Dr.  Daniel Heinz, M.Sc.

Dr. Daniel Heinz, M.Sc.

  • Kaiserstr. 89
    76133 Karlsruhe

Activities

Daniel Heinz is Research Lab Lead of the Digital Service Design & Innovation Lab at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). He has been part of Gerhard Satzger’s Digital Service Innovation (DSI) group at WIN/Karlsruhe Service Research Institute (KSRI) since 2020 and completed his PhD at KIT in December 2025 (summa cum laude). From October to December 2022, he was a Visiting Researcher at The University of Queensland with Christoph Breidbach. Within the Association for Information Systems (AIS) community, he serves on the leadership board of AIS SIG Services (currently President-Elect; President term begins April 2026) and previously held roles including Treasurer and Marketing & Communications Chair. He studied Industrial Engineering and Management at KIT, including a semester abroad at Queensland University of Technology (QUT).

Research Focus

  • Smart Service Systems & B2B Service Ecosystems: Analysis and design of industrial IoT-enabled smart services, with a focus on technological affordances, multi-actor value co-creation, and methodological guidance for B2B contexts
  • Human-AI Collaboration & Assistants in Innovation and Services: Study and design of AI-based assistants (including GenAI) and hybrid human-AI work arrangements in entrepreneurial coaching, innovation processes, and professional service episodes.
  • Digital Transformation & Legacy Reconfiguration: Investigation of how incumbent firms pursue digital transformation by reconfiguring legacy enterprise systems and establishing the organizational routines and governance required for change. 
  • Data Ecosystems & Data Sharing: Design of data ecosystems, platforms, and marketplaces, including inter-organizational data sharing processes, governance mechanisms, and approaches to data asset valuation.
  • Digital Sustainability & Circular Economy: Design of digital industrial platforms and data infrastructures (e.g., digital product passports) to support circular economy practices – such as traceability, resource efficiency, and material recovery.

Projects

  • SHAPE: Service Orchestration for Engineering and Piloting in Ecosystems (www.shape-hub.de)
  • ZirkulEA: Circularity of the electric powertrain through intelligent disassembly and traceability (go.wiwi.kit.edu/zirkulEA)
  • bi.smart: Integrated Design of Smart Product-Service Systems in SMEs (www.bismart.info(completed)
  • Data Literacy and Data Science for SMEs: Education and Qualification (www.dataakademie.de(completed)
  • BigDieMo: Development of a Systematic Toolbox to Design Big Data services (www.bigdiemo.de(completed)

Teaching

  • Digital Services: Innovation and Business Models (2023, 2024, 2025, 2026)
  • Digital Services at HECTOR School (2024, 2025, 2026)
  • Student Innovation Lab (lecture on Digital Business Models in the course of 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25)
  • Service Design Thinking (lecture on Digital Business Models in the course of 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25)
  • Team-Project Management and Technology (2022)
  • Digital Services: Business Models and Transformation (2020/21, 2021/22)
  • Service Design Thinking (coaching of one student team in the courses of 2021/22)
  • Coaching 15+ Bachelor and Master students in their thesis projects (since 2021)

Scholarships & Awards

  • Best Paper Award 2nd Runner-Up at the International Conference Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI 2025)
  • Best Associate Editor Nominee (WI 2025)
  • Best Associate Editor (ECIS 2025)
  • Best Paper Award Nominee at the International Conference Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI 2023, first author)
  • Best Paper Award 1st Runner-Up at the International Conference Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI 2022, first author)
  • KHYS Research Travel Grant for an international research stay (2022)
  • Scholar of the “Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes” (2018 – 2021)
  • First Place in the Industrial Data Science Challenge at KSRI (2020)
  • Funding of the KIT Exchange Program for a semester abroad (2018)

If you are interested in writing a Bachelor or Master thesis, feel free to contact me at anytime.

