Future viability through the digital transformation of public services #DIVKon21
From Monday to Thursday, there will be eight time slots in the mornings and afternoons with various parallel sessions dedicated to the implementation and cooperative digitalization of the selected areas of public services. The sessions will have a duration of 60-90 minutes and different formats (lecture, discussion round, debate, workshop, etc.).
At the end of the conference on November 11, 2021, there will be a closing session that covers all the individual events of the week, takes up the discussion and impulses from the opening event and summarizes the results and experiences from all sessions in a weekly review.
The digital networking of the infrastructure sectors of energy, health, transport, education and public administration is a fundamental component of the provision of services of general interest in our society. Here, as well as in the digital transformation of cities and regions under the term “smart city/smart region”, it becomes clear how much the requirements and expectations for securing “independent existence” and future viability are changing on the way to the digital society.
Shaping this development consciously and sustainably requires an open and well-founded discourse. To this end, #DIVKon21 offers a common space, a variety of impulses and experience reports. All sessions should be characterized by the fact that they invite an interactive exchange on sustainability through the digital transformation of services of general interest and provide good examples of practical implementation based on concrete projects that show how this future is already being shaped today.
The opening event marks the start of this year’s conference week. We will provide an overview, categorize the key topics and gather opinions from various stakeholders at federal, state and municipal level as well as from business, academia and civil society.
Digital sovereignty guarantees citizens as well as companies, institutions and authorities the opportunities, rights and development of skills to be able to act in a self-determined and secure manner in the digital world. We want to address this topic from different perspectives, as the digital sovereignty of infrastructure, data, algorithms, education, software and hardware represents a cornerstone of the self-determination and independence of our society today and in the future, which must be further strengthened and expanded together.
Theme sponsors: Dr. Rahild Neuburger, Jens Opitz
Digital participation refers to the opportunity for citizens and companies to participate fully in the offerings and design options of an increasingly digital society. The potential of intelligently networked cities and regions for digital participation and equal living conditions must be used even more as a strategic resource for services of general interest in the future. We want to discuss with the conference participants which good examples of the concrete implementation of digital participation in the various areas of smart networking cities and regions can learn from each other and how more participation can be achieved through involvement in the development of smart neighborhoods.
Theme sponsors: Annette Hillebrand, Sandy Jahn
Services of general interest and the common good are closely linked to the everyday lives of citizens in cities, municipalities, villages, districts and regions. It is therefore important to devote significantly more attention to these aspects in the ongoing process of actively shaping the digital transformation in the future and to actively shape everyday life digitally accordingly. After all, the digitalization of our community goes much further than the sum of (predominantly isolated and mostly technology-centric) innovation or implementation projects in the areas of e-government or SmartCity / SmartRegion. It is imperative to understand the municipal level even more strongly as places or spaces of social interaction. This in turn brings new or even “very old” questions into focus. For example, questions about the potential and limits of the digitalization of trust-based processes at a local and/or neighbourhood level. Or the potential and limits of local self-government on the basis of new platform-based IT architectures and the associated possible shifts in the division of labor in the federal multi-level system. This year’s conference session of the Intelligent Administration Networks Expert Group in the Intelligent Networking Working Group will deal with both sets of questions.
Theme sponsors: Marco Brunzel, Tanja Krins
Resilience for companies, organizations and critical infrastructures generally refers to the ability to absorb and adapt to changes in the environment. In an economic context, this refers to the resilience and crisis resistance of ecosystems. Drivers such as digitalization and decentralization are factors that strongly influence resilience. Especially through the use of digital technologies and the development of digital networks, existing ecosystems – oriented towards the needs of the markets – can significantly increase their own flexibility and adaptability, as a result of which their resilience and crisis resistance has changed significantly and is constantly evolving. We want to learn from each other in a joint exchange on how resilience can be assessed, shaped and increased in order to ensure the future viability of services of general interest.
Theme sponsors: Dr. Andreas Breuer, Matthias Brucke
The concept of sustainability and the technologies of digitalization must be considered in a much more integrated way. Digitalization has become an integral part of human life and the human age (Anthropocene). The concept of sustainability must make greater use of the technical dimension. For this reason, we want to continue the topics of last year’s DIV conference and address issues of sustainable digitalization and digitally supported sustainability for intelligently networked cities and regions in the context of services of general interest.
Theme sponsors: Carl-Ernst Müller, Joachim Schonowski
New forms of cooperation between the state, business and society must be developed across all levels and sectors in order to ensure digitally supported services of general interest. Lighthouses, silo thinking and singular solutions do not fit into the digital future. We want to discuss with the conference participants how the necessary scope for the upcoming future tasks can be created and shaped, what methodological approaches are available and how cross-institutional cooperation can be designed.
