Peter Fleissner

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Peter Fleissner (2017)

Peter Fleissner (born April 11, 1944 in Hainburg an der Donau in Austria ) is a full professor for design and impact research at the Vienna University of Technology . He is one of the pioneers in information science and is particularly concerned with computer science and society . In his last professional years he worked for the European Union in Spain and Vienna .

Live and act

Peter Karl Fleissner was born in Hainburg an der Donau . He attended an elementary school here since 1950 and then the Bundesrealgymnasium in Bruck an der Leitha , which he graduated with the Matura in 1962 . He then studied electronics ( communications engineering ) at the Technical University of Vienna . He obtained his degree in engineering (Dipl.-Ing.) In 1968 with the construction of a weather satellite receiver as a diploma thesis.

From 1967 to 1969 he went on to study economics at the Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS) in Vienna . The IHS was considered to be the best educational institution for social sciences in Austria with close links to economic and social policy. At the same time he did his doctorate in mathematics with a dissertation on the "stability of linear econometric models". At the IHS he became head of the economics department and taught set theory , topology and econometrics .

He then moved to the Institute for Socio-Economic Development Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences . Here he was also elected chairman of the works council of the Academy of Sciences. Extensive publications on health care, technical progress, labor value theory and social alternatives followed. Fleissner achieved international recognition: Praise from the Scientific American; a Nobel Prize winner from the United States inquired about the research; Invitations to lectures and visiting professorships at home and abroad followed; For three years Fleissner was asked to send his proposals for the Nobel Prize in Economics to Stockholm . In 1981 he completed his habilitation in the field of social cybernetics .

In 1990 Peter Fleissner was appointed full professor for design and impact research at the Vienna University of Technology, chair of "social cybernetics". Before that, however, Federal President Kurt Waldheim had refused to sign the certificate of appointment because future professor colleagues had intervened against Fleissner. The news of his approval reached him in Berlin, where together with colleagues from the University of Economics Bruno Leuschner he constructed a dynamic simulation model of the socio-economic transition of East Germany to the market economy. At the Vienna University of Technology he was responsible for the introductory lecture "Computer Science", the main lecture "Data Protection and Data Security" and a compulsory internship on "Impact assessment of information and communication technologies". After the end of his time as a temporary civil servant for the European Union, he held lectures at the Vienna University of Technology on "Computer Science and Society", "Media and Markets" and "Mathematical Modeling".

Researches

Fleissner's research was geared towards a long-term research project on the “concept of information”, whereby Fleissner was also concerned with bridging the gap between the natural and social sciences. Taking into account the work of Klaus Fuchs-Kittowski and Rafael Capurro , he considered the concept of information to be complex and evolutionary, starting with physical cause-effect structures and ending with ambiguous social information processes. In between, Fleissner has placed computer-based information processing.

One of the most important research projects, which also became known internationally, was the first study on the spread of microelectronics in Austria. The work used a combination of an input-output and an econometrics model as a method. The project was carried out at the Austrian Academy of Sciences under his direction. The Nobel Prize winner Wassily Leontief wrote about this in an article entitled “The Distribution of Work and Income” in Scientific American (September 1982, pp. 152-164): “No comparable study has yet been completed for the US economy. [...] The Austrian study presents the best model available for projection of conditions in the US of 1990. "(p. 164). He even called Fleissner in Vienna, later invited him to New York University and discussed it intensively with Fleissner.

Another area of ​​research by Fleissner relates to mathematical simulation models in the area of ​​social systems, such as B. of economies in system transition such as GDR / New Federal States, Slovakia, Poland and Vietnam, but also simulation models for the Austrian economy, for planning kindergartens or for planning the production of memory chips from Siemens AG .

Since the advent of digital technologies, he has been researching the spread of microelectronics and its social consequences in production facilities and in the office area (e.g. use of digital printing technology) at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis ( IIASA ) and later with his team at the Austrian Academy of Sciences , numerically controlled machines or industrial robots in Austria). He later extended his research to digital networks.

