Agenda

Morning

08:30 – 09:00

Welcome Coffee and Registration

09:00 – 10:15

Session 1 - Keynote speeches and discussion

The digitisation of the European industry will require an innovation-friendly regulatory framework and an overall policy approach that remains consistent with the objective of achieving a data-driven economy.

To what extent does the policy framework need to be adapted to ensure a greater integration of innovative technologies in industrial activities and support the deployment of new business models? Will the development of a European strategy for the digital transformation of industry be enough to complement the DSM strategy to fulfill Europe’s ambitions towards achieving a true data economy? How can innovation in the industry sector boost Europe’s competitiveness and foster economic growth? What can policy-makers learn from organisations or sectors that have successfully used or deployed innovative solutions to modernise their activities?

10:15 – 10:30

Morning Coffee Break

10:30 – 12:00

Session 2: Empowering the industrial sector for a successful digital transformation

- How can Europe build on its existing leadership in some sectors and ensure that all industrial organisations (including SMEs), seize the opportunities offered by KETs, and manage their successful transition towards innovative products, processes and new business models?

- What innovations have had positive impacts on productivity, energy, performance, waste reduction and have helped with the overall transformation of industrial sector?

- How can SMEs and non-digital industries re-tune themselves to the digital age so that they can leverage advanced technologies? What tools are available to support decisions and investments that can significantly facilitate their transformation?

- With non-personal data collected and generated in smart manufacturing processes, what clarifications are needed with regards to industrial IPR when considering issues related to data ownership, data exploitation, data transfers and the re-utilisation of data beyond its initial purpose of collection? What are the benefits of data sharing

- What changes need to be made to policies impacting issues such as liability and Health & Safety as humans will be working more and more with autonomous systems and robots?

- What is concretely planned for the promotion of digital skills in order to best prepare the EU workforce for the digital transformation and how can Europe encourage further a culture of entrepreneurship? What is needed for the digital re-skilling of the current workforce and of business leaders? How will the digitisation of the industrial sector change corporate governance?

Afternoon

12:00 – 13:15

Networking Lunch

13:15 – 14:45

Session 3: Connectivity, Security and standards: Building a suitable infrastructure for the digitisation of Industry

The digitisation of industry in Europe will become a reality if an appropriate infrastructure exists and meets the requirements of data-intensive innovations supporting the digital transformation of the industrial sector.

- What concrete actions are needed from policy-makers, industries and other actors to create the right conditions for the deployment of European digital platforms that can be used by industrial organisations to innovate their products, processes and services?

- What has already been achieved and what remains to be done to create common standards and interoperable solutions in areas that are critical to the digitisation of industries such as cloud computing and advanced data analytics? How can a cross-sectorial approach to the development of standards be ensured for the development of an open industry ecosystem?

- As industrial digital processes and products will increasingly rely on wireless-enabled technologies, how can a suitable, continuous and reliable connectivity be ensured? How crucial will a successful transition from 4G to 5G be to address connectivity requirements between a greater number of industrial machines and devices?

- With an increasingly greater number of connected devices, sensors and automated systems creating huge amount of data and stretching the ‘attack surface’ in smart industrial processes, what can be done to develop the highest level of security standards in smart factories and ensure the integrity of their supply chains? How will the provisions of the NIS directive respond to the security challenges emerging from the digitisation of industry?

- What additional measures can be taken to encourage further investment in broadband infrastructure and support cutting-edge research into HPC technologies? Will sectors deemed ‘traditional’ also need to invest? What impact will the digital technologies and innovative process used in the context of the digitisation of traditional industries have on traffic-management and on the net-neutrality principle