Theme sponsors: Matthias Brucke, Jens Mühlner
The closing event will cover all the individual events of the week, take up the discussion and impulses from the opening event and summarize the results and experiences from all sessions in a weekly review and an outlook on the goals and requirements for future action by the stakeholders.
The content and schedule of the DIV Conference 2021 are once again diverse and multifaceted. Due to the cooperative implementation and the large number of participants, the program will be subject to change and additions until the last minute. The latest information and details can always be found here.
The opening event marks the start of this year’s conference week. We will provide an overview, categorize the key topics and gather opinions from various stakeholders at federal, state and municipal level as well as from business, academia and civil society.
09:00 a.m.
09:05 a.m.
09:15 a.m.
09:25 a.m.
09:40 a.m.
09:50 a.m.
10:00 a.m.
Aim and content of the discussion:
In the opening discussion, we want to outline an overarching picture of the situation in Germany based on different opinions and perspectives on the main topic of the DIV conference. Aspects of the previous impulses will be discussed, as well as further questions and statements contributed by people from the plenary. Participation in the discussion is open to all conference participants in a fishbowl format.
Method and rules of discussion:
The discussion will be held as a virtual fishbowl discussion. The people listed in the programme are the initial discussants in the inner circle, curated by the conference organizers. One virtual chair remains free. This can be filled at any time by participants from the plenary (outer circle) who wish to actively contribute to the discussion.
Topic, task and questions of the discussion:
In the end, the discussion should answer the following key question:
1. which levers are important now in the digital transformation in order to improve sustainability and services of general interest?
The following introductory questions will be discussed:
2 What constitutes sustainability today?
3. what do we need to do for modern services of general interest?
Based on these introductory questions, a further detailed and free discussion of all participants in the inner circle should develop. The participants are asked to respond to the statements of the other participants and to come up with new questions on their own initiative.
11:20 a.m.
11:30 a.m.
The one-hour digital coffee rounds feature open and informative discussions in a relaxed atmosphere.
Today at the coffee table: Smart City projects from Senden (Westphalia), the district of Harz and Neckarsulm. Join in the discussion!
13:00 – 14:00
Three short presentations followed by a discussion and questions from the audience
Smart technologies make it possible to modernize municipal services of general interest and make them more citizen-friendly and efficient. Germany’s smaller municipalities are thus transforming themselves into smart cities. Stadt.Land.Digital presents successful digitalization projects from the Smart City Navigator (https://www.smart-city-navigator.de) together with experts. The projects from the area of services of general interest will be presented and the stakeholders from the municipality of Senden, the district of Harz and the city of Neckarsulm will discuss the implementation concepts with the participants.
Digital sovereignty is a cornerstone of the self-determination and independence of our society, which must be further strengthened and expanded together. Citizens as well as companies, institutions and authorities need the opportunities, rights and skills to be able to act independently and securely in the digital world. We want to address this topic and its importance for sustainability and services of general interest from three different perspectives.
3:00 p.m.
3:05 pm
Impulses and subsequent discussion round
Different interest groups sometimes have different perspectives on the requirements and the design of the jointly desired digital sovereignty. These different approaches and the resulting divergent interpretations of commonly used terms and concepts will be highlighted and discussed in this session. The aim is to come closer to a common understanding of what the digital sovereignty of Germany and Europe could look like in the future.
4:45 pm
Shortly before the general election, the IT Security Act 2.0 was passed by the Bundestag. It is intended to increase the cyber resilience of the state, the economy and therefore society as a whole, for example by strengthening the role of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). There are also plans to extend obligations for operators of “critical infrastructures” (KRITIS) and “companies of special public interest”.
On the other hand, many experts express great concern that Europe has lost both knowledge and leading companies in the area of digital innovation development. Germany and Europe no longer have any top companies in the digital sector that can manage major digital projects themselves and provide critical infrastructure. The resulting technological dependence of Europe on the USA and China and the associated security problems are an enormous challenge, which is particularly evident in the discussion about 5G.
In this session, we want to explore with leading IT security and digital experts the question of how cyber and network security can be ensured in global production processes and yet how the technological sovereignty of Germany as an IT and business location can be maintained in an increasingly data-based economy. We also want to ask ourselves whether, against this backdrop, IT security legislation is a stumbling block or a driver of digital innovation in Germany and what control measures are needed at European level.
4:45 pm
This session will present the conceptual and technical foundations of Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) as a new paradigm in the management of digital identities. SSI allows users to manage their identity data and digital proofs of identity themselves. This allows them to decide for themselves which services they transmit which data to.
