Keynote speakers included Detlef Zühlke, founder & chairman of SmartFactory and the Frost & Sullivan Manufacturing Leader of the Year 2017, on the topic of “Industrie 4.0 – from Vision into the Factory” and John Dyck, CEO of Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute, on the topic of “Demystifying Smart Manufacturing – Pragmatic guidance on the real state of the industry, the opportunities and the challenges on this journey.”

Following the keynote speakers, three panels took place: “What puts the ‘Smart’ in Smart Technology,” which discussed topics such as data connectivity and machine learning; “Opportunities and Threats,” which focused on robotics, cybersecurity and the future of work; and “Industrie 4.0 Landscape and Collaboration Opportunities,” which focused on standardization, industry associations and opportunities for small companies.

“It’s nice getting to celebrate German and American friendship on top of networking with other experts in this industry,” said Nelly Poehlman from Goethe-Instiut. “I especially appreciate the high-level overviews of the topics before the deep-dive for people like me who are new to this industry.”