Digitalization and sustainability – two topics that need to be considered even more closely together in the future.
Thank you for your participation in the virtual DIV 2020 and nachhaltig.digital annual conference from November 9-12, 2020. This year’s conference had the motto “Implementing intelligently networked cities and regions – achieving sustainability!”. We are delighted that we were able to experience such an enriching exchange with experts, practitioners and other interested parties:
Digitalization and sustainability – two topics that need to be considered even more closely together in the future. Individually, they are already at the top of the agendas of business, science and politics. In their interaction, they will become the defining aspect of shaping the future. For this reason, this year’s DIV conference became both the annual sustainable.digital conference and the DIV20 week.
The Intelligent Networking Working Group of the Digital Summit and nachhaltig.digital, the competence platform of B.A.U.M. e.V. and the German Federal Environmental Foundation, together with Charter of Digital Networking, the MÜNCHNER KREIS, the Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. and the Stadt.Land.Digital initiative brought together experts and interested parties for a week to discuss current issues, challenges and good examples of greater sustainability through digitalization in intelligently networked cities and regions online.
The current coronavirus situation was also reflected at the event. On the one hand, the topic was considered as a sustainability aspect in a number of sessions; on the other hand, the event took place completely online for the first time as a contribution to infection protection.
The event took up the 2030 Agenda adopted by the global community with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim of this agenda is to enable people to live in dignity and to preserve the natural foundations of life in the long term. The concept of sustainability encompasses not only ecological, but also economic and social goals. Germany also committed to this understanding and the 17 goals at an early stage. The joint DIV 2020 and nachhaltig.digital annual conference therefore structured its program along selected SDGs. Find out more about the 8 selected topics under the Workshop Sessions tab.
Over four days, experts and practitioners addressed questions such as:
All contributions can be found as videos under the Documentation tab.
09:00 – 09:10
Greetings from the organizers
09:10 – 09:25
Alexander Bonde, Secretary General of the German Federal Environmental Foundation
09:25 – 09:40
Prof. Dr. Jeanette Hofmann, Professor of Internet Policy at Freie Universität Berlin, Research Director of the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society
09:40 – 09:55
Prof. Dr. Kerstin Krellenberg, Institute for Geography and Regional Research, University of Vienna
09:40 – 09:55
Intelligent networking and digitalization in the infrastructure areas of energy, health, transport, education and public administration have long been identified as a key enabler for achieving greater sustainability. The special role of local authorities in leveraging this sustainability potential is also largely undisputed. This is where the practical implementation must take place. This is where the hurdles come to light. Smart city and smart region initiatives in particular are drivers of development here.
But is Germany on the right track? Has everyone recognized the need for action? What concrete influence do the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the EU Green Deal or the German sustainability goals at federal and state level have on local action? To what extent are they supported and how can they be implemented? Are local authorities well enough positioned to achieve greater sustainability? What hurdles do they encounter and what influences the implementation of innovative digital sustainability projects on the ground? How can the pace for more sustainability be increased through intelligent networking? How can inter-municipal collaboration and cooperation with business and science work?
The discussion will shed light on the interrelationships, discuss obstacles and opportunities in practical implementation and take up current perspectives for action from science, politics and business.
Smart cities, smart regions – “smart” seems to have become a buzzword for all digital networking. But “smart” doesn’t just mean somehow digital, it means using digitalization to achieve set goals in new and different ways.
With this year’s main topic of the Digital Summit “More sustainability through digitalization”, we are calling for sustainability: Sustainability must always be a property of these set goals, ecologically, economically and socially.
We will be exploring these and other questions during the DIV20 week and look forward to discussing them with you.
10:30 – 10:40
Matthias Brucke, owner of embeteco GmbH & Co. KG and co-chair of the Smart Cities/Smart Regions expert group of the Digital Summit
Blockchain, chatbots, machine learning, AI, platformization. Bullshit bingo is being played diligently and now corona is too. However, digitalization and the associated ability to exchange information and the emerging digital platforms are changing our society and economy. The combination of these topics leads to a complexity that is difficult to penetrate. The key question for cities and regions is therefore: How do we need to change and how do we manage to become resilient to the coming changes, which are coming faster and faster? How do we preserve our cultural achievements and how do we make it possible to use the achievements of technology, especially digitalization, sensibly and in the service of people?
10:40 – 10:50
Joachim Schonowski, msg systems ag
Currently, the concepts of Smart City 1.0 to 4.0 can be seen as steps motivated more by technical and economic considerations. The implementation of a sensible balance in the sustainability triangle and the sustainable development of cities and regions, taking into account concepts of the circular economy, will lead to a Smart City 5.0 – a digitally connected ecosystem with a focus on nature and people at its center. Joachim Schonowski looks at the development and gives an outlook on what needs to be considered for the way forward.
10:50 – 11:00
With its new Urban Data Community and the “Data Competence Center for Cities and Regions” (DKSR), the Fraunhofer Morgenstadt initiative aims to support cities and urban businesses with infrastructure, technology and expertise for data-based transformation. The core is an open source data platform for cities and regions, which is made available in accordance with the latest standards and on the basis of full interoperability. The initiators provide an overview, insight and talk about the many years of experience that have led to the DKSR approach.
11:00 – 11:15
Taking into account various departmental funding programmes (BMI, BMWI, BMVI, BLE) and the additional funds from the latest economic stimulus packages, a good EUR 5 billion is now available at federal level alone for the active shaping of digital digitization in the area of public administration (e.g. OZG implementation) and in the area of public infrastructure in cities and regions (e.g. smart cities, smart rural regions, 5G model regions, etc.). The question is whether and how it is possible to make the best possible use of this enormous budget. The impulse provides the introduction to the subsequent discussion with municipal practitioners and experts from business and science.
11:15 – 12:00
12:00 – 12:15
Jan Rüter, research associate at the German Federal Environmental Foundation in the sustainable.digital project
Sustainability and digitalization – when considered together – can create ecological, social and economic benefits for companies. As topics for the future, they often seem too big for a single company or region – but there are also (small) starting points with which companies can position themselves to be future-proof and resilient and thus also strengthen the region. How can digital innovations, processes or concepts be used for sustainable business? To make it as easy as possible for companies and economic players to get started, the nachhaltig.digital initiative has put together building blocks with practical starting points for small and medium-sized enterprises. Jan Rüter presents these.
10:30 – 10:35
Jens Mühlner, T-Systems International GmbH and Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Intelligent Networking Working Group
10:35 – 10:50
Jerg Theurer, mhascaro GmbH
The digitalization of cities and society as a whole affects every individual. The combination of open data and open networks can create an open, data-driven region (open region) in which all citizens can contribute to implementation and thus to success. The concept of the participatory city and the open region is becoming established, driven by German and European initiatives that are primarily focused on public benefit and sustainability. The city of Herrenberg and the Stuttgart region have also adopted these concepts. Jerg Theurer provides an insight into the concrete implementation and assistance for a practice-oriented introduction to open sensor networks.
10:50 – 11:05
Jens Olejak, Head of Product Management for “New Access Technologies” at Deutsche Telekom IoT GmbH
The basis of every intelligently networked city and region is available and suitable networks. However, the infrastructure requirements are as varied as the applications. For the Internet of Things (IoT) in particular, there is now an often confusing variety of special technologies. Jens Olejak provides an overview of the mobile radio and transmission technologies currently relevant for smart city and smart region projects, explains the differences and compares the advantages and disadvantages in a practical way that non-technicians can also understand.
11:05 – 11:20
Dr. David Hoeflmayr, CI Cloud Item GmbH
Presentation by Dr. David Hoeflmayr
Anglicisms such as “asset light”, “DevOps” and “user-centered design” stand for strategies with which digital companies have achieved great market success in a short space of time. Away from the world of long-term investment planning and complex system integration, cost-effective and powerful applications have been created. These “easy” strategies are also increasingly found in smart cities and regions. Using waste disposal as an example, Dr. David Hoeflmayr shows how fast and cost-effective IOT innovations can be implemented.
11:20 – 12:00
Ensuring a healthy life for all people of all ages and promoting their well-being is an objective of sustainable development. This goal could not be more relevant in light of the global Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic has highlighted the vulnerability of healthcare systems worldwide and also revealed the need to accelerate the implementation of digital healthcare infrastructures. Furthermore, demographic trends in Germany in particular are causing the demand for healthcare services to rise ever faster. In addition, geographical inequalities are creating a relative shortage of doctors, nurses and therapists.
16:00 – 16:15
Prof. Dr. med. Klaus Juffernbruch, FOM Hochschule für Oekonomie & Management gGmbH and Co-Head of the Intelligent Health Networks Expert Group
The German healthcare system is geared towards providing comprehensive, high-quality care. However, the demographic and structural changes that have been observed in recent years have led to new challenges. The demand for healthcare services is constantly increasing. At the same time, there is a relative and, in some cases, an absolute shortage of healthcare providers who can maintain the current high quality standard of medical, therapeutic and nursing care in Germany. This is becoming clear in the nursing sector, for example, but also in medical care in rural areas. Current events, such as the global coronavirus pandemic, are creating new challenges in terms of the availability of medicines and medical aids as well as safe diagnostics and treatment. Innovative ideas are needed to ensure sustainability in the healthcare sector in order to continue to guarantee high-quality care throughout the country. In addition to medical sustainability, it is also important to take social aspects into account and to ensure the long-term affordability of healthcare while making the best possible use of and conserving existing natural resources. Digitalization in the healthcare sector can play a decisive role here.
16:15 – 16:45
Prof. Dr. Gernot Marx, RWTH Aachen University Hospital and Co-Head of the Intelligent Health Networks Working Group
16:45 – 17:30
John Benad, wohlvertraut GmbH
The focus of sustainable digitalization is on people and their self-determination. Being able to participate in society and meet everyday needs independently or with help is increasingly becoming a social challenge. People are often dependent on regional care services for this. The services provided by volunteers are an integral part of caring for people living together in cities. The digitalization and networking of social institutions in neighbourhoods and the people who depend on these services are the key to sustainable accessibility of support services. The networking of regional players optimizes the accessibility of neighbourhood services and increases the efficiency between voluntary work and professional care. Collaboration between urban, social and private stakeholders strengthens social cohesion. The technologies used for this (Smart City) promote sustainable social and ecological development of the neighborhoods. With the help of interoperability strategies and associated interfaces, new solutions such as telemedicine, telecare and innovative mobility concepts are easily scalable. In an interactive presentation, a digital neighborhood (in Potsdam) will be used to show how sustainable care works and future trends will be discussed.
16:00 – 16:45
Dr. Bettina Horster, Member of the Executive Board of VIVAI Software AG
The Eighth Report on Ageing and the Federal Government’s statement clearly state this: Digital assistance systems are the solution to enable people with assistance needs to live autonomously, independently and safely for longer. At the same time, there is enormous savings potential for local authorities through the use of these systems, but the incentives are still lacking. A flat fee to the regional associations or districts and administrative hurdles due to a lack of billing options are to blame, which demotivate local authorities to use digital assistance systems. In view of demographic change and the care crisis, there is an urgent need for political action: local authorities that use digital assistance systems should also be rewarded for doing so.
