At two events held in recent weeks, the outcomes of ‘StrategyWorkshop: Industry of the FUTURE’ were presented to the public. The workshop is an initiative by Saxony’s Ministry for Economic Affairs, Labour and Transport (SMWA).
The StrategyWorkshop is a participatory process that has been underway since late 2016 and is being facilitated by VDI/VDE-IT. The workshop is developing the main features and principles of an industrial strategy for Saxony, in consultation with the stakeholders in Saxony’s industry and its periphery. The outcomes show that a future-oriented industrial strategy for Saxony will need to focus on increasing the level of added value. They also show that innovative products featuring non-technical innovations should be combined with new, data-driven business models.
The interim outcomes of the strategy process were discussed by entrepreneurs, employee representatives and scientists at a conference on 7 March 2018. The conference was held at the headquarters of Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau in Dresden and was attended by around 250 delegates. Some of the highlights of the day were the school workshops, in which school-age students and apprentices compiled their views about the future of industry and then presented them in a plenary session.
On 24 April, the conversation was continued at Saxony’s embassy in Berlin. Saxony’s minister for economic affairs, Martin Dulig, who commissioned the workshop, held discussions with representatives from the private sector, academia and trade associations. They discussed the outcomes of the strategy process and the orientation of industrial policy in the era of digitalisation. Between now and the end of 2018, ‘StrategyWorkshop: Industry of the FUTURE’ will go on to develop specific recommendations for action and provide Saxony’s government with suggestions of concepts and measures.
The SMWA commissioned VDI/VDE Innovation + Technology GmbH with organising and curating the subject matter of the ‘StrategyWorkshop: Industry of the Future’ project. VDI/VDE-IT therefore established a new administrative office, which is responsible for implementing this project.
