"Good afternoon, Mr. Minister-President. I would also like to welcome you to the Thuringian Center for Learning Systems and Robotics." With these words, Robot Pepper and University President Prof. Kai-Uwe Sattler welcomed a very special guest to TU Ilmenau on August 12. In the presence of Minister President Mario Voigt, the state government's new digital cabinet under the leadership of Digital Minister Steffen Schütz and Digital State Secretary Milen Starke met for the first time on this day in the Grace Hopper Building to jointly launch a new digital strategy. Steffen Schütz and Thuringia's Minister of Economic Affairs Colette Boos-John had already visited the university the week before to find out about the Digital Mobility research initiative at the Thuringian Center for Innovation in Mobility (ThIMo).
What can and should digitalization achieve in Thuringia? What opportunities and risks are associated with it? What does this mean for the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI)? And how can social dialog on this topic be promoted? Minister-President Mario Voigt and the members of the Digital Cabinet not only discussed questions such as these with Prof. Kai-Uwe Sattler at the start of their meeting. In a short presentation, the Chairman of the Thuringian Conference of State Presidents and President of TU Ilmenau also introduced the members of the government to the university's activities in the areas of digitalization and AI in research, teaching and university operations.
The state government had deliberately chosen the "engineering forge" TU Ilmenau, "a centerpiece of the innovation landscape in Thuringia", as the location for its special cabinet meeting, said the Minister-President. During a tour of the Center for Micro and Nanotechnologies (ZMN), the largest of a total of four technology centers at the university, and the Zusebau, home to the Department of Computer Science and Automation and the Thuringian Center for Learning Systems and Robotics (TZLR), he also learned about current research and developments made in Ilmenau.
"I was able to take a look at some of the institutes and I am deeply impressed," said the Minister President:
From nanotechnology to the detection of flora and fauna in Thuringia and throughout Germany: this is a great demonstration of what we can do when we bring research and innovation together with the actions of the state government. We were able to admire this here today at the TU Ilmenau.
The cabinet meeting took place in the Grace Hopper Bau, the university computer center. As one of two IT centers in Thuringia, equipped with state-of-the-art technology, it provides all ten state universities in Thuringia with IT applications and services. This makes it an essential foundation for the digitalization of Thuringia's universities. The "Ilmenau Interactive Immersive Technologies Centers I3TC", the research center for innovative virtual reality and augmented reality technologies, is currently one of the most modern and powerful installations for reproducing virtual environments. The press conference took place in the I3TC's high-tech audio laboratory, which has already been fully equipped, following the meeting of the Digital Cabinet. Digital Minister Steffen Schütz:
'This lab here is symbolic of Thuringia as a location for innovation. This is where we make pioneering technology. This is where we create pioneering processes, and this VR lab is one of the most modern facilities of its kind in the state for good reason.
Minister-President Mario Voigt expressed similar sentiments after the meeting:
Future technologies are being developed here - from artificial intelligence and virtual reality to new solutions for industry, administration and education. With its close combination of cutting-edge research, practical training and cooperation with companies, TU Ilmenau makes a decisive contribution to strengthening Thuringia as a modern, competitive and attractive location. Research, science and politics work hand in hand here - an important driver for the digital transformation throughout the state.
University President Prof. Kai-Uwe Sattler expressly thanked Minister-President Mario Voigt and the cabinet for the state government's third visit to the Technical University within a week:
I hope we were able to show that we are not only a good host, but also how innovative TU Ilmenau, the Thuringian universities are. We were able to demonstrate a number of things, particularly in the areas of digitalization and the application of artificial intelligence, and I think it is very important for the state, for Thuringian innovation in the state, also in cooperation with Thuringian industry, that further investment is made here. That we know what we have here. And that we can also make very good use of this asset of the universities.
Impressions