In addition to a keynote speech, the session also offers time for a short discussion on the topic.
16:45 – 17:30
Dr. Karl-Heinz Krempels, Head of Department Intelligent Mobility and Digital Platforms, Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT
Rapid digitalization is often driven forward with objectives relating to socio-political developments, regional economic efficiency or the achievement of long-term sustainable benefits for regions, sectors or society. Often, the resulting long-term effects on those affected are no longer examined and an improvement in their situation is assumed per se. However, long-term sequential optimization offensives and technology deployment create a situation that optimizes the lives of others, driven by technology and the economy. The aim of the workshop is to present and discuss current real-world examples of such scenarios of technological, environmental and social change.
16:00 – 17:00
Prof. Dr. Klaus-Uwe Gollmer, Expert Group IoT and Hochschule Trier
A CO2 alarm can give an indication of the potential risk of infection indoors. If pupils build and expand their own measuring devices, they learn a lot about the STEM background of the pandemic and the technology of networked systems. IoT CO2 traffic lights from the IoT2 workshop enable worldwide data access and storage in the cloud. This makes it easy to visualize ventilation scenarios (tilt vs. cross ventilation) and start school competitions (who ventilates correctly – and helps protect the climate?). Many cities and districts across Germany are now in the process of adopting this idea for their schools. The IoT2 workshop developed by the IoT expert group is a universal tool for training and rapid prototyping in the Internet of Things.
Access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy for all is the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal. The digitalization of the critical infrastructure of the local energy supply is a key to the success of this goal and the energy transition that has already begun. Particularly in light of the German phase-out of nuclear power and coal energy, the innovations of intelligent networking must be implemented on a broad scale in order to keep the increasing complexity of the overall system stable, secure and at the usual high level.
09:00 – 09:10
09:10 – 09:25
Matthias Brucke, owner of embeteco GmbH & Co. KG and co-chair of the Smart Cities/Smart Regions expert group of the Digital Summit
Energy from neighbors for neighbors: under this motto, the Energy Neighborhood Quarter Fliegerhorst Oldenburg (ENaQ) project is developing a climate-friendly and forward-looking energy concept for the Helleheide district. Most of the energy required is to be covered by locally generated energy. As part of the resulting district concept called “energy neighborhoods”, a network of producers and consumers will be formed that are located in close proximity to each other. Surplus energy is converted into other forms of energy and stored or supplied directly. This means that this energy can be used immediately by neighboring consumers. The concept pursues the idea of increasing energy efficiency by avoiding “waste energy” and increasing the local consumption of “neighborhood” generated energy. As part of the project, the district is also to be developed as a real laboratory. In the future, further projects are to be initiated and implemented in this laboratory and research results are to be tested with the greatest possible participation of the residents.
09:25 – 09:40
Dr. Andreas Breuer, E.ON SE and Head of the Intelligent Energy Networks Expert Group
Against the backdrop of the SDG targets and climate policy goals, the aim is to build climate-neutral neighborhoods. In this context, neighborhoods will have very different requirements and characteristics. Not every neighborhood will therefore have the opportunity to make itself climate-neutral. This is where a systemic network can provide a solution, which is being implemented using the SmartQuart real-world laboratory. Dr. Andreas Breuer, Head of R&D in the Energy Networks division at E.ON SE, will provide an impulse in this regard.
09:25 – 09:40
Dr. Andreas Breuer, E.ON SE and Head of the Intelligent Energy Networks Expert Group
Against the backdrop of the SDG targets and climate policy goals, the aim is to build climate-neutral neighborhoods. In this context, neighborhoods will have very different requirements and characteristics. Not every neighborhood will therefore have the opportunity to make itself climate-neutral. This is where a systemic network can provide a solution, which is being implemented using the SmartQuart real-world laboratory. Dr. Andreas Breuer, Head of R&D in the Energy Networks division at E.ON SE, will provide an impulse in this regard.
09:40 – 10:00
Dr. Christoph Mayer, Head of Energy Division (OFFIS)
On the way to “energetic neighborhoods” / “local energy communities”, municipalities must find new solutions for which there are hardly any role models. Science can be a valuable partner in this process. Dr. Christoph Mayer, Head of the Energy Department at OFFIS – Institute for Information Technology, will use several examples to show how this can be achieved successfully, including through new forms of citizen participation.
10:00 – 10:45
Franziska Straten, Business Development enyway
By selling their energy to end customers, we not only enable renewable electricity producers to continue operating their plants after the EEG feed-in tariff expires, but also show ways of financing new plants in times of falling EEG feed-in tariffs with the active participation of local citizens. In doing so, we rely on 100% digital processes and thus enable a green electricity supply that is usually cheaper than electricity from large suppliers. In our session, after a brief presentation of our model, we would like to work out the opportunities for decision-makers in municipalities and companies and develop scenarios with the participants on how regional value creation in the field of renewable energies can look.
10:45 – 11:30
Ensuring inclusive, equitable and high-quality education right from the start and promoting lifelong learning is the goal of a sustainable education policy. Digitalization is also changing the demands placed on young people and the labour market. The Covid-19 pandemic has made it clear that Germany has a lot of catching up to do when it comes to digitalizing the entire education chain. This applies not only to technological equipment and new didactic concepts for the use of digital tools in lesson design, but also to the courage to use them.