The BMWi-funded “ID-Ideal” project aims to demonstrate the practical application of this principle in the Saxony showcase region and research the basis for a successful introduction. This will take place in numerous application scenarios, of which the state capital Dresden covers an important cluster. Against the background of the Online Access Act (OZG), the challenges of digitizing administrative processes will be briefly explained. The two scenarios “Dresden Pass” and “Referendum” will be used to illustrate the advantages that can arise for citizens and the city through the use of SSI. The session will be rounded off with an outlook on the long-term effects on the resilience of systems and data management.
6:00 pm
Digital participation refers to the opportunity for citizens and companies to participate fully in the offerings and design options of an increasingly digital society. The potential of intelligently networked cities and regions for digital participation and equal living conditions must be used even more as a strategic resource for services of general interest in the future. We want to discuss with the conference participants which good examples of the concrete implementation of digital participation in the various areas of smart networking cities and regions can learn from each other and how more participation can be achieved through involvement in the development of smart neighborhoods.
09:30 a.m.
09:40 a.m.
The digital society – insights from the D21 Digital Index
Booking a parking ticket via app, making a doctor’s appointment online, sharing photos of special moments with our private surroundings – many of our daily activities and processes take place digitally. Digitalization has become an integral part of many industries and professions. So digital change affects us all, but it is happening in a heterogeneous society whose members are prepared for it in very different ways. Digitalization is designed to make it easier for people to work together, but does it do this for everyone? We at Kantar examine this question every year with the D21 Digital Index and see that There are people who are better able to keep pace with digital change and those who are less so. This presentation shows which factors tend to leave people behind and what distinguishes those who benefit from digitalization.
Human-technology interaction to increase the digital empowerment of citizens
Ideally, the increasing digitalization of everyday life will open up new opportunities for all citizens – from dealing with the authorities and improving healthcare to increasing the quality of life in their own homes. However, there are hurdles in the way that prevent many people from being able to use these innovations in a targeted and self-determined way. How do we deal with this and can research into and development of innovative human-technology interactions be a solution strategy for increasing digital participation?
10:30 a.m.
Infrastructure for the future as the basis for digital participation
Digital infrastructure is not only a hard location factor, but also the basis for digital services of general interest. The development and integration of telecommunications networks in all other sectors offer the possibility of equal participation for all citizens, regardless of age and location. Resilience and the design of interfaces and standards will play a significant role here – convergent networks and their connection will become the core area of smart regions.
Digital participation is social participation – The digital pact for the elderly
The DigitalPakt Alter is an initiative to strengthen social participation and engagement of older people in a digitalized world. Initiated by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ) and the Federal Association of Senior Citizens’ Organizations (BAGSO), it was founded in August 2021 with an initial ten partner organizations from politics, business, science and civil society. The BAGSO as co-initiator and Bitkom as partner of the DigitalPakt Alter jointly present the idea of the pact. The aim of the pact is to work together and find ways to provide digitally “left behind” people with opportunities to acquire digital skills and thus enable them to participate in society. The focus is on 100 experience locations throughout Germany, where volunteer guides pass on digital skills to older beginners online at a low threshold.
Strengthening digital participation in rural areas
Nothing without a network? Rural areas are often left behind when it comes to digitalization, not only in terms of infrastructure but also in terms of topics. The model project bremke.digital and the subsequent scaling from the village to the municipality to an entire region show how things can be done differently. In a real-world laboratory (of the Digital Opportunities Foundation), the needs of the population in rural areas for more digital participation are being determined together with municipalities in southern Lower Saxony. At the interface between citizens and administration, tests are being carried out to see how the services offered by the digital village platform (Fraunhofer IESE) can be used and further developed to improve the quality of life in rural communities.
11:30 a.m.
12:20 pm
12:30 p.m.
The one-hour digital coffee rounds offer open and informative discussions in a relaxed atmosphere.
Today at the coffee table: Initiators of the developer community in Münster (Westphalia). Join in the discussion!
13:00 – 14:00
Three impulses followed by a discussion and questions from the audience
The Münsterhack is where the Westphalian tech scene comes together to develop ideas and prototypes that make the city even more liveable. Stadt.Land.Digital discusses the success criteria of the Münsterhack with the Münsterhack organizers and participants from the audience. The participants report on their experiences and their many years of successful collaboration between the start-up scene, local authorities and user companies.
Services of general interest and the common good are closely linked to the everyday lives of citizens in cities, municipalities, villages, districts and regions. It is therefore important to devote significantly more attention to these aspects in the ongoing process of actively shaping the digital transformation in the future and to actively shape everyday life digitally accordingly. After all, the digitalization of our community goes much further than the sum of (predominantly isolated and mostly technology-centric) innovation or implementation projects in the areas of e-government or SmartCity / SmartRegion. It is imperative to understand the municipal level even more strongly as places or spaces of social interaction. This in turn brings new or even “very old” questions into focus. For example, questions about the potential and limits of the digitalization of trust-based processes at a local and/or neighbourhood level. Or the potential and limits of local self-government on the basis of new platform-based IT architectures and the associated possible shifts in the division of labor in the federal multi-level system. This year’s conference session of the Intelligent Administration Networks Expert Group in the Intelligent Networking Working Group will deal with both sets of questions.
