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The essays in this book help understanding how digitally enabled responses to the COVID-19 pandemic can be developed through digital innovation, digital transformation, and digital entrepreneurship. Based on the nine essays, we suggest three important future research areas in which information systems scholars should make active contributions in the ongoing fight against the pandemic: the surveillance society, the misconception of digital solutions, and the design of practical solutions. In addition, we highlight new challenges for research and practice that arise from the ongoing pandemic.

Palletizing in air cargo faces a large number of constraints, e.g. aviation safety and cargo handling regulations. In addition, operational, economical, and ecological goals further need to be considered. The challenge to find practicable if not optimal palletizing solutions is known as the Pallet Loading Problem (PLP) or Container Loading Problem (CLP). It defines a np-hard and highly complex problem space. In air cargo operations, there is hardly any digital support to optimize the palletizing process. As a result, desired objectives are often only met by chance, e.g. the optimal utilization of the possible loading weight, the maximum use of the available loading space, or both. The goal of this research is to report on the design and learnings from a state-of-the-art information system we built to support the manual palletizing process by considering substantially more constraints than any other system we know of. The artifact generates via heuristics optimized and practicable palletizing solutions and supports the human palletizer prior to and during the physical assembly by visualizing, monitoring and validating the generated palletizing solutions.

The direct insurer Gothaer Insurance Group is among the largest insurance companies in Germany. A project started during the 1990s is still facing the task to introduce a policy system for the commercial sector. The project had its origin in a merger with another German insurer and the system has since evolved over about 18 years. The project team encounters manifold technical and organisational issues as well as external factors which have led the project to a state which requires a decision about its continuance. Driven by a new political agenda that fosters the replacement of mainframe solutions and the use of standard rather than in-house solutions, decisions needed to be made concerning the sourcing strategy: should the system be implemented in-house or with the help of an external partner? Should it be realised by standard software or custom development? A steering committee meeting is set up to decide how to proceed. This case chronicles the series of events leading to that upcoming steering committee and the status quo of the system.