Many thanks and best wishes for their retirement to Professors Böhm, Spangenberg and Wagenknecht and a warm welcome to the deputy professors Ullrich, Scheder and Bartusiak

Digitalization, artificial intelligence and the knowledge society are buzzwords on everyone's lips and, in addition to their general media presence, now affect all sectors and areas of life. They are firmly associated with innovation, progress and efficiency as well as hopes for their usefulness in solving the most difficult problems of global significance - for example in the areas of energy, resource conservation and climate protection - as digitalization promises the urgently needed decoupling of prosperity and growth from ever-increasing energy and resource consumption: green technologies are also digital!

Computer science and IT technologies are therefore the beacon of hope for several generations and offer an attractive field of activity with impact for a young generation that does not accept the status quo and wants to actively take the future into its own hands and shape it - and probably has to. Computer science is an important driver of transformation due to the constant emergence of new technologies, but it also enables the implementation of important and necessary transformation processes like no other discipline. In particular, it opens up broad opportunities for individuals to shape transformation and change. Modern technologies such as cloud computing, for example, make it possible to develop and operate digital services and infrastructures with small teams for potentially millions of users - intelligent solutions for the society of today - and tomorrow. The old image of the lone programmer has become obsolete - it is all about creativity, teamwork and collaboration with the customer and, increasingly, the responsible consideration of social standards and values in the design of software solutions and digital services.

This new, versatile and transformative computer science is also enjoying great popularity as a field of study and, according to a recent Statista survey, is currently the second most popular course of study behind business administration - and the trend is rising, especially here in Upper Lusatia!

The Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences has been offering computer science in its various facets since it was founded, i.e. for over 30 years now - initially as a diploma course, later as a Bachelor's and Master's degree in computer science and finally also in combination with specializations and other subjects, such as the degree course in business and computer science. This means that you can combine the two current top fields of study if required! At our university, we have always made sure that computer science education is broadly implemented under the heading "General Computer Science". After all, you want to remain flexible, especially at the beginning of your studies, and get to know the facets of the subject first. This approach has proved successful - the computer science graduates from the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences are comprehensively trained and have been working very successfully in the IT industry in the region and beyond for decades!

Now it is easy to talk (or write) about the benefits of the discipline, transformative processes and intelligent IT solutions - but it is more difficult to develop these solutions and to inspire and empower people to do so! For decades, colleagues Böhm, Spangenberg and Wagenknecht have done no less than this through their continuous and comprehensive commitment and their expertise in teaching and research, initially for the Department of Computer Science and later for the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at our university: To accompany young people on their way from school and high school to becoming professional IT specialists, to live and impart the necessary tools of the trade in the IT context and in its breadth and depth, continuously taking into account the ongoing change and progress in the discipline itself, while also giving young students their own motivation and enjoyment of the subject, the technologies and their possibilities in application.

The Department of Computer Science, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the university are deeply indebted to the retiring colleagues for their many years of commitment to teaching and research. In particular, we wish our former colleagues continued enjoyment of computer science and everything that is interesting and important in their new phase of life, and would like to take this opportunity to send them our warmest regards!

The baton has now been passed to the three deputy professors Dr. Markus Ullrich for Hardware and Computer Engineering, Dr. Dominik Scheder for Theoretical Computer Science, Algorithms and Data Structures and Adam Bartusiak, M.Sc. for Networks, Distributed Systems and IT Security. We extend a warm welcome to our new colleagues and look forward to the good cooperation that has been going on for several months now! We are particularly pleased about the spirit of innovation, new content and the breath of fresh air that such a generational change brings to the entire field of computer science.

After the coronavirus years, 2022 was a year of new beginnings for computer science at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences! We are looking forward to what lies ahead - the future generations of students that we will educate, international initiatives in research and teaching, cooperation with new research institutions in the region such as the German Center for Astrophysics and the Casus Institute, interesting joint projects and the curiosity about the possibilities of computer science that will continue to be lived in the future, the innovative solutions to problems through their application and the joint implementation of the aforementioned transformations that computer science makes possible!

For 2023, we wish our current - and future - students, the faculty and university staff, our alumni and, of course, all those interested in and enthusiastic about computer science all the best! It is our task to use and further develop digital technologies in the best possible way to shape a positive future worth living!