Organisation and the Team

The goal of the Institute for Innovation is to promote innovations and to transform the Alpe-Adria Region into the most innovative region of Europe.

A main task of the Institute is the organisation of the yearly Innovation Congress, which is a unique knowledge bank and energy reservoir for all innovators.

A further task of the Institute is Research and Development in the fields of Innovation and Innovation Management. The results are made available to national and international expert audiences via professional publications.

Due to the variety of highly competent speakers from academics and the real world, at the yearly Innovation Congress new findings and insights are gained and exchanged.

University of Applied Sciences Professor Dr Peter Granig,

Founder and Academic Director, Innovation Congress

Innovation is his calling.

Dr Peter Granig, born in 1969, is a Professor of Business Administration and Innovation Management at The University of Applied Sciences Carinthia since 2005.

After completion of an in-house electrician apprenticeship and completion of an executive Higher Technical School Course, he studied Business Administration and Group Dynamics at The Alpe-Adria University of Klagenfurt, as well as Management and Marketing at The University of Northern Iowa, USA. He wrote his Doctoral Thesis regarding the theme "Assessment of innovations, with the help of risk simulations" at the Institute for Controlling and Strategic Management at The Alpe-Adria University of Klagenfurt.

Dr Granig has got more than 20 years of experience in the fields of Innovation Management and Business Development in national and international companies, and he is the author of numerous professional publications regarding the themes of innovation and Innovation Management.

His latest research focus is Strategic Innovation Management, Business Model Innovation and Strategy Development.

Mr Gerd Bacher,

in charge of commercial affairs and the Congress Organisation

Mr Gerd Bacher, born in 1969 in Villach, studied Business Administration, and after his first professional experiences, he started working for the Kleine Zeitung Newspaper. For 14 years, he is already responsible for increasing advertising revenues, becoming the Advertising Sales Director Carinthia.

Mr Bacher is a Founding Member and a Board Member of the Institute for Innovation, and in his spare time he is tirelessly working to further develop the Innovation Congress. He is also responsible for the operative implementation of the event itself.

Dr Erich Hartlieb,

Congress Academic Advisor

The Upper Carinthia Native, born in 1969, is Professor for Innovation and Technology Management at The University of Applied Sciences Carinthia in the study field of Geo Information.

He graduated from The Technical University of Graz as an Industrial Engineer, where he also worked for 4 years as University Assistant at the Institute for Industrial Business Administration and Innovation Research. Dr Hartlieb is a Founding Member and Advisor of The Knowledge Management Forum Graz. Then, he was a Strategy and Innovation Consultant for corporations and medium-sized companies. He is also the author of numerous professional publications from the field of his professional specialisation, and he also gave numerous lectures.

Mr Wilfried Pesentheiner,

in charge of Public Relations and Social Media

This Villach Native studied Business Administration, and straight after graduation started working in the Media Industry. After various positions in the Publishing

Division of the Styria Media Group, he changed direction to become the Editor of regional Business Magazines for over ten years. At the same time, he founded his own Public Relations and Advertising Agency, to which he devotes all his time now.

Since 2011, he is a Member of the Organising Committee of the Innovation Congress, being responsible for Public Relations and is also the Contact Person for the Media. His goal: not only making the Innovation Congress better known, but also creating a broad awareness for the importance of the innovation theme for all companies.

Mr Martin Maitz,

in charge of Marketing and Partnerships/Cooperation Agreements

The themes of Organisation, Marketing and Innovation are the main threads of the biography of this Villach Native. To put it in numbers: 15 years as a Project Manager in Technology Companies, since more than 10 years on the Board of the Marketing Club Carinthia and Founding Member of the Austrian Marketing Confederation, Member of the Executive Board of the Institute for Future Competencies – in the areas of Marketing and Innovation, Founder of the Intelligent Innovation Initiative. Attribute: future-oriented!

At the moment, he is working intensively on his Doctoral Thesis with the theme of Innovation Systems of the future.