City of Jena presents the market of digital possibilities

- Jena will host the Federal Government's Digital Summit from November 20 to 21, 2023
- For the first time, the city of Jena is offering a free and publicly accessible accompanying program to try out and participate in the federal summit

What does digitalization have to do with strokes, bees and pilots? Quite a lot. If you take a closer look, it becomes clear how digitalization affects our lives in all areas: digital exoskeletons help stroke victims to move around on their own after a stroke. Beehives are equipped with minimally invasive camera systems to document the loss of biodiversity and find solutions. And virtual reality enables pilots to complete their training in more than just a stationary flight simulator.

The benefits of this are immense. The city of Jena will be presenting current research findings and potential applications, digital players and projects to the general public at the Market of Digital Opportunities from November 20 to 21. The Market of Digital Opportunities is therefore part of this year's Digital Summit of the Federal Government, which will take place in Jena on these two days.

A first for the city of Jena and the Federal Digital Summit: free accompanying program

With the support of the Thuringian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Science and Digital Society, the city of Jena successfully won the bid to host the Digital Summit in the city on the Saale. A first: for the first time, the Market of Digital Opportunities, a trade fair and event format accessible to everyone free of charge, will take place at the Digital Summit, where digitization can be experienced in all its facets and in practice. On November 20 and 21, 2023, more than 50 companies, scientific institutions and initiatives will present the digital solutions of the future from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm. Over 100 workshops and presentations at five central venues in Jena - the University of Jena, Ernst Abbe University of Applied Sciences Jena, StadtLab, Kassablanca and Kino am Markt - will offer interested parties a closer look at what digitalization and digital transformation are and what they are capable of achieving.
The special feature of many event formats is their interactive character: Participants are allowed or encouraged to join in the discussion and help shape it.

Lord Mayor Dr. Thomas Nitzsche is delighted: "The fact that the Federal Government has once again awarded the Digital Summit to Jena is a sign of great appreciation, for which I am very grateful. It shows: Jena is seen as a digital location. Together with the numerous digital, high-tech and start-up companies and the University of Jena and Ernst Abbe University of Applied Sciences on site, we can once again show at the Market of Digital Opportunities that future issues of digitalization are already being addressed from Jena today."

Program for young and old at the Market of Digital Opportunities

As diverse as the use cases of digitalization are, the programme of events during the Market of Digital Opportunities is just as wide-ranging. All program content, exhibiting companies and event locations can be found on the website https://www.digitalgipfel-jena.de/(link is external). The lectures and exhibitions can be divided into the following categories:

- Future viability
- start-ups
- SheTransformsIT
- Resilience
- Sustainability
- Artificial intelligence
- Health
- Society

In addition, various themed tours provide insights into digital hotspots in Jena:

1. e-commerce location Jena (dotsource, Coachwhisperer GmbH, Intershop Communications AG)
2. no digitalization without optics: a highlight tour to SCHOTT, ZEISS and the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF
3. DIGITAL-PRACTICAL: Interactive digitization sprint at the EAH Jena

Some program highlights in Jena:

- Mobile exoskeleton (=support corset) for upper body assistance especially for robot-assisted therapy after a stroke (DFKI, Jena University campus)
- Virtual Smart City power plant (JenErgieReal, a project of Stadtwerke Jena GmbH, Jena University campus)
- Experience robot dog 'Spot' live (Genius GmbH, Campus Ernst Abbe University Jena)
- Experience virtual pilot training live (Deutsche Lufthansa, Jena University campus)

What distinguishes Jena as a digital location

More than 150 years ago, Carl Zeiss, Ernst Abbe and Otto Schott laid the foundations for today's lithography and thus also for Jena as an important science and business location in Germany. No less influential was the development in 1994 of the first standard software for online trading. This makes Jena the cradle of e-commerce. The shopping basket, as we know it from many online stores, has its origins here. Today, over 150 companies are based in Jena, which together form the digital economy cluster in Jena. In total, over 5,000 people work on digital solutions for the economy and society in the business location. Two universities and twelve renowned scientific institutions are researching digital solutions for the future. Jena as a digital location therefore offers ideal conditions for jointly advancing the digital transformation of Germany.

Statements on the market of digital opportunities

Benjamin Koppe, Head of Digitalization of the City of Jena: "From the very beginning, it was important for us as the city administration and project team not only to bring the Digital Summit to Jena, but also to create added value for our city and make it an experience for the citizens. With the Market of Digital Opportunities, we will also succeed in doing this. In addition to the program in the Volkshaus, thanks to the cooperation and interaction of all exhibitors, the university, EAH and the city, there will be a diverse program for local people for the first time as part of the Federal Government's Digital Summit. This novelty alone will set new standards for the future organization of this event."

Prof. Dr. Christoph Steinbeck, Vice President for Digitalization at the University of Jena: "Science has been a key driver of social and industrial digitalization from the very beginning. Friedrich Schiller University will be presenting on campus how it is using artificial intelligence to help better manage the global climate crisis, improve water quality in Thuringia and beyond and how AI is changing diagnostics and therapy in medicine. I would like to encourage everyone to visit the campus and take a look into the future. We look forward to a lively exchange."

Prof. Dr. Mario Brandtner, Vice President for Studies, Teaching and Continuing Education at the Ernst Abbe University of Applied Sciences Jena: "The Ernst Abbe University of Applied Sciences Jena is very pleased to be able to help shape the Market of Digital Opportunities both as a venue and through various offers. We are convinced that we will be able to give visitors a better understanding of our application-oriented research and transfer activities on digitalization and AI in the fields of technology, business, social affairs and health, particularly through the insights into numerous laboratories on our campus. We look forward to an exciting exchange with our guests."

Domenique Dölz, Cluster Manager Digital Economy & Science, Jena Digital e. V.: "The Market of Digital Opportunities offers an excellent opportunity to present the diverse solutions for digital transformation from Jena. We are thus creating a platform for in-depth networking and the exchange of knowledge between politics, business, science and civil society, from which the digital location will benefit in the long term."

About the Federal Government's Digital Summit

The 16th Digital Summit of the Federal Government will take place on 20 and 21 November 2023 at the Volkshaus congress and conference center in Jena. Under the title "Digital Transformation in the Turning Point. Sustainable. Resilient. Future-oriented.", more than 1,000 participants from all over Germany will come together. Over two days, everything will revolve around Germany's digital future. How can we use digitalization for more sustainability? How do we deal with the rapid development of artificial intelligence? How can Germany be strengthened as a location for technology and innovation? And how can we counter increasing disinformation?

In addition to Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the organizing federal ministers Dr. Robert Habeck (Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection) and Dr. Volker Wissing (Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport), numerous other federal ministers and high-ranking representatives from business, science and civil society are expected to attend. On both days of the summit, there will be livestream broadcasts of the main stage and of events involving federal ministers (including press conferences) on https://www.digitalgipfel-jena.de/(link is external). You can also find more information about the Digital Summit on this website.

Pressekonferenz zum Markt der digitalen Möglichkeiten

© Stadt Jena