On 18 June, WIK-Consult organized a half-day congress for the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) as part of the Mittelstand-Digital accompanying research in Berlin Kreuzberg, which attracted a large audience. The event, which was fully booked in advance, was attended by around 230 participants. The focus was on successful examples of the transfer of current AI knowledge to small and medium-sized enterprises for rapid implementation in profitable applications. To this end, players from companies joined forces with Mittelstand-Digital Innovation Hubs to present both their specific AI fields of application and strategic AI roadmaps for their companies.
Once again this year, there were not only presentations and discussions, but also hands-on AI applications in the form of demonstrators as part of an accompanying exhibition. For example, the audience could play "Four wins" against a robot or use a virtual room to immerse themselves in a production environment and learn about energy-flexible production.
In her welcoming speech, Christina Decker, the new Head of the Digital and Innovation Policy Department at the BMWK since 1 June, emphasized the importance of networks of scientific and transfer institutions in order to promote the transformation of companies that is necessary for further economic competitiveness. Despite current budget constraints, the BMWK will continue to provide comprehensive transfer offers for small and medium-sized enterprises through Mittelstand-Digital. Martin Lundborg, Head of Accompanying Research at Mittelstand-Digital, was also delighted: "Many concrete AI projects were presented that were developed in cooperation between the Mittelstand-Digital centers and companies. This shows that AI is catching on in SMEs."
Further information on Mittelstand-Digital can be found at www.mittelstand-digital.de, including numerous implementation examples, toolkits and webinars.