4:00 p.m.
4:05 pm
Impulses and subsequent discussion
European culture is essentially an urban culture. As special constructions of social communities, cities have formed both the cultural “hotspots” and the economic “innovation cores” of our social development for over 1,000 years. But what does the future of our municipal community look like? Can trust-based processes at local, neighbourhood or regional level be digitized in such a way that community spirit, solidarity, a sense of unity and creativity are perhaps even strengthened? Will citizens receive an individual “digital city key” for the shared use of public infrastructure? Will “tokenization” based on secure digital identities lead to new innovations in terms of regional value chains and transaction systems? Or are municipalities building new “digital city walls” with such digital trust technologies? What role do developments in the field of artificial intelligence play for the digital urban society? And what are the requirements if innovative pilot projects are to become “real infrastructures”? We want to explore these and other questions in our first session.
5:15 pm
Impulses and subsequent discussion
Fortunately, new views of the city as an overall construct have recently replaced isolated (subject- or topic-specific) considerations. Instead of a purely administrative focus on e-government and the digitalization of administrative processes, a comprehensive, integrative view of urban development has come into focus in many places. Accordingly, digital strategy, IT strategy, administrative modernization and urban development are increasingly interlinked at a strategic level, projects and measures are more closely linked and much greater attention is being paid to mutual interactions. And it should also be possible to better combine measures at the level of funding programs.
So much for the noble claim. But what does it look like in practice? What is the actual potential for shaping the numerous support measures at local, national and European level? How can the long-term qualitative effects of the various measures be determined? What challenges do local authorities face in their day-to-day administration? Where is the greatest need for support: in technical implementation, in organizational measures or at a legal level? Do new types of cooperation in the federal system per se always turn federalism on its head? Or are only existing organizational and business models being questioned? In this session, we will set off on the path to the “NeuSTADT” and look at the fundamental levers for the future of the municipality from the perspective of science and practice.
6:30 pm
Resilience for companies, organizations and critical infrastructures generally refers to the ability to absorb and adapt to changes in the environment. In an economic context, this refers to the resilience and crisis resistance of ecosystems. Drivers such as digitalization and decentralization are factors that strongly influence resilience. Especially through the use of digital technologies and the development of digital networks, existing ecosystems – oriented towards the needs of the markets – can significantly increase their own flexibility and adaptability, as a result of which their resilience and crisis resistance has changed significantly and is constantly evolving. We want to learn from each other in a joint exchange on how resilience can be assessed, shaped and increased in order to ensure the future viability of services of general interest.
09:00 a.m.
09:30 a.m.
Resilience in the field of energy / ICT
The energy transition and increasing digitalization are creating significant new risks for the electricity supply. A resilience strategy can provide decisive impetus to prevent blackouts and their consequential damage. The “Resilience of digitalized energy systems” working group of the academy project “Energy systems of the future” has taken a close look at the risks that exist and recommends specific measures to counter them.
Resilience in distribution grids – challenges / practical examples
The reliability of the electricity grid guarantees our high standard of living. A large-scale power grid failure requires a coordinated network restoration. The functionality of the telecommunications infrastructure is particularly important here. The resilience of the power grid is also dependent on the functionality of the telecommunications network. The presentation will highlight these dependencies and the fundamental requirements for the telecommunications network.
09:30 a.m.
From a culture of presence to a culture of trust: promoting self-determined and autonomous work in hybrid models
The coronavirus crisis has brought about a change in the world of work: In many industries and sectors, mobile working has become so well established as an additional form of work organization that it will remain in place even after the pandemic. How can good, creative and productive work succeed in mobile or hybrid models?
Many decision-makers have understood the potential for flexibility, compatibility and resilience that can be harnessed here. Flexible working in terms of time and place and the associated freedom to organize and design work flexibly are a win-win for employees and companies.
Join the discussion: How can managers actively support this change? Do the role of the manager and the added value of leadership need to be rethought in order to create an environment of self-organization and enable employees to work independently and flexibly?
Administration and open science – creating expertise and trust
Current crises present us as a society and the administration as a framework provider with the challenge of reacting to events faster than usual. Administrative staff in particular must increasingly be able to follow the latest research and obtain comprehensive information in order to make appropriate and comprehensible decisions.