More cross-sectional digital skills at a high level among all people are increasingly (co-)decisive for employability and innovative capacity. What is needed is the establishment and expansion of intelligent education networks and the development of digital skills across the entire education sector. This will enable the use of existing and the development of further viable and scalable blended learning concepts and hybrid learning spaces for the use of digital media that allow for flexible switching between presence and distance. In addition, skills in the STEM disciplines will be integrated even more strongly into all educational concepts.
The workshop is divided into three parts: Part I discusses overarching guidelines of quality education; Part II shows exciting concrete implementation projects on quality education in the context of sustainability and Part III invites you to participate in a digital simulation game!
Discuss with us, contribute your ideas and help to raise education to a high quality level.
16:00 – 16:05
16:05 – 16:30
Intelligent education networks: concept and objectives
16:30 – 17:00
Dr. Thomas Bartoschek, Reedu GmbH & Co. KG / Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster
With the senseBox, the University of Münster has developed a networked (IoT) construction kit for environmental measuring stations that can be used for digital learning in schools and universities – as open source hardware. In addition to the pressing issues surrounding climate change and air pollution, the focus is on so-called 21st century skills: alongside digital skills such as learning to program, algorithmic thinking and data literacy, these also include aspects such as creativity, cooperation and participation. Learners are free to build and program a measuring device according to their own sustainability-related questions, collect data, publish it live on the openSenseMap platform and analyze it later. Aspects of the smart city can be taken up with the idea of participating in the collection of environmental data via sensors and data transmission to the Internet (of Things). The product and project-oriented learning approach increases motivation and effectiveness, in line with the motto “observe – understand – act”.
In the workshop, the teaching and learning formats around the senseBox will be presented and placed in the context of sustainability. The simplified visual programming of the senseBox will be shown in a demonstration.
16:30 – 17:00
Prof. Dr. Klaus-Uwe Gollmer, IoT expert group, Hochschule Trier
IoT and AI are playing an increasingly important role in society. Our education system must respond to this. We should learn to shape digitalization ourselves if we don’t want to end up as mere data suppliers for international companies. The aim of our educational platform is to quickly implement our own ideas and learn how distributed systems work. The IoT² workshop (Internet of Things and Thinking) makes IoT² tangible: whether a CO₂ traffic light, the fill level sensor in the garbage can or the particulate matter sensor in citizen science. All of these applications can be playfully implemented using a graphical programming language. The workshop is an initiative of the Internet of Things expert group, part of the nationwide STEM alliance and the computer science profile schools in Rhineland-Palatinate.
16:30 – 17:00
Jens Tiemann, FOKUS Fraunhofer
The world is becoming smart – city, region, home … How can as many people as possible not only better understand these trends of intelligent networking, but also use them in their respective fields of work? Specialist expertise (e.g. from public administration) must be able to use the Internet of Things even without prior technical knowledge. The Thinking IoT workshop, which has already been successfully held several times, shows one way forward: After categorizing the Internet of Things (IoT), participants use simple templates to deal specifically with usable data and possible processes. In this presentation of the workshop concept, you can find out more about the aim, content, methodology and experiences.
16:30 – 17:00
Prof. Dr. Susanne Hensel-Börner, Professor and Director of Studies at the HSBA Hamburg School of Business Administration
Digitalization enables the individualization and measurement of learning processes on an unprecedented scale. At the same time, unrestricted access to digitized information is shaking the foundations of traditional educational goals, which still focus on cognitive skills. And so critics argue against this: Instead of standardized knowledge transfer, the 4 C’s – Creativity, Communication, Collaboration and Critical Thinking – should be considered the key competencies of the 21st century. In the workshop, the Master’s program Digital Transformation & Sustainability will be presented, which has initiated networked thinking with its innovative teaching concept and defined the 17 SDGs as a guiding principle. At the same time, it will be shown why a currency reform is needed in education if students are to be trained to shape the future of a sustainable world.
17:00 – 17:30
17:30 – 17:45
17:45 – 18:30
Sarah Lechner, icondu
The SDGs provide the basis for overcoming the complexity of sustainability. The prerequisite is that they are viewed as an overall system – not easy due to the interdependencies and feedback loops. Digital SDG models that simulate alternative courses of action within an individual framework can help.
The “Sustain2030” simulation game shows how a digital SDG model works. The participants work together to choose measures to promote sustainable development in Germany. Different interests, a limited budget and unforeseeable events complicate the process.
The simulation game workshop shows how digital models support the correct use of the target system and how municipalities can also use this approach to create a sustainability agenda in a participatory process.
Promoting lasting, broad-based and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work is the eighth of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Under this umbrella, we would like to address the topics of working environments and economic growth. Digitalization is changing our world of work and this development has not only been accelerated during the coronavirus crisis. It also became clear that new ways of working and collaborating work, are widely accepted and will prevail in one form or another in the long term. All of this harbors great potential for sustainable work and business; at the same time, there are changing demands on municipalities, companies and the population in general.
We will discuss some of the many exciting facets of this topic in two sessions: What will the organization of the future look like and what requirements are necessary? And – what examples of implementation strategies already exist?
We look forward to exciting contributions and perspectives!
09:00 – 09:10
09:10 -09:20
09:20 – 10:00
Hannah Strobel, Next Economy Lab e.V.
Digitalization and sustainability – two challenges that need to be considered together, both in terms of organizational structure and individually. But how do we create this connection?
We are convinced that flexible organizational structures help employees to act sustainably. Digital tools are the key to enabling a culture of transparency, trust and effective collaboration. This creates space for innovative thinking, independent and sustainable work. Because only when the good ideas of all employees are given room to develop will the necessary potential and synergies arise to shape digitalization and sustainability together.
In our interactive format, we provide an insight into what such organizations of the future could look like.
