Press

Finding the right balance between sustainability and productivity is one of the goals of the United Nations‘ Agenda 2030 for worldwide “Food Security and Sustainable Agricul-ture”. This is in line with the new lighthouse project “Cognitive Agriculture“ of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, which aims at achieving a more efficient and at the same time more sustainable agriculture based on the comprehensive use of digital technologies. In this lighthouse project, eight Fraunhofer Institutes under the leadership of the Fraunho-fer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering IESE in Kaiserslautern are jointly working on solutions for producing agricultural products in an environmentally friendly, resource-saving, and at the same time highly efficient manner. On 14 November 2018, the project was launched officially at the Fraunhofer-Forum in Berlin in the presence of representatives from research, industry, government, and the press.

Today, the Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering IESE in Kaiserslautern said good-bye to its founder and long-time director Prof. Dieter Rombach with a festive ceremony. In 1996, the 65-year-old Rombach founded Fraunhofer IESE, which emerged from the Software Technologie Transfer Initiative (STTI) Kaiserslautern. Prof. Rombach was the director of Fraunhofer IESE until 2014, at which time Prof. Peter Liggesmeyer took over the operative management of the institute. At the end, Prof. Rombach was the Director Business Development at Fraunhofer IESE. “Prof. Rombach made the institute what it is today. He did real pioneer work in the area of software and systems engineering and inspired many researchers all over the world with his research. We wish him the very best for his future”, said Prof. Liggesmeyer.

The joint project “TrUSD – Transparente und selbstbestimmte Ausgestaltung der Datennutzung im Unternehmen“ (Transparent and self-determined design of data usage in organizations) started in September 2018. In this project, a practice-oriented and legally compliant approach for technology-supported employee data privacy is being developed. As one of five project partners, Fraunhofer IESE is investigating models and methods for ensuring self-determination and transparency for employees with regard of their privacy requirements.

The exchange of data presents companies with great challenges: Granting access to one’s data without exercising control entails great risk. However, it would be counterproductive and would diminish the company’s competitiveness to forego exchange entirely. With MYDATA Control Technologies (MYDATA), the Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering IESE in Kaiserslautern has developed a technology for the implementation of data sovereignty to strengthen informational self-determination. How this next-generation data protection works will be demonstrated by the researchers from Fraunhofer IESE at the IT security trade fair it-sa in Nuremberg from 9 to 11 October 2018.

69 partners, including Fraunhofer IESE in Kaiserslautern, are collaborating in the development of future technologies with a focus on security, safety, and privacy across numerous application domains.

At this year’s CEBIT in Hannover from 12 to 15 June 2018, Fraunhofer IESE will present its FERAL solution at the joint Fraunhofer booth in Hall 27, Booth E78. Visitors will be able to experience live how the virtual integra-tion and validation works with suitable models and “digital twins”.

Following its successful participation in the Bitkom competition “Digital City”, the City of Kaiserslautern has decided to further advance its development towards a showcase digital city.

In the research project BaSys 4.0, the Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering IESE, Kaiserslautern, and its collaboration partners are developing an open-source middleware that enables the use of heterogeneous systems for Industrie 4.0. How easy this is will be shown by the researchers of Fraunhofer IESE at the Fraunhofer Booth C22 in Hall 6 from 23 to 27 April 2018.

The reduction of CO2 emissions is one of the most urgent challenges of our times. It is an elementary factor when it comes to leading the energy transition to sustainable success. In this context, the optimal use of different energy sources plays as much a role as the sophisticated coordination of energy provision and energy consumption on site. The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is making great strides in the development of an open, secure, and scalable system solution, with the ideal solution being fully integrated and automated sector coupling. For this purpose, it has founded the association “Open District Hub e.V.” together with renowned business partners. Fraunhofer IESE from Kaiserslautern is also on board.

The research cluster Cognitive Internet Technologies (CIT) is being launched with the bundled competence of three research centers comprising a total of 13 Fraunhofer institutes. Its aim is to develop cognitive technologies for the Industrial Internet. Researchers from various disciplines will be developing holistic solutions along the value chain, from sensors via smart learning methods in data processing to the Cloud.