Publications


2026
Journal Articles
Backcasting the Future of the Automotive Industry: Leveraging Digital Technologies for the Circular Economy
Sagnier Eckert, L.; Finner, A.-S.; Heinz, D.; Satzger, G.
2026. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 58 Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document
2025
Book Chapters
Digital Service Innovation for Sustainable Development: A Systematic Literature Review
Heinz, D.; Hu, M.; Benz, C.; Satzger, G.
2025. Transforming the Digitally Sustainable Enterprise – Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik, Paderborn, Germany, 2023, Vol. 3. Ed.: D. Beverungen, 167–185, Springer Nature Switzerland. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-80125-9_10
Conference Papers
Bridging Corporate Claims and Public Perception: Real-Time Validation of ESG Initiatives with Social-Media Analytics
Mishra, N.; Diener, M.; Heinz, D.; Spitzer, P.; Cudré-Mauroux, P.
2025. ICIS 2025 - Forty-Sixth International Conference on Information Systems, Nashville, Tennessee, USA, 14th-17th December 2025, Art.Nr.: 1854, ICIS Publ. doi:10.5445/IR/1000185981Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document
Designing Digital Service Innovation Hubs: An Ecosystem Perspective on the Challenges and Requirements of SMEs and the Public Sector
Schäfer, J. M.; Liebschner, J.; Rajko, P.; Cohnen, H.; Lugmair, N.; Heinz, D.
2025. Proceedings of 20th International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI 2025) Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document
Actor-Value Constellations in Circular Ecosystems
Sagnier Eckert, L.; Fassnacht, M.; Heinz, D.; Alamo Alonso, S.; Satzger, G.
2025. Proceedings of 20th International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI 2025), 15 S Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document
2024
Conference Papers
Designing Digital Industrial Platforms for the Circular Economy: A Requirements Catalog
Heinz, D.; Fassnacht, M.; Röhrleef, J.; Sagnier Eckert, L.; Satzger, G.
2024. 45th International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS 2024), Art.-Nr.: 2274, AIS eLibrary (AISeL) Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document
Enabling Smart Service Innovation in SMEs: The bi.smart Launchpad
Heinz, D.; Benz, C.; Bremmer, H.; Paliyenko, Y.; Schiller, C.
2024. Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI 2024) Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document
Systematizing Data Sharing Practices: A Taxonomy
Fassnacht, M.; Benz, C.; Bode, J.; Heinz, D.; Satzger, G.
2024. ECIS 2024, Association for Information Systems (AIS) 
Presentations
Towards Designing a Digital Industrial Platform for the Circular Economy
Fassnacht, M.; Sagnier Eckert, L.; Heinz, D.
2024. 32nd European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2024), Paphos, Cyprus, June 13–19, 2024 
Data and Information Sharing for Circularity: An Information Systems Perspective
Heinz, D.; Molz, J.; Finner, A. S.; Fassnacht, M.; Benz, C.
2024, May 16. Circularity Days (2024), Wolfsburg, Germany, May 15–16, 2024 
2023
Journal Articles
ML-Based Teaching Systems: A Conceptual Framework
Spitzer, P.; Kühl, N.; Heinz, D.; Satzger, G.
2023. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 7 (CSCW2), Art.-Nr.: 348. doi:10.1145/3610197
Conference Papers
Reallocating Uncertainty in Incumbent Firms through Digital Platforms: The Case of Google’s Automotive Ecosystem Involvement
Sterk, F.; Heinz, D.; Hengstler, P.; Weinhardt, C.
2023. 44th International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS 2023), Association for Information Systems (AIS) 
Digital Service Innovation for Sustainable Development: A Systematic Literature Review
Heinz, D.; Hu, M.; Benz, C.; Satzger, G.
2023. Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI), 18th - 21st September 2023, Paderborn Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document
Value Propositions in the Internet of Things: A Taxonomy of B2B Smart Services
Heinz, D.; Luchner, P.; Benz, C.; Fassnacht, M. K.
2023. 25th IEEE Conference on Business Informatics (IEEE CBI 2023), 1–10, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). doi:10.1109/CBI58679.2023.10187551Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document
Requirements for a Smart Product-Service System Development Framework
Paliyenko, Y.; Heinz, D.; Schiller, C.; Tüzün, G.-J.; Roth, D.; Kreimeyer, M.
2023. Proceedings of the Design Society: 24th International Conference on Engineering Design (ICED23) 
Empowering Practitioners: A Conceptual Framework for Value Co-Creation through Smart Service Innovation Methodologies
Heinz, D.; Anke, J.
2023. Proceedings of the 31st European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2023), Association for Information Systems (AIS) Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document
Barriers to Data Sharing among Private Sector Organizations
Fassnacht, M. K.; Benz, C.; Heinz, D.; Leimstoll, J.; Satzger, G.
