Review of the year 2023: Karlsruhe under the sign of digitalization and innovation
Karlsruhe experienced a year full of digital highlights in 2023 – from AI innovations and sustainable software development to festivals and trade fairs to enable citizens to participate in digitalization.
Start of the year with digital education, STEM promotion and ChatGPT
Spring in Karlsruhe woke up with a whole series of digital events. In February, the FZI Open House opened its doors, a veritable feast for technology enthusiasts who wanted to take a look into the future. Around 200 guests were able to experience the transfer of technology and knowledge live – including in the areas of robotics, autonomous driving, climate protection and IT security. At the same time, the city library offered a bridge to the digital world with “Simply digital!” for all those who previously felt more comfortable in an analog existence.
The techniKAmpus STEM cluster project was launched in March. The technika | Karlsruher Technik-Initiative, the Stadtjugendausschuss e.V. and the Institute for Product Development at KIT want to promote young talents in MINT subjects. To this end, appropriate extracurricular activities will be created in the city of Karlsruhe in the future.
And what else? The new high-performance computer was presented at KIT – a real turbo for regional research. This was followed in April by the opening of the Digital Learning Lab at KIT. It consists of a real and a virtual learning environment and gives students the opportunity to get to know the areas of application of various technologies and to try them out independently.
Learning was also the focus of the anniversary edition of LEARNTEC, Europe’s largest event for digital education for schools, universities and the workplace. For three days, the Karlsruhe trade fair centered on digital learning. In the end, over 13,500 guests gave LEARNTEC a record result. One of the main topics? AI and chatbots like ChatGPT, of course. A topic that we should also encounter at #digiTALKKA, the digital regulars’ table in Karlsruhe. The main focus was on the opportunities and risks associated with the use of artificial intelligence in education.
A festival summer dedicated to science and digitalization
But it wasn’t all about AI. Many events supported by karlsruhe.digital made it clear how important the topic of sustainability is in the context of digitalization. For example, the Green Software Development Group dealt with carbon aware computing, green software development and the possibilities of reducing the energy consumption of software.
Summertime is festival time! In mid-June, the EFFEKTE science festival allowed visitors to immerse themselves in the infinite expanses of the Karlsruhe science cosmos – for nine days. The supporting program included exhibitions, lectures, workshops, art installations, concerts, science shows and experiments in which Karlsruhe universities and scientific institutions presented themselves in an entertaining way.
This was immediately followed by the MINT Festival, which provided a stage for technology projects by Karlsruhe schoolchildren at SteamWork. It became clear what the fan-shaped city has now achieved in terms of technology education: from award-winning “Jugend forscht” projects, to the results of the technology working groups and technikaLabs, to practical work by mechatronics students at KIT and Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, everything was represented.
And what else? The KI-Allianz Baden-Württemberg, in which the Karlsruhe region plays a central role, received 5.1 million euros from the state and 285,000 visitors were enchanted by the annual Schlosslichtspiele.
Digital end to the year with events and awards
In September, the Digital Female Leader Award 2023 once again created an extraordinary setting to network and celebrate digital pioneers under the motto “Be bold, be brave, be you”. Meanwhile, the UIG conference focused on the contribution that each individual can make to making digital products and services more sustainable.
The golden October was characterized by the InnovationFestival @karlsruhe.digital, which was held for the third time. offered the best digital innovations from Karlsruhe and the Karlsruhe TechnologyRegion the big stage in top-class keynote and keynote speeches. At the same time, the KIT Science Week focused on how we can shape our future sustainably together in a variety of event formats and a top-class scientific program.
The end of the year was dominated by exciting insights into the world of deep fakes at digiTALK, the Robotics Artificial Intelligence real-world laboratory invited visitors to the theme week “Karlsruhe – Robot City?!” and technika celebrated its 10th birthday. Another milestone in Karlsruhe’s digital landscape was the launch of the ANYMOS competence cluster in December.
That was 2023 – and 2024 is already in the starting blocks!