The Bundeswehr in the age of digitalization of technology, industry, and society.

With over 500 visitors, the thirteenth Koblenz IT conference at the Rhein-Mosel-Halle celebrated a visitor record. Together, the two organizers, the Federal Office for Equipment, Information Technology and Use of the Bundeswehr (BAAINBw) and the User Forum for Telecommunications, Computers, Electronics and Automation Bonn e.V. (AFCEA), spent a day exploring the topic "Digital Competence and Convergence in the Age of Digital Systems" from various perspectives.

After the welcome by Colonel i.G. Heiko Mühlmann, deputy chairman of AFCEA Bonn e.V., and Brigadier General Michael Hauschild, head of department I at BAAINBw, as well as the greeting from the Mayor of Koblenz, Ulrike Mohrs, the day in Koblenz was entirely dedicated to the annual theme of the non-profit organization AFCEA Bonn e.V.

Change management is a particularly challenging task for the Bundeswehr.

Lieutenant General Michael Vetter, head of the Cyber Information Technology department at the Federal Ministry of Defense, addressed digitalization in his opening speech as a megatrend, leadership task, and top priority for the Bundeswehr. Only through consistent implementation such as with the Cyber Innovation Hub, the Code research institute at UniBw in Neuberg, or projects like the comprehensive digitalization of land-based operations of the armed forces (D-LBO) and further integration with the IT service provider BWI, can the Bundeswehr achieve information and operational superiority in the future. Vetter warned against viewing digitalization without changes in leadership culture, collaboration, and work methods. Change management, particularly within the Bundeswehr, presents a particularly challenging task.

Panel discussion on Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Automation

Professor Dr. Peter Martini, deputy chairman of the Cyber Security Cluster Bonn e.V., introduced his association. The goal of the Cyber Security Cluster is to create appeal for professionals in Bonn and the region, as well as for companies, through even more intensive cooperation and exchanges between universities, businesses, and government organizations.

Colonel i.G. Robert Miedema from the Dutch armed forces and Chief Technical Government Director Christian Peters from BAAINBw showcased a unique form of collaboration with programs such as FOXTROT, D-LBO, and TEN. The digitalization of the armed forces of the two nations is to be implemented in a joint program called "Tactical Edge Networking (TEN)". The current equipment needs to be adapted to new, future challenges. With TEN, the two national programs FOXTROT (Netherlands) and D-LBO (Germany) are merged to achieve a common technical solution with shared operational requirements. By 2023, the first units are expected to be equipped and operational.

Going a step further, Martin Kaloudis, CEO of BWI, outlined the Bundeswehr's path towards Artificial Intelligence in the digital age. This requires consistency, courage, and investments which are particularly hard to find in Germany compared to other countries. For instance, the US government alone invests 800 million US dollars in developing an intelligent system for simulating operational scenarios. South Korea puts a billion US dollars into basic research on AI, specifically in the field of brain research. And Germany? Originally planned for three billion euros, the amount has now been reduced to 500 million euros – for the period from 2020 to 2023. In the future, BWI intends to identify and quickly and affordably implement innovations through initiatives like the Cyber Innovation Hub.

It is unquestionable that Artificial Intelligence will play a significant role in the Bundeswehr.

In the afternoon of the Koblenz IT conference, expert panels delved into the conference theme. Representatives from the Bundeswehr, Ministry, and companies discussed current and future applications of intelligent systems in a military context. It is unquestionable that AI will play a significant role in the Bundeswehr. A particularly debated point is whether weapon systems should be allowed to make autonomous decisions at all. And if so, according to what ethical guidelines? The focus is not on uncontrollable killer bots, but rather on being able to make tactically better decisions through more information.

Dr. Alexander Markowetz, an computer scientist and author, offered a different perspective on digitalization. In his pointed presentation, he developed future scenarios in which digitalization leads to complete decentralization and, accompanied by numerous crises, leads to a departure from all the developments of the past 250 years. "We are facing the next fundamental age – the digital age."

Following the technical part of the conference led by Brigadier General Michael Hauschild and Colonel i.G. Heiko Mühlmann, Dr.-Ing. Michael Wunder, board member of AFCEA Bonn e.V., awarded the AFCEA Study Prize 2019. Once again this year, outstanding study papers in the fields of computer science, communication, and automation technology were honored. The works were authored by young academics at universities and colleges in the Rhein-Sieg district, Bonn, Aachen, Koblenz, and the Bundeswehr universities, and are endowed with a total of 20,000 euros.

About AFCEA Bonn e.V.

The non-profit organization AFCEA Bonn e.V. is a user forum for telecommunications, computers, electronics, and automation. It is a professional organization for information and communication technology (ICT) and aims to facilitate diverse communicative exchange between users and providers of ICT.

AFCEA on the Internet: www.afcea.de

BAAINBw and AFCEA Bonn e.V. hosted the 13th joint IT conference in Koblenz in 2019.