Silicon Austria Labs

Under the motto "Building bridges for tomorrow", the first Electronic Based Systems Conference (#EBSCON) was held at the Congress in Graz on November 3, 2021 . Almost 250 guests followed this invitation live on site. In exciting talks and panels, not only the challenges of our time were discussed, but also the solutions that electronic-based systems can contribute to overcome these problems. SAL was also represented at this event.

experts talking at the podium, in the background "Techtalk 2: Tech4Green" is projected onto the wall

Christina Hirschl (2nd from the left) about green technologies

experts talking at the podium, in the background "Techtalks 3: Artificial Intelligence" is projected onto the wall

András Montvay (2nd from the left) about the future of AI

Intelligent technologies for a sustainable and livable future - this is what numerous representatives from business and research spoke about at #EBSCON in Graz. The networking event of the Austrian electronics industry brought together industry and cutting-edge research under the motto "Building bridges for tomorrow". Silicon Austria Labs was also represented by site manager Christina Hirschl and SAL researcher András Montvay in two panels on the moving topics of today.

Top-class guests

The official opening speech by Andreas Starzacher, CEO of Silicon Alps Cluster, was followed by the handover to Robert Gfrerer, who will take over the management of Silicon Alps Cluster GmbH on December 1, 2021. Barbara Eibinger-Miedl, Regional Minister for Economy, Tourism, Regions, Science and Research, and Erhard Juritsch, Chairman of KWF, commented on the importance of EBS in Styria and Carinthia. Renowned futurologist Tristan Horx delivered the Opening Keynote, where he presented his vision on upcoming megatrends, the forms of sustainability, the generation and talent gap and the interplay between technology and society as a whole. Following the more in-depth Q&A session with the futurologist, the high-level panel discussions began.

Top-class discussions

Christina Hirschl joined colleagues on the panel under the title "Tech 4 Green" to discuss how the "green transformation" can succeed with the help of electronic-based systems. "Microelectronics has great potential as a gamechanger for a more sustainable future, because it is the basis for many applications in the field of climate protection," said Hirschl, site manager of SAL in Villach and head of the Research Divisions Sensor Systems and System Integration Technologies. "At SAL, our team researches application-oriented solutions along the entire value chain in collaboration with partners from industry and research."

András Montvay and other experts addressed questions about how artificial intelligence can help us win the fight against climate change as part of the panel "Artificial Intelligence". "AI is just the tool. In the end, Artificial Intelligence is there to solve an optimization challenge. If my optimization goal is to become green and sustainable as a company, AI will do that for me," so Montvay about the utilization potential of AI. Furthermore, it is important to take away the fear of AI, especially from the older generation, as AI is already omnipresent in many areas of life and will be of even greater importance in the future.

In addition to the exciting discussions on stage, research institutions, companies and universities illustrated their solutions for the trend reversal in the exhibition area in the halls. Here, ideas were exchanged and possible areas of cooperation were discussed.

The conference

The #EBSCON was organized by Silicon Alps Cluster in cooperation with SAL. The network meeting, which was held for the first time, took place as a hybrid event at Congress Graz and was also accessible via online stream. The livestream of all presentations and panels can be viewed again via the following link:

https://ebscon.eu/catch-up-on-the-ebscon-2021-rewatch-the-livestream/