Softwarepark Hagenberg team of experts
The Softwarepark Hagenberg event series - by experts for experts
In 2016, a group of experts formed from representatives of the companies, research institutes and educational institutions of Softwarepark Hagenberg to realize the idea of a new Hagenberg event series as a common forum for inspiration, presentation, cooperation and communication internally and externally.
The six-member team, consisting of DI Thomas Führer, MSc (STIWA Group), MMag. Irmgard Gmachl (Porsche Informatik GmbH), DI (FH) Thomas Kern (FH OÖ Campus Hagenberg), DI Theodorich Kopetzky (Software Competence Center Hagenberg – SCCH), a.Univ.-Prof. Dipl-Ing. Dr. Josef Küng (Institute for Applied Knowledge Processing (FAW) at JKU), and FH-Prof. PD DI Dr. Stephan Winkler (Softwarepark Hagenberg and FH OÖ Campus Hagenberg), pursues this idea. Since the year 2017, the series of events for IT experts has been implemented with several successive open events. In the course of lectures by invited renowned experts from business and science, the participants should learn more about current trends and the resulting IT requirements, in order to deepen selected topics in subsequent discussions and to discuss possible solutions together.
A highly relevant theme every year
The consensus to define an overarching guiding theme, which is highly relevant for everyone involved, was quickly found. The first cycle in 2017 was devoted to the topic of "Automotive Computing". In three pleasantly well-attended events, international experts discussed which new challenges future mobility will pose for information technology, which increasingly important role data analysis will play in the automotive sector, and how the increasing safety and security requirements for autonomous driving can be met.
In the past, information security in particular was mostly neglected. However, with the massively growing amount of information processing and increasingly networked systems in increasingly complex application areas, the resulting threat potential also increases. Last but not least, the European General Data Protection Regulation, which entered into force on May 25 in 2018, hovers like a sword of Damocles over the heads of companies. A comprehensive consideration of security measures in terms of technology, architecture and management is therefore essential. This is why the events in 2018 had the main theme "Information Security". Once again, the subject was examined from different perspectives together with well-known experts.
In 2019, Softwarepark Hagenberg is committed to the topic of "Digital Health". Digital healthcare technologies are used for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, monitoring and administration in healthcare. Accordingly, the networking between hospitals, operating systems and pharmacies is increasing. The compatibility of IT systems is therefore essential. Different systems should work together as seamlessly as possible and thus pave the way for topics such as e-health, telemedicine or active assisted living. Due to the high topicality, "Digital Health" was the focus of the event series at Softwarepark Hagenberg in 2019.
Data is the enabling raw material for many megatrends in the field of modern computer science and information technology. Prominent examples in recent years are big data, the Internet of Things, Industry 4.0, artificial intelligence, information security and digitalization in general.
The area of analytics represents a cross-sectional area, whose method pool benefits from the developments in the trends mentioned above. Analytics goes from the descriptive to the diagnostic to the predictive phase. The prescriptive phase builds on these stages by making the knowledge gained in diagnostics and prediction, among other things, usable for the real world with modern techniques of artificial intelligence: By combining data analysis and machine learning with modelling and optimization, scenarios can be compared with each other under different aspects of optimization and it can be deduced how the future can best be designed.
Together with FH-Prof. Priv.-Doz. DI Dr. Michael Affenzeller, scientific head of the Softwarepark Hagenberg and an absolute luminary in the field of prescriptive analytics, the team of experts has dedicated to this highly interesting topic in 2020.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly permeating various areas of technology and, consequently, our daily lives. Upon brief exploration of the topic, one quickly recognizes the countless implementation possibilities and application domains that AI now encompasses. Additional attributes such as "Industrial, Human Centered, Medical, Embedded, Cognitive, Deep, or Explainable" are often associated with AI.
In our upcoming installment of the Hagenberg Experts Series on "Thinking AI," we invite you to explore these diverse realms of artificial intelligence. Together with you and selected experts, we will contemplate where it makes sense to deploy AI, which applications it is particularly suitable for, how it can be realized, and where its limitations lie. What are your thoughts on AI?
What does sustainability have to do with software and AI? Quite a lot, actually! In the new Softwarepark Hagenberg IT Experts Series "Sustainable IT", exciting developments on the topic are being discussed.
While software cannot solve every problem facing society today, it can certainly assist in addressing many urgent issues, such as environmental protection. The proper use of software and artificial intelligence is key to promoting sustainability. Research institutes, companies, and the university in Softwarepark Hagenberg all contribute significantly to this endeavor. They are already conducting research on topics that align with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) among many other focuses and are working towards their implementation.
Softwarepark Hagenberg expert team
FH-Prof. PD DI Dr. STEPHAN WINKLER is a university professor at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria in Hagenberg, where he heads the Department of Medical and Bioinformatics and leads the Bioinformatics Research Group. Since 2022, Stephan Winkler has been serving as the Scientific Head of Softwarepark Hagenberg, aiming to support and coordinate the scientific activities in Hagenberg while communicating to society the research endeavors taking place in the region.
Stephan Winkler studied computer science at Johannes Kepler University Linz and earned his habilitation in the field of "Data-Based Modeling" in 2018. His research and teaching focus on bioinformatics and artificial intelligence.
A. UNIV. PROF. DI DR. JOSEF KÜNG is Associate Professor for Applied Computer Science at the Johannes Kepler University Linz and Deputy Head of the Institute for Application-Oriented Knowledge Processing (FAW). Since the foundation of Softwarepark Hagenberg, he has been active in various functions, both in the scientific field and in technology transfer and cooperation with the economy. His research, teaching and cooperation topics are information systems and knowledge-based systems, including security aspects in such systems.
DI (FH) THOMAS KERN has been active in research, development and teaching at the FH Upper Austria Campus Hagenberg since 2000. Initially, he was responsible for the establishment and expansion of the Research Center Hagenberg and subsequently developed the concept for the TIMed CENTER, which he has managed since its foundation in 2016. In this cross-faculty centre for technical innovation in medicine, research groups from the four Upper Austrian Universities of Applied Sciences in Hagenberg, Linz, Wels and Steyr, together with partners from science and industry, are developing new technologies to solve medical problems in numerous interdisciplinary projects. It is of particular importance to him to make the strengths of the region and its institutions as technology and research partners widely visible and to develop them further together. This is one of the reasons why he is very happy to be part of the team of experts at Softwarepark Hagenberg.
The computer scientist and energy management expert DI THOMAS FÜHRER has been working for the internationally active automation specialist STIWA Group since 1988. Today he is responsible for the management of the STIWA location in Hagenberg im Mühlkreis, which he significantly built up in 1992. Here the company develops intelligent software solutions and services in the areas of production automation, laboratory and building automation and employs more than 100 people. Thomas Führer combines his many years of experience and know-how in the fields of energy-efficient building and industrial automation, energy management, product and software development and building automation. In addition, he is employed as a lecturer at the FH Wels for the courses of study in green energy technology, civil engineering and building construction.
DI THEODORICH KOPETZKY has been area manager for Services and Solutions at the Software Competence Center Hagenberg (SCCH) since the beginning of 2020. From 2014 to 2019 he was executive head of the „Knowledge-based Vision Systems“ research focus. He studied computer science at the Johannes Kepler University Linz with focus on software engineering and compiler design. He joined the Database Technology group of the SCCH in the year 2004 as project manager for a multi person-year project in the area of SOA based enterprise application platform systems.