09:20 – 10:00
The COVID-19 pandemic has put remote working high up on the social agenda. How can smart city and smart home concepts be made fit for this challenge in the long term?
09:20 – 10:00
Sebastian Kurowski, Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO
Many companies assess their risks. In some cases with many years of expert knowledge, in others with huge collections of data. However, it is often overlooked that the definition of a risk as an event in itself is likely to follow a rather broad probability distribution. This is because the possibilities of a risk occurring can be extremely varied across different threat agents, with the most diverse threats in relation to heterogeneous vulnerabilities. In addition, the probability can fluctuate greatly depending on the countermeasure used, the position of the measure and the source of the attack.
The consequence is that companies run the risk of acting out of fear. “Too many” measures are not financially sustainable, while “too few” measures do not adequately address the risk.
On the other hand, a detailed examination and consideration of the different materialization paths and an associated restriction of the solution space of risk materialization paths can strengthen the sustainability of security measures.
10:05 – 10:45
David Sossna, Institute for Process Management and Digital Transformation (IPD) at Münster University of Applied Sciences
Everyone will probably agree that sustainability goals make sense. However, when it comes to shaping change, there is often unexpected resistance, especially in urban and regional development. In this session, we will present an approach that has been successfully tested in practice to shape change in such a way that sustainability goals are achieved in the region through the integration of interests and the use of social, economic and technological trends, while at the same time generating economic growth.
10:05 – 10:45
Bettina Gehbauer-Schumacher, Smart Script – Specialist communication for architecture and energy
Presentation by Bettina Gehbauer-Schumacher
The approximately 186,000 public buildings in Germany can make a significant contribution to sustainable development. Digital twins support all those involved in a property by mapping an integrated process chain over the life cycle. For example, in planning (3D visualization as a decision-making aid), construction (optimized use of materials), operation (facilitated maintenance), dismantling/demolition (overview of which materials are used where, in what quantity and type).
These advantages are particularly relevant when the client is also the user. The 2016 Public Procurement Ordinance allows the life cycle and digital working methods to be taken into account. Building Information Modeling (BIM) can thus help to increase economic efficiency in construction and implement integrated (neighbourhood) concepts.
In the session, the concept of digital building/quarter twins will be presented and discussed with the participants against the background of economic efficiency and sustainability.
10:05 – 10:45
Prof. Dr. Florian Koch, Professor of Real Estate Management, Smart Cities and Urban Development at the HTW Berlin University of Applied Sciences
More and more municipalities are aligning their sustainability strategies with the SDGs. The discussion about possible SDG indicators and corresponding measures plays a decisive role here. Which indicators can be used and what measures exist at municipal level to implement the SDGs? So far, however, the role of digitalization and smart city approaches has been little discussed in this context. In this presentation, the example of SDG monitoring in the Berlin district of Treptow-Köpenick will be presented and the aspects of decent work and economic growth will be discussed in particular. How is SDG 8 defined at the district level, which measures and indicators exist for this and what role does digitalization play?
10:45 – 11:00
Building a resilient infrastructure, promoting broad-based and sustainable industrialization and supporting innovation is one of the 17 goals of sustainable development. A cornerstone of change on the way there is the digitalization of mobility and our overall social mobility behaviour.
16:00 – 16:10
16:10 – 16:30
Prof. Dr. Michael Ortgiese, Head of Business Unit Development, Institute of Transportation Systems, DLR and Chair of Traffic and Mobility Management, TU Berlin
16:30 – 16:45
16:45 – 16:55
Joachim Klink, T-Systems International GmbH
Traffic control is one of the most direct ways of influencing the environmental situation, especially in cities. Intelligently networked systems can improve air quality without restricting people’s mobility across the board. The aim is to avoid traffic jams and traffic searching for parking spaces and to encourage greater use of public transport, bicycles and sharing services.
The lever: In future, digital networking and the use of comprehensive real-time data will enable traffic to be controlled in a more situation-specific, targeted, flexible and faster way than before. With the concept of environmentally sensitive traffic management, the current level of air pollution will become the decisive control criterion for traffic measures. Joachim Klink provides an insight into the current state of development and an outlook on what is feasible in the future.
17:00 – 17:40
Thanks to innovative, multimodal and increasingly digital mobility services, the market for personal and needs-based mobility has been undergoing dynamic change for several years. Despite successful flagship projects, the development of new mobility services (such as sharing and pooling concepts) has often only taken place to a limited extent in rural areas.
17:40 – 18:00
Digitalization is advancing in leaps and bounds and is not stopping at mobility. ITS Germany has been working at the interface between computer systems and telecommunications for more than 20 years and is actively supporting the dynamics of the mobility transition. Since 2016, ITS Germany has been responsible for the support and further development of the manufacturer-independent standard interface “HUSST”. The presentation will focus on the role of the manufacturer-independent standard interface using the example of Germany’s first mobility platform of Stadtwerke Osnabrück and the advantages of such a mobility platform.
17:00 – 18:00
Monika Dernai, BMW Group Corporate Strategy
The connectivity of cars today offers a great deal of potential and also supports sustainable urban mobility. In an urban context, vehicles as “rolling sensors” provide data that can optimize sustainable mobility, e.g. by improving air quality or avoiding traffic jams. The BMW Group is in dialog with cities about this. Important: Data protection must be ensured.
