In addition to research institutes and companies, the VSDI also represents individual members.
Honorary Member
Dr. Matthias Flügge is an expert in digitalization and public administration modernization. Since 2025, he has been Director of Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund. Prior to that, he served for six years as Chief Digital Officer (CDO), where he was responsible for the strategic direction and implementation of the organization’s digital transformation. Earlier in his career, he headed the Digital Public Services division at the Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems (FOKUS) and supported numerous digitalization projects within the public sector.
Dr. Flügge also served as a board member of the Association for Secure Digital Identity (VSDI). In recognition of his commitment and his contributions to the establishment and strategic development of the VSDI, he was appointed Honorary Member.
IT security, identity management and critical infrastructures have been important areas of his work for many years. From 2005 to 2008, Dr Leifeld worked at Bundesdruckerei, most recently as Head of International Project and Proposal Management. He currently works with clients from the SME and public sector, focussing on the Berlin, Hamburg, Dresden and Munich regions. In his role as treasurer, Dr Leifeld is also involved in the association Kompetenzzentrum Kritische Infrastrukturen e.V. (www.kki-verein.de) and would like to develop joint topics for VSDI and KKI.
Honorary member
After many years of membership in his function as Institute Director and CEO of the Hasso Plattner Institute, we are now delighted that he will remain associated with our association and continue to be available to it with his expertise.
Lilly Schmidt is an expert in the practical implementation of trustworthy identity solutions and digital public administration. She led the accompanying research of the project “Showcase Secure Digital Identities,” where she worked, among other topics, on trustworthy infrastructures and use cases for electronic identities. Since January 2025, she has been working as a Senior Consultant at Nortal AG, contributing an international perspective from Estonia. In addition, she serves as spokesperson of the working group “Digital Identities in Public Administration” and as a board member of NEGZ, as well as a board member of the Bitkom working group on the application of digital trust services.
Dr. Thiel holds a professorship in Secure and Reliable Software Systems at the Minden Campus of Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences. His research and advisory work focus, among other areas, on the interfaces between eIDAS, blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT).