In the course of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the rapid publication and dissemination of scientific findings has increased significantly, particularly through so-called preprints. The term “preprint” refers to freely accessible scientific manuscripts or artifacts that have not (yet) been formally peer-reviewed for publication in scientific journals. This quickly made freely accessible content is particularly relevant for making decisions based on the current state of research. However, its use can be potentially damaging if the research quality of a paper does not meet current scientific standards. Administrative staff must therefore be able to independently assess the scientific quality of non-formally peer-reviewed work.
The presentation will therefore address the following questions:
How can the administration benefit from the use of preprints? What skills do administrative staff need to acquire or bring with them in order to correctly assess the quality of public content? Why is the transfer of knowledge from science to administration so important?
KommunalCampus launches – innovative training platform for public administration
The effects of demographic change have been felt in all areas of life in Germany for many years. Even today, vacancies are difficult or impossible to fill. As a result, the federal, state and local governments are increasingly focusing on maintaining and specifically improving their ability to act. These developments also have an impact on the skills employees need to shape the digital transformation. The municipal level in particular must find new solutions to specifically promote the qualifications of its employees and their skills for a modern and digital working world. To do this, we need a demand-oriented training program with modular and certified learning modules. This is where the KommunalCampus project comes in. This is a Hessian project by State Secretary Patrick Burghardt in cooperation with the MRN and the Bergstrasse district.
The project is a Hessian project by State Secretary Patrick Burghardt in cooperation with the MRN and the Bergstrasse district.
FutureSkillsCanvas – Digitally fit for the future of work
How will we work in 10, 15 or 20 years’ time? What percentage of our activities will be automated through the use of digital technologies? What skills will we need in the future? How can we acquire missing skills and thus increase the resilience of the organization? In this keynote speech, participants will be given an overview of the (digital) skills they need to remain future-proof and competitive. Possible ways of acquiring skills will be shown. The focus will be on the FutureSkillsCanvas – a collaborative method that teams and entire organizations can use to identify skills, make knowledge visible and shape collaboration holistically. After the keynote speech, participants will have a better understanding of which six skills areas will be relevant in the future and how they can use collaboration to make their organization fit for the future.
11:00 a.m.
Final discussion with all participants (virtual fishbowl): What have we learned, where do we want to go and what do we need to do to increase future viability by increasing digital resilience?
11:30 a.m.
In the one-hour digital coffee rounds, there are open and informative discussions in a relaxed atmosphere.
Today, stakeholders from the Update Deutschland initiative are exchanging ideas about innovations in municipalities at the coffee table. Join in the discussion!
13:00 – 14:00
At the UpdateDeutschland hackathon, experts and initiatives came together with implementation partners from administration and politics to develop and jointly implement innovative ideas. Stadt.Land.Digital provided the challenge and discussed UpdateDeutschland, its successes and lessons learned for future initiatives with municipalities in the field of open social innovation with the initiators and participants.
The concept of sustainability and the technologies of digitalization must be considered in a much more integrated way. Digitalization has become an integral part of human life and the human age (Anthropocene). The concept of sustainability must make greater use of the technical dimension. For this reason, we want to continue the topics of last year’s DIV conference and address issues of sustainable digitalization and digitally supported sustainability for intelligently networked cities and regions in the context of services of general interest.
16:00
4:15 pm
Digitalization must have a goal. This goal should go beyond the mere conversion of analog to digital processes. Only then can the digitalization of public services offer real added value and promote sustainability.
4:30 pm
Municipalities have a key role to play in the context of sustainability. With the help of digital transformation, they should become smarter, more liveable and more efficient. But where will this increase in technology take us and is it perhaps itself part of the (global) challenge posed by the immense hunger for energy? How can we shape and apply early design principles in order to balance our “techno-economy” with socio-ecological requirements? We want to look at this from a local, municipal, European and ultimately global perspective.
4:30 pm
Digitalization – the key to sustainability?
Economic, ecological, social – sustainability has many dimensions. How sustainable a product, a business model or an ecosystem is depends on different perspectives. But how can the balance between the different dimensions of sustainability be ensured and how exactly can digitalization help to make decisions in an objective, resource-saving way? After a presentation by Norbert Rost, futureprojects GmbH, on the sustainable city of the future, Karsten Redenius, Member of the Board at msg, will explore these questions in a short talk. A panel of experts will then take a holistic look at the topic with controversial viewpoints.
4:30 pm
The development and adaptation of reporting standards over the last three decades was aimed at enabling critical discourse in the first place. This form of traditional ex-post reporting is limited in terms of calculating short-term investment decisions and managing day-to-day operations.
Moderated by BTC Business Technology Consulting AG, the panel is invited to discuss how digitalization can pave the way from past-oriented reporting to sustainability management that is relevant to everyday life. Finally, the panelists will formulate their requirements for users and suppliers of IT solutions for sustainability reporting.