17:00 – 18:00
Sören Kerner, Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML / Learning Systems Platform
Artificial intelligence (AI) will fundamentally change our mobility and the transportation of goods. Supported by networked, AI-based systems, people and goods will be able to reach their destinations more flexibly, faster and in a more environmentally friendly way in the future. The Learning Systems platform outlines how in an environmental scenario. The basis for intelligently networked logistics is AI-based multimodal transport planning, which controls and optimizes the logistics and transport process of goods using predictive and tactical methods. For example, it organizes the automatic transfer of goods from road to rail; highly automated vehicles and delivery robots take care of transport and delivery. The transformation to intelligent, sustainable logistics requires standards and trust in the systems.
17:00 – 18:00
Presentation by Christian Clawien and Jörg Becke
With the idealistic goal of making cities cleaner, quieter and less stressful, THE GOOD TURN aims to lay the foundations for a functioning mobility transition: A change in behavior on a broad scale. After all, the options are there, but people often get stuck in routines. Not only does better networking of different systems play a role, but also daily reflection on how we move around in urban and rural areas. An index forms the core of the initiative. It breaks down the complexity of urban traffic into a single figure. This makes the current traffic load visible and enables behavioral recommendations for the use of various mobility options. The index is based on traffic flows, environmental data and the use of sustainable mobility options.
18:00 – 18:30
The current Covid-19 pandemic is overshadowing many topics in the media that are at least as important, if not more so. This includes climate change. Taking immediate action to combat climate change and its effects is therefore one of the UN goals. However, there is a risk that climate protection will take a back seat due to the current situation.
09:00 – 09:10
Carl-Ernst Müller, Coordinator sustainable.digital, B.A.U.M. e.V.
09:15 – 09:30
Prof. Dr. Kerstin Krellenberg, Institute for Geography and Regional Research, University of Vienna
09:30 – 09:50
09:50 – 10:30
Digital technologies can make an important contribution to environmental and climate protection in intelligently networked cities and regions. However, our digital world comes with heavy baggage: data traffic requires an infrastructure of servers, data centers, lots of transmission technology and, of course, the corresponding devices. As a result, digitalization is responsible for constantly increasing energy consumption, the production of smart tools, which is sometimes very harmful to the environment, and large quantities of electronic waste. How can digitalization drive sustainable development in this way without merely fuelling climate change?
In this session, we want to give a brief overview of what the ecological footprint of digitalization consists of and present various start-ups and SMEs that have developed solutions for sustainable digitalization.
09:50 – 10:30
Vincent Bohlen, Fraunhofer FOKUS and “REFLOW” project manager
The Horizon 2020 project “REFLOW” focuses on the development of regenerative cities through the transformation of urban material flows. The aim is to improve the sustainability of cities and peri-urban areas in the long term: Waste of various kinds is to be fed back into the material cycle more comprehensively and efficiently than today and thus become a valuable resource. At the heart of the project is the development of best practices to enable cities to implement sustainable circular economy models.
REFLOW relies on a co-creative process: local authorities, citizens, SMEs, industry leaders and researchers work together on solution strategies in urban innovation spaces and workshops.
09:50 – 10:50
Nils Giesen, abat AG
Measures to combat climate change are one of the most important tasks of our time. Even if other issues are currently urgent for local authorities, the targeted solution to these challenges should be tackled as part of a digital transformation. The aim of this session is the agile development of the requirements of cities & municipalities for digital solutions for climate protection in order to make measures measurable and controllable. Inputs will focus on the combined effectiveness, but also on the opposing effects of municipal and private sector activities and the possibility of being able to recognize these promptly through reporting.
09:50 – 10:30
Katrin Fritsch, MOTIF Institute for Digital Culture
Artificial intelligence (AI) is often seen as the solution to the climate crisis. At the same time, AI not only has high CO₂ emissions, but can also exacerbate social inequalities. In this session, we combine (digital) human rights with the topic of climate protection. We will discuss the following questions: What new topics, beyond CO₂ emissions, are emerging in the field of AI and sustainability? What can we learn from the ethics and AI debate? And, how can we research and understand new challenges at the interface of AI and climate protection and make them feasible for cities and municipalities?
09:50 – 10:50
Felix Sühlmann-Faul, Sociology Sühlmann-Faul
A look back shows that technology and society have always engaged in a tense dance. The aim has always been to steer the positive and negative potential of technology. Today, digitalization brings with it many social and ecological sustainability deficits. However, concrete examples show how some cities, municipalities and local energy suppliers are using digitalization for sustainability in areas such as mobility, energy supply, climate protection and air quality. This also shows that digitalization is sustainable when it is understood as a community effort and takes place in close cooperation with the population.
09:50 – 10:30
Svenja Grauel, Ruhr West University of Applied Sciences / Prosperkolleg
How can cities and regions network in such a way that they succeed in the transformation to sustainable development in practice? How can they acquire the knowledge they need to develop sustainable solutions as quickly as possible? In this workshop, we would first like to show examples of sustainable (digital) innovations in the circular economy that have been created through the structured exchange of actors with diverse skills and backgrounds. We will then discuss with the participants how co-creation and open innovation processes can be applied to their own specific problems.
09:50 – 10:30
Sina Brod, Klima-Kollekte – Church Compensation Fund
Cities and municipalities can be drivers for practical and climate-friendly solutions. Climate protection is a key part of this. The aim is to implement measures to avoid and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and offset unavoidable greenhouse gas emissions. Klima-Kollekte presents its range of services and shows how climate protection and poverty reduction are linked through climate protection projects in the field of energy efficiency and renewable energies. This is because people in the countries of the Global South are often more severely affected by the consequences of climate change, even though they contribute the least to it. In addition to introducing the topic of offsetting, the focus is on the sustainability and quality of climate protection projects and their specific contribution to the SDGs.
