-scale Smart City Jena funding project , drove forward the founding of Jena Digital e.V. and was involved in the application process for the JenErgieReal project.In addition, she was able to make the Jena Smart City project known far beyond the city limitsthrough her regional and national network, specialist lectures and public appearances. In particular, cooperation with scientific institutions in Jena such as the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, the German Aerospace Center, the Ernst Abbe University of Applied Sciences, other Smart City model project cities and partners from business, culture and education has been intensified in recent years. Ithas also been able to represent the Smart City project well at federal level.

Dr. Thomas Nitzsche: "Manuela Meyer has formed a very well-functioning team in the Smart City project over the past two and a half years. She has presented a Smart City strategy developed with broad public participation , which will be implemented over the next four years. In addition, thanks to her expertise, networking and experience , she has provided strategic impetus for digitalization in the city administration and initiated important projects. I would like to thank her for her work and wish her continued success inher new role ."

With her expertise, Ms Meyer will remain in Jena, as she will be responsible for the further development and implementation of the existing digital strategy of the ZEISS High-Tech Site Jena (HTSJ) as Head ofDigitalization from 01.04.2023. One component of her new role will be theintegration of the Smart City project and the 5Gtraffic project into the existing strategy. In addition, her role as interface coordinator between Carl Zeiss AG and external institutions will continue to generate synergiesthat are of great importance for the digitalizationof the HTSJ. Therewill also be a lively exchange with the city administration of Jenain the future.

Benjamin Koppe, the department head responsible for digitization: "Manuela Meyer has significantly advanced and shapedthe digital transformation of our citythrough her work and good networking in urban society . We would like to thank Ms. Meyer for her dedicated work. At the same time, we are delighted that her new position at ZEISS will also create numerous overlaps in our joint work in the future."

Dorothea Prell, overall project manager of the "5G Traffic Networking" project, will take over Ms. Meyer's previous tasks as the new Smart City Officer from 01.04.2023. Dorothea Prell helped set up the city's staff unit for digitalization and was involved in the development of the Smart City project application. This will ensure a smooth transition in project management.