Source: Own illustration
From September 11 to 13, 2023, the Center for Information Services and High Performance Computing (ZIH) of the Technische Universität Dresden (TU Dresden) and the ZKI e.V. invited to the ZKI Autumn Conference 2023. Under the title “Data Management and Artificial Intelligence: On Challenges of the Future”, the event took place in the lecture hall center of the TU Dresden. The approximately 350 participants were treated to an extensive program with exciting presentations on current university-related issues, requirements and solutions. The IT Center was also there – represented both by participants and by Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Dr. Thomas Eifert with a presentation.
Here we go – the ZKI Autumn Conference 2023
The program kicked off on Monday, September 11 with the first internal meeting of the ZKI IT Service Management (ITSM) working groups and the Cloud Commission. To round off the opening day and for initial networking, all participants of the ZKI Autumn Conference had dinner together in the Pulverturm restaurant in the heart of Dresden’s old town.
The first “big” day of the event began on September 12. After the official opening by Torsten Prill, ZKI CEO, the Rector of TU Dresden, Prof. Dr. Ursula M. Staudinger, and Dr. Andreas Handschuh, State Secretary in the Saxon State Ministry for Science, Culture and Tourism, welcomed the guests. Afterwards, various specialist presentations were given by representatives of different universities and research institutions. The presentations dealt with issues relating to current trends and developments in data management, data storage, infrastructure, software and virtualization in data centers as well as artificial intelligence and data analysis.
The IT Center on board – presentation by Dr. Thomas Eifert
Under the title “Data management and data storage in practice: the cooperation “datensicherung.nrw” in the Digital University NRW”, Dr. Thomas Eifert, CTO of the IT Center, reported on the development of “datensicherung.nrw”, a consortium of 29 universities in NRW that is working on a sustainable and modern operating concept for a state-wide data backup infrastructure.
Atrium of the Albertinum Museum
Source: Own illustration
Between the presentations, communication breaks offered participants the opportunity to network and exchange experiences. In addition, the numerous sponsors presented their services and projects in the spacious foyer of the lecture hall center and invited participants to exchange ideas and receive individual advice.
This event day also ended with a joint dinner, this time in the atrium of the Albertinum Museum. In addition to the excellent tasting and the performance by the ZKI band, there was also the opportunity to visit the exhibition “Art from Romanticism to the Present”.
Farewell – See you at the ZKI Spring Conference 2024!
The last day was all about AI and data analysis. Numerous presentations on various topics were held until midday.
The official programme of the ZKI Autumn Conference 2023 ended at around 1 p.m. with the presentation of the following host: The ZKI Spring Conference 2024 will take place in Paderborn under the topic “Technical, organizational and cultural aspects of information security at universities”.
In the afternoon and the following day, internal working group meetings of the ZKI e.V. took place. This time, the meetings of the “Information Security” and “Identity and Access Management (IAM)” working groups were held jointly.
Overall, the ZKI Autumn Conference 2023 in Dresden was an exciting and inspiring insight into the topics of data management and artificial intelligence for the participants of the IT Center. There were also many opportunities for lively discussions.
We would like to thank our colleagues at TU Dresden for this successful conference and are already looking forward to future events.
Responsible for the content of this article are Christian Blischke and Linda Jörres.
