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The challenges for the IT and electrical industry

Both the Ukraine crisis and the coronavirus crisis are shaping the European business and working world and are changing the corporate culture in Europe in the long term. In particular, the energy crisis triggered by the Ukraine crisis has suddenly increased the importance of sustainability and resilience. At the same time, digitalization continues to play a major role in companies' value models. In this context, topics such as IT security and data science are becoming increasingly important. In particular, the topic of data science, i.e. the extraction of knowledge from data using various techniques, algorithms and tools, is steadily moving into the focus of European business practice. The information industry is an indispensable trailblazer for a digital future and acts as the most important driving force in making existing management structures faster, more accurate and more reliable with the help of data science. Companies in the highly innovative information industry are facing extensive challenges:

In addition to the challenges posed by increasing digitalization, the electrical industry is also facing major uncertainties. In particular, the stability of global supply chains and increasing protectionism, for example for semiconductor products, pose major difficulties for European companies. However, the increasing demand for rare earth materials is also coming under scrutiny. This is exacerbated by the switch to electromobility - and the resulting increase in demand for electrical and semiconductor products coupled with sharply rising energy prices.

The advancing digitalization and the resulting increasing focus on data science methods is reflected in the IT and electrical industry in particular, as the following examples show:

In order to promote the digitalization of small and medium-sized enterprises in the CEE region, the A1 digital international GmbH was founded as a company of the Telekom Austria Group. The focus here is on innovative digital products, cloud and IoT services, which serve to find new and more efficient forms of collaboration. In addition, cyber security services are offered to increase the IT security of SMEs in particular. At the same time, the A1 IoT Solution Demo Center a tool to interactively explore the IoT and analytics solutions on offer. In particular, the focus is on increasing productivity through the real-time recording of machine data as well as the classification of inventory, IT security and artificial intelligence.

The increasing trend towards digitalization is also reflected in the example of the Microsoft Corporation. As one of the world's largest companies and the world's largest software manufacturer, Microsoft is currently at the center of global digitalization activities. Microsoft is providing support with modern software and hardware solutions to enable remote working without sacrificing collaboration, productivity or security, particularly in the transition to working from home or in the design of remote and hybrid teaching in the context of COVID-19. At the same time, Microsoft is also increasingly focusing on cloud technologies and data science. With the help of Azure functions such as machine learning, analytics and 200 other functions are increasingly being offered in order to accelerate the extraction of knowledge from data while maintaining IT security. In addition, Microsoft Corporation is one of the central partners promoting the establishment and further development of the OPEN MANUFACTURING PLATFORM. Platform-independent solutions, open standards and technologies are being developed to enable intelligent manufacturing, break down data silos and solve production-related problems.

A central role in digitalization in Europe is also played by Telefónica Germany as one of the largest telecommunications providers in Europe. The network expansion of 5G technology in particular will create the basis for economic and innovative strength, but also for people's participation in society. In addition to network expansion, Telefónica Deutschland supports business partners in the digitalization of their business solutions. Furthermore, Telefónica Deutschland also acts as a cloud provider and is considered a pioneer in the responsible and ethical use of digital solutions.

The French electrical engineering group Schneider Electric SEwhich operates in the field of industrial automation and energy distribution, is increasingly focusing on the area of digitalization. To expand the business model with the company's own IoT system architecture EcoStruxure Schneider Electric has created a plug-and-play architecture and platform that connects all areas of the company - from the factory floor to the boardroom. Based on collected data, this enables well-founded decisions based on real-time information and business logic. This makes it possible for companies with little expertise in the field to use data science.

The Giesecke+Devrient GmbH is an owner-managed, international group that has developed from a manufacturer of banknotes, banknote processing machines, ID cards and payment cards, for example, into a provider of customized security technologies in the areas of payment, identities, connectivity and digital infrastructures. Giesecke+Devrient GmbH is thus an example of successful digital corporate transformation and impressively demonstrates the growth opportunities of new value models.

The speakers from the IT and electrical industry at the 30th Munich Management Colloquium will talk about how the application and development of new digitalization approaches can create more sustainable and resilient business models and which concepts can be used to overcome current challenges in the best possible way. They will also show how they have managed to transfer theoretical approaches into practice.

Among others, the following speakers from the the IT and electrical industry on the necessary change processes: