Two days with twelve sessions and interactive formats, 25 presentations, different use case pitches and about 180 participants: the figures from the first IDSA summit speak for themselves. The premiere in Frankfurt am Main from 22 to 23 March 2018 was a successful opening for this innovative event concept for Industrial Data Space.
The venue also contributed to the success of the summit. High up on the 34th floor of Germany’s fourth-highest building, the PwC Experience Center offered not only an impressive view over Frankfurt from floor to ceiling panorama windows but above all a creative, extraordinary ambience: the right setting for the modern, fresh and informative congress format that IDSA had put together.
It’s all about the mixture
After the productive working group meeting and the networking dinner the previous day, the programme offered a versatile mixture of presentations, discussions, interactive formats and opportunities for networking. The participants at the summit could listen to the speakers in the Sandbox – the lecture hall –, get an overview during the use case pitches on the pallets or in the Ideation Lounge and then vote for the best use case, while quiet sofa and seating areas provided an opportunity for personal exchange.
Now official: new name for the IDSA
The event started with the general assembly. The agenda included two key points: renaming the association and electing a new member of the board. After a short but intensive discussion, the representatives of the member companies, organisations and institutions followed the recommendation of the board and voted to accept International Data Spaces Association as the new name Dr André Nemat was elected as a new member of the board. He is chief surgeon at the Clinic for Thoracic Surgery in the Lung Center at Sana Hospital Düsseldorf, Managing Partner at the Institute for Digital Transformation in Healthcare and lecturer at Witten-Herdecke University.
Impetus, discussions and food for thought
After this official part, the participants at both days of the event discussed with experts from the worlds of business and politics about relevant aspects of Industrial Data Space, developed approaches for further internationalisation and learned about details of the IDS reference architecture and various use cases. Numerous lectures on prevailing IDS topics gave important impetus and food for both discussion and thought.
Prof Dr Boris Otto for example – taking part via videoconference – explained the current status of the new reference architecture model and portrayed the development of IDS until now. “We always have to remember where we come from and what we want to achieve in order to keep sight of the big picture”, the Deputy Chairman of the IDSA and Managing Director of Fraunhofer ISST reminded the audience. Lawyer Dr Alexander Duisberg, partner in international chambers Bird&Bird, presented the legal challenges and the current state of affairs at European level for the issue of data sovereignty. And the current developments of the European research projects were considered in an individual session.
Use Case gets top grades
Something new for the event concept were the use case pitches in which seven practical examples presented their objectives and current state of development to changing audiences in five-minute pitches – these were evaluated afterwards via a smart voting tool. The clear winner of this interactive presentation and discussion format was Medical Data Space. “We are delighted that the use case pitches were accepted so well”, said Anke Nienhoff who was responsible for the organisation of the summit. “And actually all the use cases are winners. The pitches enabled them to position themselves quite differently in the perception of the participants and the intensive exchange on the topics certainly brought new inspiration to all sides.” Other interactive sessions like the “Newbie Session“ for new IDSA members, the presentation of our new Developers Community and a discussion about use case development or IDS certification were all taken up and used extensively.
“Feedback from the participants is very positive“, Lars Nagel, Managing Director of IDSA head office, is delighted about the successful summit premiere. “These two days, with many discussions, new contacts and insights, certainly brought IDS and us as an association a great deal closer to our goal.”
