Congress program of #SCCON23 finalised

From 7 to 9 November 2023, experts from politics, administration and the digital economy will come together at SCCON to discuss the latest developments and innovations in the public sector and present best practice examples. With around 400 speakers on four stages, SCCON offers an extensive program.

An overview of the program highlights can be found here:

First day: 7 November

The Smart Country Convention 2023 will be opened at 10:00 a.m. by patron and Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser on the Plaza Stage in hub27.

Another highlight of the first day is the keynote speech by Cem Özdemir, Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, at 11:00 a.m., which will focus on "Country life x digital. Smart solutions for a better quality of life". Prof. Dr Engel Arkenau, Frank Lenz, Dr Lukas Oehm, Andreas Kellringer and Andreas Meier will then delve into the digital development of rural areas.

Klara Geywitz, Federal Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Construction will also be on Plaza Stage in hub27 and will give a keynote at 12:00.

For those interested in AI applications in the smart city, the Arena Stage in hub27 will offer exciting insights at 12:15 pm. Practical examples from municipalities as well as research and science will be presented by Birgit Schenk, Julian Dierstein and Robert Heinecke.

At 13:45, the Bitkom Smart City Index Award will be presented on the Plaza Stage. The Smart City Index is awarded every year to cities that are ahead of the game in terms of digitalisation.

Ott Velsberg, Chief Data Officer of Estonia, will take an international look at the bigger picture at 15:15 on the Forum Stage in Hall 25. In his session "How data can drive innovative governance and help us solve tomorrow's challenges", he will show how Estonia uses data to develop innovative governance solutions and overcome future challenges.

The first day will end at 18:15 with a Networking Night around the Plaza Stage, where exhibitors, speakers and trade audience can discuss the future of digital governance and smart cities.

Second day: 8 November

The second day will start with a discussion on the Network Expansion Acceleration Act at 11:30 a.m. on the Arena Stage in hub27. Nick Kriegeskotte, Head of Infrastructure and Regulation at Bitkom, will answer the question "Fast lane or hard shoulder - will Germany achieve the 2030 expansion target of the Gigabit Strategy with the Network Expansion Acceleration Act?".

At 13:00, Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegener will give a keynote speech on the Plaza Stage in hub27.

Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport, Dr Volker Wissing, will present his keynote at 14:30 on the Plaza Stage.

From 15:30, the Digital Ministers' Meeting D16 will take place on the Plaza Stage. The digital ministers of the 16 federal states will discuss urgent issues of digitalisation in the public sector.

Traditionally, the Smart Country Startup Award will be presented at 17:45 on the Plaza Stage. Startups have until 8 October to apply for this award.

Third day: 9 November

On the third day of the Smart Country Convention, Maik Morgenstern, CTO of the AV-TEST Institute, will give an insight into Putin's digital armoury at 12 noon on the Arena Stage in hub27. In his presentation, the respected IT research institute AV-TEST will use concrete analyses to show which digital tools Russia is using against Ukraine and how these attacks are strategically planned. In addition, effective defence measures will be presented.

Day three of SCCON is also the Career Day. At 1 p.m., Marc Oliver Nissen from LinkedIn Talent Solutions for the DACH region will give a keynote speech on the topic of "sustainable HR strategy in times of digital change" on the Forum Stage in Hall 25.

At 3:30 p.m. Bettina Stark-Watzinger, Federal Minister of Education and Research, will give a keynote on the Plaza Stage in hub27.

Finally, the topic of AI in the public sector will be addressed at 15:45 on the Plaza Stage in hub27 by Nikolaus Hagl, Member of the Executive Board of SAP Deutschland SE & Co. KG, will address the topic.

All these sessions and many more can now be found here in the program overview.