The European Commission hosted a roundtable chaired by EU-Commissioner Günther H. Oettinger on September 20, 2016 in Brussels. Representatives from politics and industry from all EU countries came together to discuss the European Platform of National Initiatives founded by the Commissioner. “Europe has to join forces and start investing in Digital Innovation Hubs,“ he wrote on Twitter.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. h.c. Detlef Zühlke, Director Innovative Factory Systems at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) and CEO of the Technology-Initiative SmartFactory KL e.V., followed Oettinger’s invitation to join the meeting. “We can transfer our experience within SmartFactoryKL of hosting a platform for industrial players to work together to develop new Industrie 4.0–based solutions to the European initiative. We need cross-border collaboration to strengthen Europe’s industry, on-shore production and secure jobs,“ he said.