Under the motto "Silicon Economy - Artificial Intelligence as a Driver of New Business Models", representatives from science and business, large corporations, start-ups and SMEs will meet for the 37th time in Dortmund's Westfallenhallen to discuss the challenges and opportunities of logistics at the congress jointly organized by the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML and the Digital Hub Logistics.

The trends of digitalization and artificial intelligence will change existing business models. At the "Zukunftskongress Logistik - 37th Dortmunder Gespräche", one of the topics to be discussed will be how companies can assert themselves in this new B2B competition.

Big picture of the Silicon Economy

In the Future Plenum on the first day of the congress, September 17, speakers will discuss the opportunities of a new platform economy and other key topics such as artificial intelligence and the future of mobility. Prof. Michael ten Hompel, Managing Director of the Fraunhofer IML, will present his "Big Picture" of a Silicon Economy. "Logistics will be the first industry in which the Silicon Economy becomes a reality," says ten Hompel.

Lectures by renowned business representatives

In addition to a presentation by NRW State Minister Prof. Andreas Pinkwart, congress participants can also look forward to a series of talks by well-known business representatives - including Schenker, Uber and Mars. For example, Dennis Heusser, Senior Associate at Uber, will discuss the role of artificial intelligence in the mobility of tomorrow.

In the Fraunhofer symposium "Silicon Economy" on the second day of the congress, September 18, speakers will show in five parallel sequences how they put innovations into practice in their companies.