4:30 pm
The coronavirus pandemic has triggered a surge in modernization. Digitalization has massively changed our lives and our working world in a short space of time. Rapid digitalization will also determine whether we achieve our sustainability and climate targets. Buildings and neighborhoods – places to live and work – are at the center of attention. In future, they will not only have to be sustainable, efficient, intelligent and therefore networked, but also meet new living requirements and forms of work. Against the backdrop of the refurbishment and planning of buildings and districts, the discussion focuses on two of the most important megatrends of our time: combating and managing climate change and the structural change in social and digital participation.
4:30 pm
Responsible use of natural and digital resources is more relevant than ever before. Used correctly, IT solutions can help to substantially reduce the consumption of energy and natural resources. With their innovative strength and agility, digital SMEs are an important accelerator in supporting future-proof and sustainable public services. Following a keynote speech on the topic of Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR), experts from the private and municipal sectors will present examples of best practice and discuss the topic.
6:00 pm
6:30 pm
New forms of cooperation between the state, business and society are needed across all levels and sectors in order to ensure digitally supported services of general interest. Silo thinking and singular solutions do not fit into the digital future – the digital transformation can only succeed together. We want to share experiences and look at key questions on how cooperative digitalization can succeed. In three breakout sessions, we will delve deeper into the perspectives of “Municipalities”, “Europe and Technology” and “People and Culture”. At the end, the results will be brought together and jointly reflected on in a virtual fishbowl discussion. What have we learned so far – what works and what doesn’t? What are the most important goals – What are the stakeholders’ requirements? What can we do – What do we need to do?
09:00 a.m.
09:15 a.m.
09:30 a.m.
In the “Municipal Perspective” session, we want to shed light on the challenge of cooperative digitalization in Germany with stakeholders involved at the various levels of digitalization. We will look at successful projects with both an inter-municipal and municipal perspective. We would like to look at the requirements of the institutions involved and the framework conditions that need to be met for cooperative digitalization to succeed. A particular focus will be on the role of the municipality and its special significance in sustainable digital development. The individual perspectives will be presented in six impulses and then explored in greater depth in a panel discussion.
09:30 a.m.
10:25 a.m.
10:45 a.m.
In the session “Perspectives on Europe and Technology”, we will first look at Gaia-X, probably the most prominent example of a European initiative for cooperative digitization at the moment, and discuss its experiences and current challenges with those involved.
In order to find out more about how cooperation for technical innovations works in the digital age and what needs to be considered for sustainability and services of general interest, we will then talk about the experiences and challenges of stakeholders in the fields of standardization, technical innovation competition and open data and open innovation.
09:30 a.m.
The “People and Culture Perspective” session will take place as an interactive workshop. At the beginning of the session, various players will introduce themselves in short impulses and describe what drives them and what specific approach they take to the issue of cooperative digitalization. This will be followed by a content-related impulse from Prof. Tim Bruysten and a future workshop on the question “What do we have to do to create the necessary freedom in cooperative digitalization in order to be able to master the upcoming future tasks?” In the first phase of the future workshop, we want to collect together where we stand and what is working and what is not. Under the key questions “Where do we stand, what have we already learned, what works and what doesn’t”, this is less about analyzing the problems and more about taking stock for further work. In the second phase, the participants’ creativity is called for. They should think utopian and imagine a state in which everything is good. This phase is based on the question “Where do we want to go?” In the third phase, we want to link the first two phases and look for practical, practicable ways to move from the actual to the target. The central question here is: what do we need to do, change or improve in order to fulfill our vision? At the end of the future workshop, we will prioritize the results together and then take them to the final panel.
11:30 a.m.
11:45 a.m.
12:30 p.m.
The one-hour digital coffee rounds offer open and informative discussions in a relaxed atmosphere.
Today at the coffee table: Chief Digital Officers (CDOs) from four German municipalities discuss their tasks, successes and experiences in this office. Join in the discussion!
13:00 – 14:00
Chief Digital Officers (CDOs) in Germany’s municipalities are pioneers of digitalization. In the Digital Coffee Round, Stadt.Land.Digital discusses their role and task with the four CDOs from Norderstedt, Neuss, Fürth and the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld. The CDOs report on their smart city successes and explain how they are driving digitalization in their municipality as CDOs.
The closing event will cover all the individual events of the week, take up the discussion and impulses from the opening event and summarize the results and experiences from all sessions in a weekly review and an outlook on the goals and requirements for future action by the stakeholders.
16:00
4:05 pm
4:10 pm
5:00 pm
What insights can we take away from the last few days and what can we do with them?
