Morgenstadt Data Conference 2022

On May 19 and 20, 2022, the Morgenstadt data conference took place in Lemgo, an event within the Morgenstadt initiative organized by Fraunhofer IOSB-INA and Fraunhofer Institute IAO. The main focus of the conference was to shed light on the potentials and challenges of digitalization for smaller municipalities and to find sustainable ways of dealing with data.

The discussions and presentations at the conference clearly showed that large cities and metropolises are no longer the sole drivers of digitization and innovation. It was emphasized that smaller municipalities can also make a significant contribution to digital transformation. However, they face specific challenges that need to be overcome.

A key issue was the quality of municipal data, which has a decisive influence on digitization efforts in municipalities. It became clear that a reliable database is of high importance for the successful implementation of digital projects. In this context, issues of data sovereignty were also addressed, as the responsible handling of data is a basic prerequisite for the trust of citizens and companies in the digital development of their cities and municipalities.

The motto of the conference "sustainable.digital" highlighted the need to anchor digitization in municipalities in the long term. The participants dealt intensively with various approaches on how to shape sustainable digitization in small and medium-sized municipalities. Topics such as data protection, energy efficiency and social justice were also brought into focus.