AFCEA 2023: The next conflict will be a war of algorithms

The 36th AFCEA trade fair on May 10th and 11th at the World Conference Center in Bonn (WCCB) set a record for exhibitors and visitors. 250 companies and organizations exhibited at one of Germany's most important IT fairs for defense and security. Over 4,100 participants attended the WCCB.

"We are in turbulent times. We need to wake up Germany!" said Brigadier General Armin Fleischmann, Chairman of AFCEA Bonn e.V. and Chief of Department CIT 1 at the Federal Ministry of Defense in his opening remarks on the current relevance of the exhibition, which this year was under the theme "(Artificial) Intelligence & Innovations - Concrete Usability."

Seizing the turning point: together, courageously, quickly!

This focus on concrete usability is more urgent than ever: Modern wars are digitally supported and digitally fought, as Lieutenant General Michael Vetter, Head of Department CIT at the Federal Ministry of Defense, pointed out in his opening message. "Let's seize the turning point: together, courageously, and quickly!" Speed, in particular, is something that still needs improvement. (the complete opening message is available HERE). Captain at Sea Stephan Mauritz from the Planning Office of the Bundeswehr confirmed this assessment with a view to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. The battlefield of the future will be heavily influenced by technology: The battle is "hyper": very fast, comprehensive, ruthless, partly transparent.

The second day was characterized by concrete applications and considerations in the accompanying symposium program. In the #DigitalDefenceDebate, the Emerging Leaders of AFCEA Bonn e.V. initially looked at innovative and AI applications for administration with Ammar Alkassar, Board Member of GovTech Campus Deutschland, former CIO Saarland, Dr. Sven Stephen Egyedy, Commissioner for Digitalization, Digital and Data Policy (CDO), Federal Foreign Office, Colonel i.G. Klaus Günter Glaab, Head of Digital Administration in the Org/Rev Staff BMVg and Linda Oldenburg, Head of Consulting Business Resilience, Nortal AG.

Use of software is crucial in Ukrainian defense

According to Alkassar, there is a lack of urgency in Germany for rapid implementation, who also participated in a discussion on the role of software and digitization in the defense of Ukraine. Dr. Gundbert Scherf, Co-founder and Co-CEO of Helsing, is convinced that existing hardware and equipment can be significantly improved by up to a factor of 10 through software. However, Artificial Intelligence is not yet widely used today. "But the next conflict will likely be a war of algorithms." According to Franz-Stefan Gady, International Institute for Strategic Studies, it is still unclear whether tactical superiority through the use of connected weapons, through Software Defined Defense, can overcome Russian quantitative superiority by the Ukrainian armed forces.

Exhibition Director Friedrich W. Benz bids farewell

After 17 trade fairs, the 36th AFCEA trade fair this year was the last under the leadership of Friedrich W. Benz. He has expanded the exhibition from the Godesberg City Hall to the Maritim Hotel over the years, continuously reaching almost annual new record values in both exhibitor and visitor numbers. Today, the AFCEA trade fair with 250 exhibitors at the WCCB is established.

About AFCEA Bonn e.V.: AFCEA Bonn e.V. offers its members and the interested public a specialized forum for modern information and communication technology. The user forum for telecommunications, computers, electronics, and automation (AFCEA) Bonn e.V., recognized as a non-profit association without commercial interests, has over 1000 personal and more than 100 corporate members. In addition to major players in the IT and communications industry, the corporate members include a large number of medium-sized and smaller companies mainly from the Bonn-Cologne-Koblenz region. AFCEA International was founded in 1946 by members of the US military to improve telecommunications. The German association was initiated by soldiers in 1983 who wanted to promote exchange on information and communication technology (ICT) in the defense and security sector. Embedded in an international organization, AFCEA Bonn e.V. is now one of the most established dialogue platforms for these topics.

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