5:30 pm
The online workshop is based on the initial results of the preliminary study co-financed by NEGZ e.V. to determine the TOP 100 services of general interest, which is being carried out by Fraunhofer IESE and the DigitalAgentur Brandenburg. The participants can actively shape the content of the preliminary study with their perspective, experience and input. The central questions arising from the digital transformation for services of general interest will be explored in greater depth. The results of the workshop and the results of the interviews with experts from science, politics and practice will be jointly incorporated into the preliminary study.
The work is carried out in groups on the topics:
We invite you to participate in the workshop and help shape the future of public services in the digital age! The number of participants is limited.
nachhaltig.digital / B.A.U.M. e.V.
E.ON SE
embeteco GmbH & Co KG
Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region
Office Stadt.Land.Digital c/o WIK-Consult
T-Systems International GmbH
T-Systems International GmbH
Office Stadt.Land.Digital c/o WIK-Consult
Digital for all" initiative
Initiative D21 e.V.
Charter of Digital Networking e.V.
City of Cologne
Civitas Connect
embeteco GmbH & Co KG
T-Systems International GmbH
nachhaltig.digital / B.A.U.M. e.V.
Ludwig-Maximilians-University/ MÜNCHNER KREIS
FTTX-F¡TH® Consulting
Bundesverband Smart City e.V.
msg systems ag
EDASCA SCE
The Charter of Digital Networking is a code for the responsible shaping of the digital society. Its 10 principles were formulated across companies, sectors and associations in 2014 as part of the German government’s National IT Summit, now the Digital Summit, and signed by more than 80 institutions. These principles form the normative foundation of an initiative whose commitment to a common set of values and a sustainable sense of responsibility in the digital transformation is now more important than ever. The non-profit sponsoring association of Charter of Digital Networking counts companies of all sizes, associations and initiatives, representatives and institutions of science, as well as private individuals among its members. Together, they want to help make Germany fit for the future. The association is therefore committed to policy, research and education coherence in relation to the digital transformation in Germany and the EU.
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.
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 variety 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.
acatech – Deutsche Akademie der Technikwissenschaften is the national academy funded by the federal and state governments and the voice of the technological sciences in Germany and abroad. We advise politics and society on issues relating to the future of technology science and technology policy. Under the patronage of the Federal President, we fulfill our advisory mandate independently, based on facts and oriented towards the common good.
As a neutral cooperation platform for municipal companies, Civitas Connect aims to develop and promote digital services of general interest for cities, regions and municipalities. In the independent association, energy supply companies, municipal utilities and regional municipal companies find a powerful platform for early, active and inter-municipal exchange in order to drive forward and shape the upcoming challenges relating to smart cities and smart regions. This includes the joint development of practical solutions that can be implemented independently on site, the closing of investment gaps and the definition of open standards. Members also benefit from effects such as accelerated implementation, know-how transfer and economic cost reductions.
As an open and independent platform, Co:Lab e.V. examines issues in the context of digital change and embeds them in a socio-political context. The Co:Lab facilitates constructive discourse and promotes forward-looking thinking. It is not an academic research institute, a traditional think tank or a party-affiliated platform. The laboratory character of the Co:Lab is already evident in its name – it is a place for experimentation and completely new ideas: The Co:Lab launches initiatives in which a wide variety of experts work together and think openly about solutions for our society. The Co:Lab is a community (of practice). It brings together committed local civil society as well as thought leaders from institutions and companies. Digitalization is changing our society. The Co:Lab is changing how society discusses digitalization and uses the potential for a better world!
DigitalAgentur Brandenburg GmbH (“DigitalAgentur”) is part of the Digital Brandenburg strategy for the future. The subsidiary of the Investitionsbank des Landes Brandenburg provides a wide range of support for the implementation of digital solutions in services of general interest on behalf of the state government. As a non-profit organization, the DigitalAgentur is exclusively institutionally funded by the Brandenburg Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Energy. The public service purposes include project initiation and partnership-based implementation of digital projects with prominent state policy significance. Local authorities are supported in the strategic planning and operational implementation of measures across the board. The operational management and coordination of digitalization projects between the state of Brandenburg and local authorities are also part of the company’s purpose. However, tasks related to the establishment and expansion of e-government structures are explicitly excluded.
Twelve digital hubs with different technology and industry focuses form a strong network that enables the exchange of technological and economic expertise, programs and ideas. By combining innovative start-up ideas with the know-how of established companies and scientific excellence, the Digital Hub Initiative promotes the emergence of a strong culture of innovation and new digital business models. Start-ups, companies and research come together at each Digital Hub to jointly find answers to the challenges and opportunities of digitalization. In the hubs’ innovation programs, accelerators and incubators, start-ups as well as medium-sized and large companies develop new solutions for industry and technology focus areas – from artificial intelligence and mobility to smart infrastructure. In the past four years since the initiative was launched, it has achieved a wide range of successes. The network continues to grow and attract new international and national partners to join the community. In addition to the innovation services of the digital hubs, the Hub Agency offers cross-industry services for hubs, start-ups and companies, as well as connecting fields for other initiatives and partners.