09:50 – 11:00
Alexander Jaworski, University of Leipzig
Recent studies suggest that the loss of agricultural land and the impact this has on different regions around the world will become increasingly volatile due to the effects of climate change, putting pressure on the agricultural system to provide sufficient quantities of food. With an equally growing population and changing dynamics in global food markets, it is important to find solutions for more resilient methods of food production that are closer to urban centers. Vertical farming systems have recently emerged as a potential solution for urban agriculture. While there is a growing body of literature examining the potential of urban and vertical farming systems, only a limited number of studies have examined the sustainability of these systems.
The aim of this format is to understand the environmental impacts of vertical food growing in cities and towns so that the promising potential can be realized in a sustainable way. To further reduce the impact of these systems, more resource-efficient steps are needed to improve the impact of their electricity demand and there is an opportunity to develop more symbiotic exchanges to utilize urban waste and by-products. The basis for discussion is the digitalization of cities to connect fully automated vertical farming systems and other sectors (e.g. energy sector and recycling sector) to create synergies.
Dr. Anke Skopec, Berlin Institute for Innovation Research GmbH
The current situation in city centres and rural areas is characterized by population migration to urban centers and depopulation of city centres. The important economic and social function of retail is being cannibalized and replaced by large-scale offers in urban peripheries, online and delivery services. As a result, transportation costs, returns requirements and the destruction of usable products are increasing. For a more sustainable organization of processes, new solutions based on digitalization and process optimization that are accepted by consumers could be used and automated processes and collaborations could be used as an approach for an alternative form of innovative networking. The article presents the results of the current study “Problems in retail” (BIFI, 2020) for the first time. From this, a vision for sustainable work in stationary retail is derived in order to subsequently present possible solutions. These include the fully automated collaboration of all market participants in market research on the basis of smart solutions and intelligent data analysis, the reduction of logistics costs and returns by means of demand-oriented control and micro contracting, the organization of local, decentralized logistics hubs or logistics nodes and the supplementation of physical sampling with virtual, entertainment-oriented approaches as well as the merging of offline and online recipes for success.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. (habil.), Dr. h. c. Thomas Stautmeister, IpeA – Institut für prozessadaptive und erfahrungsbasierte Automatisierung GmbH and INNOTECH Holztechnologien GmbH
The opinion is gradually gaining ground that the sustainability of economic and stationary operations can be increased through the use of digital solutions and end-to-end digitalization approaches. This thesis is based in particular on the fact that data can be digitally recorded, managed and intelligently evaluated in real time, allowing processes to be simulated and proactively controlled on the basis of current data. The approach of using “digital twins” now allows complex, multidimensional simulations of entire value chains across all elements involved and the associated, forward-looking forecast of results. This also makes it possible to use optimized control and operational strategies for the associated processes. This article briefly presents representative solutions, some of which have already been put into use, and concepts that are currently under development. The starting point is a methodology for developing sustainable design solutions for new products and services. This is followed by solutions for virtual product configuration, personalized product presentation using augmented and mixed reality approaches and collaborative product search, which are already being used for omni-channel sales and retail strategies in the retail sector. A solution concept for smart furniture solutions in shopfitting and its potential are outlined and the combination with a platform concept for collaboration along value chains is briefly discussed. Embedded in this is a consideration of the use of event-initiated transportation services and their economic processing on the basis of blockchain technology.
09:50 – 10:30
Dominik Campanella, restado.de UG
The construction industry is the biggest polluter in the world – 60% of global waste, 50% of total CO₂ emissions and 40% of resource extraction come from it. Half of CO₂ emissions are generated before a building is even completed. The main reason for this is the “take-make-waste” model of building materials, which are only used once and then disposed of – although a large proportion can be reused. However, this does not currently happen with 1%. This workshop aims to shed light on the issue of resource efficiency in the construction industry, highlight challenges and develop solutions. The focus is on the role of cities and regions and their ability to make the circular economy possible in the construction industry. The aim is to provide participants with an overview and approaches.
09:50 – 10:30
Christoph Reithmair, OmniCert Consulting GmbH
Software should be durable and open in order to make digitalization as sustainable as possible. The internet was once free and open, but now the digital space is increasingly resembling a digital marketplace. So what can local politicians and each and every one of us do to limit commercialization, power asymmetries and the formation of monopolies and support infrastructures and services for the common good at
?
Open data – the provision of open data – is a trend, but smaller municipalities in particular find it difficult to provide data. What exactly is open data and how can cities and regions make open data available and why should they do so?
Smart cities, smart regions – “smart” seems to have become a buzzword for all digital networking. But “smart” doesn’t just mean somehow digital, it means using digitalization to achieve set goals in new and different ways.
With this year’s main topic of the Digital Summit “More sustainability through digitalization”, we are calling for sustainability: Sustainability must always be a property of these set goals, ecologically, economically and socially.
14:30 – 14:45
The Federal Government has set itself the goal of maintaining Germany’s rural regions as attractive and vital living spaces and promoting equal living conditions. With the Federal Rural Development Program (BULE), the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) aims to promote and disseminate innovative approaches in rural development. BULE and its projects make an overarching contribution to SDG 11 “Sustainable Cities and Communities” and a topic-specific contribution to SDG 8 “Jobs and Economic Growth” as well as to other SDGs of the 2030 Agenda. The session will provide an overview of BULE with a focus on digitalization. Subsequently, funding projects of the Land.Digital measure and the new model project “Smarte.Land.Regionen” will be presented and the implementation of digital measures in the context of sustainability will be discussed.
