I’m Clemens, a computer scientist by passion with over 30 years in the IT world. Today, I’m mainly occupied with a question that has accompanied me throughout my entire career: How do you actually organise what you know?
The road here
It all started with a degree in Medical Informatics. After that, I joined the Datenzentrale Schleswig-Holstein working in office automation — at a time when computers in government agencies were still genuine rarities.
What followed were nearly 30 years in IT management for the state government of Schleswig-Holstein. During that time, I moved through various fields that, in hindsight, read like a common thread: process-oriented knowledge management, IT architecture, and ultimately information security. In my final role, I served as the state CISO, responsible for the information security of the entire federal state.
After three decades in the public sector, I moved into consulting and, until retirement, advised government agencies and public institutions on IT management and information security.
Why personal knowledge management?
If you work in IT, you constantly need to acquire new knowledge. In information security, this isn’t optional — it’s a prerequisite. Threats change, technologies evolve, regulations are updated.
Early on, I realised that simply collecting information isn’t enough. The real challenge lies in organising knowledge so that it’s available at the right moment and can continue to develop. This experience — built up over decades and continuously refined — is what I want to share here.
What to expect
On this blog, I’m learning in public. I write about methods, tools, and ways of thinking around personal knowledge management. Not as a finished expert dispensing wisdom, but as someone who reflects on and evolves their own practice.
If you’re wondering how to better organise your knowledge — whether professionally or personally — you’re in the right place. I look forward to the exchange.
On the side
When I’m not thinking about knowledge management, I occupy myself with languages, writing systems, and etymology. And yes — I’m also the kind of person who manages a forest. But that’s another story.