Cloud and SMEs Cloud computing provides an opportunity for small and medium-sized enterprises to drive digitalisation with fewer on-board resources. The obstacles that many SMEs face on the road to greater digitisation include a lack of skilled workers and limited human resources, insufficient IT skills and limited budgets. The cloud provides SMEs with scalable solutions that help them overcome precisely these obstacles. In our research and studies, we address, among other things, future market developments and network infrastructure requirements, cloud diffusion in SMEs, AI applications and

Science meets Consulting... .. is our key mission, shaping our work: For more than 40 years WIK stands for independent research and consulting in the fields of telecommunications, digitisation, internet and data economy, smart energy, postal services and logistics. Thanks to our research program funded by grants we are able to carry out scientific projects using state of the art methods and investigate current problems in depth. The results are published in different formats such as discussion papers, research briefs or WIK working papers. In addition, through our subsidiary WIK-Consult GmbH, we have

Online Advertising Advertising-financed business models & competition for user attention are ubiquitous these days. Whether it's online shopping, social media or sponsored search results, the internet offers a multitude of novel advertising spaces and opportunities to serve targeted ads to specific customers. While the use of behavioural and personal data enables more tailored ads, it also raises questions about consumer data protection and privacy. We have conducted a variety of research and projects in this area, drawing out findings using a range of methods including empirical surveys,

Universal service Until the 1990s, nationwide postal services in most countries were provided by state administrations and state-owned enterprises. With the establishment of independent, partially privatised postal companies, legal regulations were needed to ensure nationwide access to necessary postal services of good quality and at affordable prices for all citizens. To this end, the state sets the minimum conditions for postal services and the associated price and quality parameters, the universal postal service. Declining letter volumes as a result of digitalisation and increasing parcel