Press

Technology used in automobiles, airplanes, or industrial robots is becoming ever more complex. Can the software be extended? How does the system deal with failures? More and more organizations need to address such issues. Help is now offered by a simulation process developed by researchers in Kaiserslautern. It allows checking in which combination different hard- and software systems will work together correctly. In addition, the researchers can examine the response of safety-critical systems when failures occur. At the CeBIT computer fair in Hanover, they will present their technology at the research booth of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate (hall 6, booth C17).

In Hanover, Fraunhofer IESE will show how to employ the IND²UCE technology to use sensitive customer data and protect them from misuse at the same time.

OSSENO Software GmbH from Kaiserslautern, a spin-off of the Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering IESE, has won the Start-up Award 2016. The award, which is worth several thousand euros, was presented in Pirmasens on 29 November 2016. For several years, the Science Alliance Kaiserslautern e.V. along with the Kaiserslautern Start-up Office have been offering this award to young companies that impress not only with an innovative product, but also with a solid business model.

Last year alone, damages as a direct result of cyber-crimes amounted to more than 40 million euros. If the loss of revenues due to plagiarism, industrial espionage, or image loss is added, the economic costs run into billions. All areas are affected, from the automotive industry via energy providers to telecommunication. A large part of the damage could be avoided, however, if companies would only use the right solutions and measures.

On 4 October 2016, Minister President Malu Dreyer presented a dialog paper entitled “Digital Rhineland-Palatinate. We create networks for people in rural areas” and started a broad process in this context. Among other things, she presented the new State Council for Digital Development and Culture. One of its members is Dr. Peter Liggesmeyer, professor of computer science at the University of Kaiserslautern, President of the German Informatics Society (GI e.V.), and institute director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering IESE in Kaiserslautern. The institute is the initiator of the first real lab worldwide for digitalization in rural areas and of the Rhineland-Palatinate Citizen Science project Digital Villages.

On 4 October 2016, the third, four-week test phase of the Digital Villages Betzdorf and Eisenberg/Göllheim in Rhineland-Palatinate will start. This joint project of the Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering IESE in Kaiserslautern, the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of the Interior and for Sport, and the Rhineland-Palatinate Development Agency is all about networking among citizens with the help of digital technology in the sense of modern neighborhood support. In October, the residents will additionally test a new app to barter for services, tools, and other things.

Where can refugees attend German classes? And which regulations apply for them to work and study in Germany? Since April 2016, the participants of the model project “Refugees programming for refugees” at the initial reception facility in Hermeskeil are pursuing these and other questions. In the context of this project, they have used their IT skills to design a website by refugees for refugees. Fraunhofer IESE and the Rhineland-Palatinate Development Agency are supporting the young men in their work.

At the beginning of July, the third Project Family Meeting of the Digital Villages project took place at Fraunhofer IESE in Kaiserslautern. Representatives of the Ministry and of the Rhineland-Palatinate Development Agency, of the municipalities, and of the institute jointly analyzed the results of the second test phase and intensified their planning for the third test phase, which is scheduled to take place in the fall of this year.

On 1 July 2016, the project “Basissystem Industrie 4.0 (BaSys 4.0)” (Basic System Industry 4.0) was launched, which is being funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Its goal is the development of an “operating system” for production plants to support efficient modifiability of a production process, thus addressing one of the central challenges of the fourth industrial revolution. The project is being funded with 12 million euros and has a duration of three years. The project coordinator is the Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering IESE, which organized the first large project kick-off event at its site in Kaiserslautern today.

Since this Friday, communities or municipalities from areas with special need for action can apply to become a model village in the context of the project “eDorf” (eVillage) of the Bavarian State government. In a two-step competition, one community from northern Bavaria and one from southern Bavaria will be selected by the end of the year as eVillages. The Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering IESE, Kaiserslautern, as the initiator of the first in-the-field lab worldwide on digitalization in rural areas, will contribute its expertise from the Rhineland-Palatinate project Digital Villages.