Fleissner developed a close research cooperation with the Dresden physicist and computer scientist Hardwin Jungclaussen , a close relative of the world-famous physicists Heinrich Hertz and Gustav Hertz . He came to the Fleissner Institute in Vienna for several years to supervise students in the relatively new area of pulsed neural networks (English: Spiking neural networks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiking_neural_network ). In addition, until shortly before his death, Jungclausen sent many of his manuscripts to Fleissner for review and criticism before they were published. Fleissner has often visited him in Dresden in his house high above the Elbe and held intensive technical discussions there.

Austria became a member of the European Union in 1995, and Fleissner was appointed to a position at the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) of the Joint Research Center of the European Commission in Seville (Spain) at the end of an extensive call for proposals with 60 applicants in 1997 . As head of the department "Technology, Employment, Competitiveness and Society" he was able to participate in an advisory capacity in the development of EU policy in this area.

In 2000 Fleissner took over the position of a department head at the newly founded European Agency for the Monitoring of Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) in Vienna, an agency of the European Union. Until 2004 he headed the "Research and Networking" department.

Peter Fleissner has been retired since 2006, but continues his scientific work. From 2006 to 2008 he was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Power Research in Vienna, which was founded by Christine Bauer-Jelinek . He was co-founder and chairman of the transform! At association from 2006 to 2016.

Memberships and honors (selection)

  • 1974 Austrian Society for Future Studies
  • 1983 Advisory Board for social, economic and environmental alternatives
  • 1983 Society for Economic and Social Cybernetics
  • 1983 Austrian Society for Statistics
  • 1987 Boston Computer Society
  • 1988 International Input-Output Society
  • 1990 Austrian Computer Society
  • 1991 Interuniversitary Institute for Research and Education, IFF
  • 1993 World Future Society
  • 1994 Society of the American Computer Machinery
  • 1994 Austrian Institute for Ecology
  • 1996 Institute for Sustainable Development
  • 2000 Member of the Research Group on Unified Theory of Information (UTI) - Association for the Advancement of Information Sciences
  • 2002 elected member of the learned society Leibniz Society of Sciences in Berlin , founded by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in 1700.

family

Father Franz Fleissner (1912–2003) had emigrated with his parents to Brazil in the late twenties as a 15-year-old , although his father died on the outward journey. After returning and training as a baker, Franz Fleissner joined the Austrian army. He was able to flee from Stalingrad while on the frontline and from being a prisoner of war in England, was assigned to the Austrian border guard and was finally a tax officer in the Hainburg tax inspectorate. His mother Gertrud Sabine Fleissner, née Eder (1922–1989) was a daughter of the mayor of Hainburg, who owned several houses and gardens, but above all a profitable business on the main square. She was therefore able to be trained as a teacher in Vienna. The Fleissner couple had two sons Peter (* 1944) and Franz (* 1949), the latter also lives in Vienna and worked at the General Hospital in the ENT department as a medical-technical assistant.

Peter Fleissner's partners were Renate Wolkow (academic painter; daughter Agnes, * 1967), Elisabeth Moebius (Koriphäe in the Vienna State Opera Ballet, died 2011; sons Gregor, * 1979 and Paul, * 1981), Mireille Geloen (head of French cultural institutes in Germany, died 2016). He has been married to Gertraud Bolius (professor at a vocational college) since 2017 . Peter Fleissner has eight grandchildren Lena, Jona, Timo, Paul, Michael, David, Finn and Lina.

The internationally interesting question of whether new things can also be created on the computer was answered positively by Peter Fleissner in a special work together with his two sons Gregor and Paul by giving an example ( The blind jumper ) ( http://peter.fleissner.org /springer/default.htm ).

The scientific ancestry of Peter Fleissner goes back to the father of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz ( http://peter.fleissner.org/peterf/ahnentafel_fleissner.pdf ).

Publications (selection)

Fleissner has submitted over 400 publications, including 20 monographs (half with co-authors), over 100 edited volumes or special issues of journals (half with co-editors) and over 70 peer-reviewed journal articles (half with co-authors).

