Inter-University Exchange for Data Protection

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) affects not only companies but also higher education institutions and other research and education institutions. For this reason, representatives of the interest group for data protection IGD come together twice a year to exchange views and experiences on current topics. This time, the meeting took place at the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences.

On 10 and 11 March 2025, the 14th meeting of the interest group for data protection (IGD) of the Austrian higher education sector and other research and education institutions took place at the St. Pölten UAS. 50 representatives from 78 organisational units  (universities, private universities, universities of applied sciences, and teacher training colleges as well as other research and education institutions) participated in the exchange meeting.

Significant Work

“We are very glad to have the honour of hosting this meeting at the St. Pölten UAS. The work of data protection officers and coordinators is important for all universities as well as other research and education institutions. This exchange allows us to better understand challenges, develop solutions, and continually improve the implementation of data protection regulations together”, says UAS CEO Johann Haag.

Legal expert Kathrin Girsule represents the St. Pölten UAS in the core team of the data protection interest group: “Our interest community comprises 195 members. Together we discuss future challenges and define, for example, guidelines designed to assist us all in implementing the General Data Protection Regulation.”

Data Protection and IT Security

The data protection topic is closely connected to IT security, which is why – in addition to keynotes on best practices – the participants also engaged in exchange on the latest insights from security research. For instance, the meeting received active support from the St. Pölten UAS’ Department of Computer Science and Security.

• Peter Kieseberg, Senior Researcher at the Institute of IT Security Research in the Department of Computer Science and Security, spoke about “Transferring the Concept of Tabletop Exercises into the Legal Domain”.
• Under the leadership of Simon Tjoa, the researchers of this institute address current IT security questions and develop practicable products and solutions in the two research groups on Secure Societies and Data Intelligence. In the past few years, the institute has been home to two Josef Ressel Centres as well.

The next meeting of the IGD interest group will take place at the University of Graz in the autumn of 2025.