Leipzig, 26 October 2018 – The research project "Data Mining and Value Creation", launched in the spring, reaches its first milestone. At a kick-off event on 5 November 2018 at the Salles de Pologne in Leipzig, the first results will be presented and discussed with experts from science, politics and practice.

Digitization is changing the economy. Production processes are digitally linked and new business models are emerging. To ensure that companies in Saxony also benefit from this development, the scientists involved in the "Data Mining and Value Creation" project at the Fraunhofer IMW and the University of Leipzig are researching the potential of data-based value creation models. As a first step, interviews were conducted with international companies and with medium-sized and young companies in Saxony in order to assess their state of digitization. The first results of these interviews will be presented to the public at the event in November.

"It is important for us to draw on concrete facts for the event. We want to show what data is worth and how companies can use it profitably," says project manager Prof. Dr. Heiko Gebauer from the Fraunhofer Center for International Management and Knowledge Economy IMW. "We are very confident about the further course of the project, because the companies are showing lively interest, and the company representatives who have already been interviewed were very cooperative.”

The challenges of digitization identified in this way will be the subject of a variety of workshops and lectures at the kick-off event. The topic is given high attention by state politics. This is evident due to the participation of the Saxon Minister of State for Science and the Arts, Dr. Eva-Maria Stange, who will give a welcoming address. Further speakers are expected to include Leipzig mayor Ulrich Hörning, the Prorector for Development and Transfer at the University of Leipzig, Prof. Dr. Thomas Lenk, as well as representatives of the ZEISS Group and the packaging machine manufacturer Theegarten-Pactec.

"It is particularly important for us to reflect the companies’ perspective," explains project manager Prof. Dr. Gerik Scheuermann, Chair of Image and Signal Processing at the Institute of Computer Science at the University of Leipzig. "With some of the companies surveyed, we will implement solutions in pilot projects that will later also be applicable to other companies interested in cooperation in Saxony and beyond."

Further information on the event and registration is available here.