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.
The “Digital for All” initiative brings together 27 organizations from civil society, culture, science, business and the public sector. This unique social alliance has set itself the task of bringing digitalization closer to people in Germany, making it understandable and showing them how they can benefit from it. Our aim is to promote digital participation for everyone. To this end, we have launched the nationwide Digital Day, which is intended to open up decentralized forums for exchange and spaces to experience digital technologies. At a local level, digitalization is becoming part of people’s everyday lives and we need to discuss it here. With our award for digital togetherness, we are recognizing initiatives that use digital means to enable digital participation and engagement. We are convinced of this: Only together can we successfully shape the digital transformation.
The D2030 initiative is an association of people interested in the future from business, science and society that has set itself the task of anchoring networked, long-term and transformative thinking and action in social, economic and political decision-making processes. In a participatory and politically independent process between 2016 and 2018, it developed eight scenarios for Germany in 2030 – from “Old Frontiers” to “New Horizons”. These visions of the future are to be developed and refined on a regular basis. With the scenarios, the D2030 initiative supports the transformation discourse, which is intended to show Germany ways out of a routine “business as usual” and promote sustainable structural change.
Initiative D21 is Germany’s largest non-profit network for the digital society, consisting of business, politics, science and civil society. Mandated by business and the public sector, some of the best minds work together here to shed light on the social challenges of digital change, provide annual situation reports and initiate debates in order to shape the future of the digital society in a meaningful way. The D21 initiative was founded in 1999 with the aim of preventing the digital divide in society. Because digitalization offers extensive potential for improvement for our society and Germany as a business location, Initiative D21 strives for excellent framework conditions for digital innovations and a competent and self-determined digital society in Germany. It wants a Germany in which digital change not only happens, but is shaped in a motivated and opportunity-oriented manner.
With the Stadt.Land.Digital initiative, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy supports cities and municipalities in their digital transformation – in particular in developing concrete strategies. The initiative informs, supports and networks municipalities that are on their way to becoming the municipality of the future, the “intelligent” city or “smart” region. It focuses on strategic cooperation between commercial enterprises, administrations, municipal companies, IT service providers, business development institutions, regional associations and clubs as well as citizens.
We, the iRights.Lab, are a team of 45 employees from a wide range of disciplines. Our main office is in Berlin, but we also work from eight cities and are active across Europe and worldwide. Together we form our independent think tank to develop strategies and practical solutions to actively shape the changes in the digital world in a pragmatic, visionary and socially beneficial way.
Since 1989, ITS Germany e.V. has been the federal association of business and science for transportation technologies and intelligent mobility in Germany. Together with its corporate partners, it represents around 600 companies. Its members are manufacturers of systems and components for digital Intelligent Transport and Traffic Systems (ITS) as well as service providers for all modes of mobility.
Mobility is currently undergoing disruptive change, for which the ITS industry is the most important key sector. Nationwide industry turnover is already around €2 billion, with a clear upward trend.
Actively shaping the mobility transition is the joint task of all stakeholders from industry, politics, administration, associations and civil society. ITS Germany is not only a moderator, but also a co-creator of future mobility. ITS Germany’s activities focus on urban and non-urban mobility and encompass all modes of mobility and logistics on land (road and rail) and water.
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 supports the integration of sustainability aspects into digital change and innovation processes. Dialogues are organized for SMEs and their business partners, 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 analogue, 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 National e-Government Competence Centre (NEGZ) e.V. brings together more than 100 experts in the field of state modernization and digital administration. As a transdisciplinary competence center, the NEGZ promotes the development of a scientific fact base and the transfer of knowledge through the networking of science, politics, administration and business.
The VDE, one of the largest technology organizations in Europe, has stood for innovation and technological progress for more than 125 years. The VDE is the only organization in the world to unite science, standardization, testing, certification and application consulting under one roof. For 100 years, the VDE symbol has been synonymous with the highest safety standards and consumer protection. We are committed to promoting research and young talent and to lifelong learning with on-the-job training opportunities. 2,000 employees at over 60 locations worldwide, more than 100,000 volunteer experts and around 1,500 companies are shaping a future worth living in the VDE network: connected, digital, electric. We are shaping the e-digital future. The headquarters of the VDE (Verband der Elektrotechnik Elektronik und Informationstechnik e.V.) is in Frankfurt am Main.