  • The Austrian health system in the economic, demographic and political context. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 1977, ISBN 3-525-11234-3 .
  • Berger, E., Donner, M., Fleissner, P., Naschold, F. et al .: System analysis of the health system in Austria. A study on the origins and coping with illness in developed capitalism, carried out on behalf of the Federal Chancellery at the Institute for Higher Studies. Vienna: Fachverlag für Wirtschaft und Technik 1978. 2 volumes, ISBN 3-9000-8971-X .
  • Dell'mour, R., Fleissner, P., et al .: Macroeconomic Aspects of Microelectronics. In: Federal Ministry for Science and Research (Ed.): Microelectronics - Applications, Distribution and Effects using the Example of Austria. P. 56 - 94, Vienna - New York: Springer-Verlag, 1981, ISBN 3-211-81679-8 New York - Vienna: Springer-Verlag, 1981, ISBN 0-387-81679-8 .
  • Systems Approach to Appropriate Technology Transfer. Proceedings of the IFAC Symposium. Vienna, Austria, 21-23 March 1983. Oxford, New York: Pergamon Press 1983, ISBN 0-08-029979-2 .
  • Dell'Mour, R., Fleissner, P., Hofkirchner, W. , Kolm, P., and Sint, PP: Industrial robots in Austria. Vienna: Publishing house of the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions 1984, ISBN 3-7035-0279-7 .
  • Fleissner, P., Deppe, F. (Eds.): Working class - does that still exist? Vienna: Verlag für Gesellschaftskritik 1985, ISBN 3-900351-46-5 .
  • Altzinger, W., Bauer, J., Fleissner, P., et al .: Paths to full employment. Vienna: Verlag für Gesellschaftskritik 1985, ISBN 3-900351-49-X .
  • Fleissner, P. (Ed.): Technology and the world of work in Austria. Vienna: Publishing House of the Austrian Trade Union Federation 1987, Vol. 1: ISBN 3-7035-0326-2 , Vol. 2: ISBN 3-7035-0327-0 , Vol. 3: ISBN 3-7035-0328-9 , Vol. 4 : ISBN 3-7035-0329-7 .
  • Althaler, KS, Altzinger, W., Fleissner, P., et al .: Ways out of unemployment. Vienna: Falter Verlag 1987, ISBN 3-85439-060-2 . Three editions.
  • Bruckmann, G., Fleissner, P. (Eds.): At the wheel of the economy - An econometric-social-cybernetic model for Austria. Vienna: Springer Verlag 1989, ISBN 3-211-82165-1 , 0-387-82165-1.
  • Fleissner, P., Ludwig, U. (Eds.): East German economy in transition - computer simulation with a system dynamic model. Braunschweig / Wiesbaden: Vieweg Verlag 1992, ISBN 3-528-05192-2 .
  • Fleissner, P. (Ed.): Input-Output-Analysis - An introduction to theory and applications. Vienna: Springer Verlag 1993 (with W. Böhme, H.-U. Brautzsch, J. Höhne, J. Siassi and K. Stark), ISBN 3-211-82435-9 .
  • Fickl, S., Fleissner, P., Grundwald H., Hofkirchner, W. , Höltl, A., Leutgöb, K., Mühlberger, M., Pohl, M., Steininger, K., Steurer, A .: Economical -ecological modeling. On behalf of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Youth and Family, Institute for Design and Impact Research at the Vienna University of Technology. Vienna: Series of publications of Section 1 of the BMUJF, Vol 2, 1993, ISBN 3-901305-2-5 .
  • Fleissner, P. (Ed.): The Transformation of Slovakia: The Dynamics of Her Economy, Environment, and Population. (project team consisting of St. Adamec, St. Condik, F. Hajnovic, J. Haluska, K. Leutgöb, J. Meszaros, M. Olexa and J. Orsagova). Hamburg: Verlag Dr. Kovac 1994, ISBN 3-86064-178-X .
  • Dimitrov, D., Dimitrova, S., and Fleissner, P .: Technology transfer and economic-technical cooperation in the 1990s. An empirical-analytical study of the cooperation between Austria and Bulgaria. Frankfurt / Main: Verlag Peter Lang 1995, ISBN 3-631-48967-6 .
