Industry Day
Bridge between Research and Application
The Industry Day of SE2026 serves as a platform for exchanging ideas, knowledge and experiences between academia and industry. It is targeted at experts from both companies and research facilities, as well as interested members from the Open Source Community. Anyone who is interested in the current trends and challenges faced in modern software engineering is welcome to join.
The Industry Day takes place on Thursday, 26th February 2026 in the Wankdorf Stadium.
Focus Topic: Software Engineering for Digital Sovereignty
Software engineering plays a crucial role in shaping resilient software systems and in ensuring digital sovereignty. It enables the development of solutions tailored to the specific needs of an organization and promotes independence from external vendors.
Program
Location: Wankdorf Stadium
08:30 - 09:00
Registration
09:00 - 09:05
Opening
Room: TBA
Speaker: Matthias Stürmer (Professor at the Bern University of Applied Sciences (CH), Institute ‘Public Sector Transformation’)
09:05 - 10:00
Industry Keynote: Amandine Le Pape
Room: TBA
Details: Industry Keynote: Amandine Le Pape
Speaker:
Amandine Le Pape (Head of Section - Business & Impact at the Open Source Academy, COO and co-founder of Element)
Session Chair: TBA
10:00 - 10:30
Coffee Break
10:30 - 12:00
Impulse Talks and Panel Discussion
Room: TBA
Confirmed Speakers and Panelists:
Adrienne Fichter (Political Scientist and Tech Journalist)
Christoph Schnidrig (CTO of AWS Switzerland)
Daniel Caduff (Security Assurance Principal at AWS)
Frank Karlitschek (CEO of Nextcloud)
Session Chair: Matthias Stürmer (Professor at the Bern University of Applied Sciences (CH), Institute ‘Public Sector Transformation’)
12:00 - 13:30
Lunch
13:30 - 15:00
Expert Talks and Experience Reports
Room: TBA
Confirmed Speakers:
Alexander Hofmann (CTO of MaibornWolff)
Carla Bünger (Vice President of the Board and Founder of Phoenix Technologies)
N.N. ( HuggingFace)
Session Chair: TBA
15:00 - 15:30
Coffee Break
15:30 - 17:00
Expert Talks and Experience Reports
Room: TBA
Confirmed Speakers:
Elmar Jürgens (Founder of CQSE)
Till Gartner (Executive Board member of mgm technology partners)
N.N. ( adesso)
Session Chair: TBA
18:30 - 22:00
About the Focus Topic: Software Engineering for Digital Sovereignty
In times of geopolitical uncertainty, frequent cyberattacks, and economic challenges, digital resilience has become an essential technical and organizational design goal for software systems. In this context, digital sovereignty plays a vital role in Europe. It fosters independence, strengthens competitiveness, and enhances innovation capacity.
Achieving and maintaining digital sovereignty is an ongoing process of research and development. Software engineering plays a decisive role in designing resilient software systems and ensuring digital sovereignty. It enables the development of solutions tailored to the specific needs of organizations and promotes independence from external providers.
Software engineering can make key contributions to digital sovereignty, e.g., through the development of independent solutions, the use and advancement of open-source software (OSS), the establishment of sovereign edge and cloud systems, and the control of data, processes, services, and technology. Moreover, independence from standardized solutions and the development of software engineering expertise foster innovation and contribute to the advancement of the digital landscape. These efforts help to reduce technological dependencies (vendor lock-in), strengthen cybersecurity, support successful digital transformation, and building key competencies.
In light of this importance, the Industry Day of SE2026 is dedicated to the topic of digital sovereignty and explores how software engineering can support its achievement and preservation. Experts from research and development will present and discuss practice-oriented and proven solutions from various perspectives.