The keynote speech in the year 2019 will be held by Prof. Dominik Bösl with
Disruption can’t be planned! – Of robots, flying cars and digital solutions.
Today we live in the Antropocene – the “man-made age” – in which technology permeates, changes and hopefully enriches all aspects of our world. Digitalization is in full swing and we can already see the next disruption on the horizon: the automation of the world. Robotics, artificial intelligence and automation technology will influence and change the world in the next half century at least as much as the Internet and computer technology have done in the last 50 years. Our grandchildren will grow up as the first generation R of Robotic Natives in their daily interaction with increasingly autonomous cars, collaborative robots and intelligent (software) systems. In contrast to us Robotic Immigrants with a still very analogue migration background, they will not be afraid of technologization. In order to make this progress sustainable and responsible, we need governance frameworks for better (self-)regulation and a public discourse on the use of technology.
Institution/Company: Festo AG & Co. KG
Current Function: Head of Project Unit Robotics
Dominik Bösl is a computer scientist, futurologist, innovator, manager (Head of Robotics at Festo AG), professor (at the Hochschule der Bayerischen Wirtschaft), philosopher (focus on technology ethics), author, volunteer (founder of the Robotic & AI Governance Foundation, chair of the IEEE TechEthics Initiative, vice president for industrial activities of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, …), geek and father.
His career began at Siemens in 1999, led him to Microsoft for seven years, then eight years in technology and innovation management at KUKA, and finally to Festo AG in January 2019, where he is responsible for the Robotics division. At the same time, he teaches at various colleges and universities and holds a professorship at HDBW for Digital Sciences, Automation and Leadership.