2023. Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences (HICSS-56), 3695–3704, IEEE Computer Society. doi:10.24251/HICSS.2023.453Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document
Reports/Preprints
Digital Service Transformation: Pathways to human and economic wellbeing White Paper
Andreassen, T. W.; Archibald, G.; Beekhuyzen, J.; Bongiovanni, I.; Brea, E.; Breidbach, C.; Burchill, K.; Burgers, H.; Cao, S.; Coote, L.; Coram, B.; Cunningham, C.; Feast, G.; Field, M.; Ford, J.; Fouche, L.; Gain, A.; Gooding, G.; Goyeneche Ramirez, D.; Green, T.; Gschwind, D.; Hall, T.; Hartley, N.; Heinz, D.; Hine, D.; Indulska, M.; Kapernick, B.; Kastelle, T.; Ko, R.; Kohlborn, T.; Krishnan, P.; Kriz, A.; Lowe, J.; MacAulay, S. C.; Maglio, P.; Magor, T.; Mair, J.; Mathur, S.; McColl-Kennedy, J.; Nagel, D.; O’Kane, S.; O’Rourke, A.-M.; Pavey, S.; Phillips, T.; Risius, M.; Ritchie, B.; Robinson, R.; Scarsbrook, J.; Septianto, F.; Sigrist, R.; Sisodia, A.; Smith, A.; Sobus, J.; Solnet, D.; Statton, G.; Stockdale, D.; Tarbit, J.; Vassallo, D.; Verreynne, M.-L.; Williams, O.; Witheriff, M.; Yan, H.; Yang, J.; Zhang, W.
2023. The University of Queensland. doi:10.14264/aed4918
Presentations
Towards an Effective Design for Data Sharing in Circular Ecosystems
Fassnacht, M. K.; Benz, C.; Heinz, D.
2023. 31st European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2023), Kristiansand, Norway, June 11–16, 2023 
Vom Konzept zum operativen smarten Produkt-Service-System durch Advanced Systems Engineering
Heinz, D.; Freudenmann, T.
2023, May 23. Konferenz system:ability: Systeme von morgen gestalten! (2023), Paderborn, Germany, May 23–24, 2023 
2022
Conference Papers
Fostering Value Co-Creation in Incumbent Firms: The Case of Bosch’s IoT Ecosystem Landscape
Sterk, F.; Heinz, D.; Peukert, C.; Fleuchaus, F.; Kölbel, T.; Weinhardt, C.
2022. 43rd International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS 2022), Association for Information Systems (AIS) Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document
Towards Explaining Smart Service Innovation Events and Trajectories
Heinz, D.; Breidbach, C. F.; Benz, C.; Satzger, G.
2022. 43rd International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS 2022), Association for Information Systems (AIS) Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document
Past, Present and Future of Data Ecosystems Research: A Systematic Literature Review
Heinz, D.; Benz, C.; Fassnacht, M. K.; Satzger, G.
2022. Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems, PACIS 2022, 5th - 9th July 2022: Proceedings, Association for Information Systems (AIS) 
Innovating Smart Product-Service Systems in Manufacturing SMEs: Current Practices, Affordances, and Constraints
Heinz, D.; Park, H.-R.; Benz, C.; Satzger, G.
2022. 24th IEEE Conference on Business Informatics (IEEE CBI 2022), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). doi:10.1109/CBI54897.2022.10046
An Affordance-Actualization Perspective on Smart Service Systems
Heinz, D.; Benz, C.; Hunke, F.; Satzger, G.
2022. Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI), [15 S.] Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document
Presentations
Smart Service Innovation in Incumbent Firms
Heinz, D.; Breidbach, C. F.
2022, November 21. University of Queensland Business School / UQ BIS Conference (2022), Brisbane, Australia, November 21–23, 2022 
bi.smart - Integriertes Design smarter Produkt-Service-Systeme in KMU
Heinz, D.
2022, July 13. Advanced Systems Engineering Summit (2022), Stuttgart, Germany, July 12–13, 2022 
Entry-Level Scenarios for Smart Service Innovation in SMEs
Heinz, D.; Paliyenko, Y.; Schiller, C.; Benz, C.; Roth, D.
2022, August 25. 3rd International Conference on Challenges in Managing Smart Products and Services (CHIMSPAS 2022), Bielefeld, Germany, August 25–26, 2022 
How Digital Artifacts Enable Mutual Affordances in Service Ecosystems: Evidence from Smart Service Systems (Doctoral Consortium)
Heinz, D.
2022, February 18. 17. Internationale Tagung Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI 2022), Online, February 21–23, 2022 
2021
Conference Papers
Organizing for Digital Innovation and Transformation: Bridging Between Organizational Resilience and Innovation Management
Heinz, D.; Hunke, F.; Breitschopf, G. F.
2021. Innovation Through Information Systems: Volume II: A Collection of Latest Research on Technology Issues. Ed.: F. Ahlemann, 548–564, Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-86797-3_36
Conceptualizing Digital Resilience for AI-Based Information Systems
Schemmer, M.; Heinz, D.; Baier, L.; Vössing, M.; Kühl, N.
2021. Proceedings of the 29th European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS), June 14 - 16, 2021 Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document
Presentations
Affordances and Their Actualization in Smart Service Systems
Heinz, D.
2021, December 12. Pre-ICIS Workshop on Service and Information Systems Research for a Better Future (SIG SVC 2021), Online, December 12, 2021