From universities to public administrations, bureaucratic systems often feel slow, complex and inefficient. Even the rise of artificial intelligence does not seem enough to solve the problem. According to Wil van der Aalst, the "Godfather of Process Mining" and one of the world’s most cited computer scientists, this is because we must first understand the processes that need to be improved.

On 19 June, unibz will welcome Prof. Wil van der Aalst, Professor of Process and Data Science at RWTH Aachen University and recipient of the prestigious Alexander-von-Humboldt Professorship – Germany’s most valuable research award – for a talk that promises to rethink digital transformation in education and governance. In his talk, he will introduce Object-Centric Process Mining (OCPM), a powerful method that reveals how multiple interconnected elements like student records, payments and permits interact over time. By analysing these real processes, OCPM uncovers inefficiencies, compliance gaps and missed opportunities that traditional tools fail to detect.

Prof. van der Aalst will explore the world of process mining, underlying its role as the missing link between raw data and meaningful AI. He will explain how the analysis of processes can help in designing contextualized and goal-oriented machine learning to make digital government and education more agile, transparent and citizen-friendly.

The event is open to the whole unibz community and is a unique opportunity for students, researchers and administrative staff to learn from one of the world’s most influential thinkers in digital innovation and process analysis. The event will take place on 19 June at 15:30 in Room F6.00 at the Campus Bozen-Bolzano City Centre.