This two-day event in the context of the Digitising European Industry (DEI) Initiative focused on European collaboration on important topics such as standardisation, digital platforms and the support of SMEs, for example with so-called Digital Innovation Hubs.

Delphine Gény-Stephann, Undersecretary of State at the French Ministry of Trade and Industry, opened the forum with her keynote address on the status of the DEI Initiative. For Germany, Markus Hess, sub-department head at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), emphasised the importance of working together, especially when it came to standardisation, the support of SMEs, data, and regulation. He was supported by his colleagues from the ministries responsible in France and Italy, who at the same time emphasised the progress made in the trilateral cooperation between Germany, France and Italy. Just in time for the Stakeholder Forum the partners had published two papers, making a contribution to the structure of the so-called 'administration shell' and presenting a common position on the topic of 'data ownership'.

In his speech, Frank Riemensperger, managing director of Accenture Deutschland and a new member of the steering committee of the Plattform Industrie 4.0, illustrated the correlation between Industrie 4.0, smart services and new business models. At a stand specially set up for the purpose, interested participants also had the opportunity to gather information about the recent publications and international cooperations of the Plattform Industrie 4.0. 

For further information on the Stakeholder Forum in Paris and the Digitising European Industry Initiative, click ​here.

The first Stakeholder Forum was held in Essen in 2017 and organised by the EU Commission in collaboration with the BMWi.