  • Fleissner, P., Hofkirchner, W. , Pohl, M., Purgathofer, P .: Men's Work, Tomorrow Award Winning Paper, produced by Futuroscope, Poitier, France 1996, ISBN 3-901742-00-X .
  • Fleissner, P., Hofkirchner, W. , Müller, H., Pohl, M., Stary, Ch .: Man does not live on the bit alone. Frankfurt / Main: Verlag Peter Lang 1996, 2nd edition 1997, ISBN 3-631-31702-6 .
  • Fleissner, P., Choc, M. (Eds.): Data security and data protection - technical and legal perspectives. Innsbruck: Studien Verlag, 1996, 2nd edition 1997, ISBN 3-7065-1164-9 .
  • Fleissner, P., Nyíri, JC (Eds.): Austria and Hungary. Historical Roots and Present Developments. Philosophy of Culture and the Politics of Electronics Networking - Volume 1. Innsbruck; Vienna; Budapest: Studien Verlag and Áron Kiadó 1999, ISBN 3-7065-1303-X , ISBN 963 85864 6 X Ö, ISBN 963-85864-7-8 .
  • Fleissner, P., Nyíri, JC (Eds.): Cyberspace. A New Battlefield for Human Interests. Philosophy of Culture and the Politics of Electronic Networking - Volume 2. Innsbruck; Vienna; Budapest: Studien Verlag and Áron Kiadó 1999, ISBN 3-7065-1304-8 , ISBN 963 85864 6 X Ö, ISBN 963-85864-8-6 .
  • Fleissner, P., Romano, V. (ed.): Digital media - new opportunities for democracy and participation? series: network - cultural diversity and new media, vol 7. Berlin: trafo Verlag Dr. Weist 2007, ISBN 3-89626-553-9 .
  • Fleissner, P., Wanek, N. (eds.): BruchStücke. Critical approaches to politics and the economy in globalized capitalism. Materials for the summer semester 2008 lecture series at the University of Vienna. Berlin: trafo Verlag Dr. Weist 2009, ISBN 978-3-89626-837-2 .
  • Exner, A., Fleissner, P., Kranzl, L., Zittel, W. (eds.): Fights for land. Good life in the post-fossil age. Vienna: Mandelbaum Verlag, Critique and Utopia series 2011, ISBN 978-3-85476-603-2 .
  • Exner, A., Fleissner, P., Kanzl, L., Zittel, W. (Eds.): Land and Resource Scarcity - Capitalism, Struggle and Well-being in a World without Fossil Fuels. Series: Routledge Studies in Environmental Policy. Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon, 2013, ISBN 978-0-415-63061-0 , e-book: 978-0-203-09756-4.
  • Fleissner, Peter Karl: Peter Fleissner's Abecedarium: Work, Banking, Democracy, Europe, Political Economy, Religion, Utopia and the Future. Edition Volksstimme. Vienna 2015, ISBN 978-3-9503485-2-1 .
  • Are we approaching a society without money? In: Project group The society according to money (ed.), Postmonetary thinking - opening a dialogue. Springer VS, Wiesbaden 2019, pp. 333–359.
  • Are We Approaching a Moneyless Society? In: Project society after money (eds.) Society after money - a dialogue. Bloomsbury New York etc. 2019, pp 325-348.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Peter Fleissner: Construction of a VHF Receiver for Weather Satellite Signals. Diploma thesis, Vienna University of Technology 1968.
  2. ^ Peter Fleissner: Diploma in Economics and Econometrics. Institute for Advanced Studies, Vienna 1969.
  3. ↑ Peter Fleissner: Investigations of the stability of linear econometric models. Dissertation, Vienna University of Technology 1971.
  4. ^ Peter Fleissner: Social Cybernetics. Habilitation, Vienna University of Technology 1981.
personal data
SURNAME Fleissner, Peter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian information scientist and university lecturer for the Internet and society
DATE OF BIRTH April 11, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH Hainburg on the Danube