14:45 – 15:30
The “SmarteKARRE” (Prof. Dr. Martina Klärle, Klärle GmbH and Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences)
Introduction of a digital, innovative e-car sharing service – powered by renewable energies – for the village community of Schäftersheim (topics: mobility, renewable energies, sustainability goals: 11, 13)
The “VHS FOR ALL” (Isabelle Martial, vhs Papenburg)
Development of a range of time- and location-independent training and qualification opportunities in rural regions that are difficult to access and for people with limited mobility (topics: Education, participation, employment, sustainability goals: 11, 10, 4, 8)
The “Pharmacy 2.0” (Alina Behne, University of Osnabrück)
Development of analog and digital options to ensure sensible supply options for people in structurally weak rural regions and to counteract the “pharmacy decline”. The supply of medicines should continue to be guaranteed and the range of services offered by pharmacies should be expanded. (Topic: Health, sustainability goals: 11, 3)
The “Smarte.Land.Regionen” pilot project (Meik Poschen, KomLE/BLE office)
15:30 – 15:55
15:55 – 16:00
14:30 – 16:00
Dr. Nico Grove, kapena
The workshop aims to discuss and identify solutions for investment and cooperation models for intelligent networking and smart city projects.
After four days of in-depth consideration of experiences and potential for action for more sustainability through intelligently networked cities and regions from the perspectives of seven selected UN Sustainable Development Goals, we will look back together with the session sponsors at the closing event to summarize the most important findings and results.
With two thought-provoking impulses and the concluding discussion, the focus will then turn to the future. What further developments can we expect? Is Germany on the right track? Are local authorities well enough positioned to achieve greater sustainability through digitalization and what remains to be done? What international examples should Germany follow? How can the pace for more sustainability be increased through intelligent networking? How can inter-municipal collaboration and cooperation with business and science work? Where are difficulties still seen and what could help?
16:00 – 16:30
16:30 – 16: 40
Dirk Meyer, Head of Division, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety
16:40 – 16:50
Kari Aina Eik, Secretary General Organization for International Economic Relations (OiER), Leader U4SSC Implementation Program
16:50 – 17:20
17:20 – 17:30
Martin Oldeland, Managing Director B.A.U.M. e.V.
17:30
The two breakout sessions 1 and 2 were unfortunately canceled at short notice.
nachhaltig.digital / B.A.U.M. e.V.
innogy SE
embeteco GmbH & Co KG
T-Systems International GmbH
T-Systems International GmbH
FOM University of Applied Sciences for Economics & Management gGmbH
City of Cologne
Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V.
Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy
Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food
T-Systems International GmbH
nachhaltig.digital / B.A.U.M. e.V.
Ludwig-Maximilians-University/ MÜNCHNER KREIS
FTTX-F¡TH® Consulting
Cisco Germany
Bitkom e.V.
T-Systems International GmbH
EDASCA SCE
As a high-level expert committee with around 300 experts from more than 150 companies and institutions, the Digital Summit’s Intelligent Networking Working Group supports the digital transformation of the infrastructure sectors in Germany in nine thematic subgroups. As part of the Digital Summit process, recommendations for implementation at federal, state and municipal level are developed with the aim of ensuring and further developing suitable framework conditions in order to advance digital networking in Germany. With its experts, the Intelligent Networking Working Group accompanies developments at the interface between politics and business and has been making important contributions to the public debate for years.
nachhaltig.digital is a joint project of the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU) and the Bundesdeutscher Arbeitskreis für umweltbewusstes Management (B.A.U.M.) e.V. The competence platform for sustainability and digitalization in SMEs aims to support the integration of sustainability aspects into digital change and innovation processes. Primarily with and for SMEs, dialogues are supported, ideas are networked and concrete solutions are developed across industry boundaries. nachhaltig.digital is the place for ideas, products, solutions, inspiration and discussion – digital and analog, online and offline, virtual and on-site. We are looking for all the answers to make digitalization the best possible instrument for a future worth living.
The MÜNCHNER KREIS provides orientation for mastering the challenges of digital transformation. As a non-profit association, the MÜNCHNER KREIS offers an independent, interdisciplinary and international platform that enables active and diverse discourse between experts from business, science and politics. With a wide range of activities, the members of the Münchner Kreis analyze future developments and thus generate well-founded guiding principles on the technical, economic, political and social challenges in the field of tension of the digital transformation.
Charter of Digital Networking is a cross-company, cross-industry and cross-association initiative that emerged from the National IT Summit (now the Digital Summit). Its aim is to conduct a dialog on the future across all levels of society and to create a common understanding of the path to the digital society. The supporting association is open to companies of all sizes, associations and initiatives as well as representatives and institutions from academia and private individuals. It is based on a charter with ten principles that address the social and economic potential of digitalization as well as the handling of data, infrastructures and standards. The charter documents a common set of values and a sense of responsibility in dealing with digitalization.
The Stadt.Land.Digital initiative sees itself as a competence center, point of contact, multiplier and supporter for all relevant stakeholders and topics on the way to a “smart” city and a “smart” region. On behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), we want to promote smart networking in Germany.
We offer a wide range of support for this: We provide information, guidance, advice, networking and support in the design and implementation of digital strategies. Specifically, we report on relevant developments and good practices, organize networking meetings and local workshops in various regions and publish studies on the topic of smart cities and smart regions.
With around 20,000 personal and 250 corporate members, Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI) is the largest and most important professional society for computer science in the German-speaking world and has represented the interests of computer scientists in science, business, public administration, society and politics since 1969.
With 14 specialist areas, over 30 active regional groups and countless specialist groups, the GI is a platform and mouthpiece for all disciplines in computer science. The GI is the professional association for computer science in the German-speaking world.
