The Chair of Business Informatics and Software Engineering (SOFTEC) will be represented at two international conferences in 2026 with three research papers. Two papers have been accepted for the European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2026) in Milan, and another paper will be presented at the Design Science Research in Information Systems and Technology Conference (DESRIST 2026) in Münster. The papers address generative AI in medical education, governance of digital platform ecosystems, and AI-supported assistive technologies for blind and visually impaired people.

ECIS 2026 will take place from June 15 to 17 in Milan under the theme “Reimagining Digital Technology for Business, Management, and Society.”

In the “Health Information Technology” track, the paper “Grey’s A(I)natomy: Design Principles for Generative Virtual Patients” by Jan Laufer, Leonardo Banh, Volker Strauß, and Gero Strobel will be presented. The paper examines how generative AI can be used to develop realistic virtual patients for medical education. The goal is to derive design principles for AI-based training systems and to highlight their potential for education and healthcare.

Also being presented at ECIS is the paper “Mission: Orchestration – Governance Mechanisms and Future Research Directions in Digital Platform Ecosystems” by Robert Woroch, Maximilian Schreieck, Leonardo Banh, and Gero Strobel. The authors analyze governance mechanisms in digital platform ecosystems and develop a research agenda for future developments. The focus is on technological trends such as algorithmic governance, generative AI, and agent-based systems, as well as their impact on the management of digital platforms.

DESRIST 2026 will take place from June 8 to 10 in Münster under the theme “Design for Better Futures” and is one of the leading international conferences in design science research.

The paper “Designing Assistive Technologies for Blind and Visually Impaired: Problem Understanding and Design Objectives” by Jan Laufer, Leonardo Banh, Thorsten Schoormann, and Gero Strobel will be presented there. The study examines requirements for AI-supported assistive technologies for blind and visually impaired people and derives design objectives for future systems from these findings. The results underscore the importance of integrated, reliable, and context-sensitive solutions for practical use in everyday life.

With these three accepted papers, SOFTEC will be represented at two internationally prominent conferences and will contribute the latest research on artificial intelligence, digital platforms, and inclusive information systems to the academic discourse.