What is Citizen Development?

Citizen Development describes the ability of a user, a Citizen Developer, to build applications without programming skills. Citizen Development platforms minimize the need for manual coding and programming skills when building reputable enterprise-quality applications. These platforms, also known as "low code" and recently called "no-code", are constantly evolving and creating ever better ways to create applications intuitively. At its core, this is a comprehensive paradigm shift: In the future, companies will think differently about how software is developed and who can be a developer. The new possibilities offered by the creation of applications by departments will change many areas in the company.

Professional Competence

The CoP Citizen Development in the PMI Germany Chapter offers members the opportunity to build up an increasingly important competence in the coming years through an analytical study of this topic of the future. The aim is to present the new technical options and opportunities to the management at decision-making level, based on the highly professionally controlled work base of project management by the certified PMI members. You will be able to demonstrate the future requirements as well as the adequate answers and strategies in a comprehensible way.

Citizen Development and Artificial Intelligence

The intention is to combine the topic of Citizen Development also from the point of view of Artificial Intelligence (AI), which together with machine learning represents a cross-sectional capability in all areas of IT. It is interesting that the world's leading and dominant technology providers such as Google (https://ai.google/), Microsoft (https://blogs.microsoft.com/ai/) and Amazon (https://aws.amazon.com/de/machine-learning/) are working to offer AI-based services in the field of low-code/no-code development. In line with the current trend of personalized product creation, these service solutions will provide companies with more opportunities to customize the services they use. Opportunities that companies will take into account when creating their applications and the projects they need to do so.

The community wants to address topics such as:

• Introducing the tasks and capabilities of Citizen Development Platforms
• Analysis of the use of tools for non-IT personnel, such as controlling, to create complex, automated and systematized applications
• Unvcover the opportunities and risks offered by CD tools for companies in general and in project management.
• What interdependent effects are the digital networking and the increasing use of artificial intelligence on the use of CD tools?
• What impact do the new opportunities offered by the specialist departments have on the planning, implementation and conducting of projects?
• Identify links between the strategic orientation discussions in companies and scientific, technological, economic and social developments.

One of our first steps willbe to approach the topic together with the CoP PMO from the point of view of the maturity description for project management in companies. We will address the question of what maturity is required in terms of project management and leadership in a company in order to use Citizen Development efficiently.

Best Practice. Together with CoP PMO and CoP Digitization, we will work on an online knowledge base.

Networks. We provide a platform for professional exchange on the strategic topics related to the operational, company-relevant work of citizen developers.

Publications. At regular intervals, we will publish a summary of the state of discussions, current examples and other economically and socially relevant aspects.

CoP Citizen Development will meet regularly in working group meetings and plan and conduct overarching workshops and meetings with experts.

The Community of Practice Citizen Development is organized by:

• Dr. Eckhard Hauenherm, PMP

In addition to many years of experience in technology and reorganization projects at leading large companies (Daimler, DPDHL, Postbank, Telekom, Microsoft and many others) in various industries (automotive, logistics, finance, telecommunications, software, etc.) both have a scientific view of – automated communication and the corresponding analytical working methods. They will use their know-how to work with the PM experts in the CoP CD to develop a deep understanding of the subject area of human and machine communication and their importance for companies.