Press Release 146/2018

Digitization Run to the Place of Origin of Computer Science in Germany

Third Leg of the Series of Events Brings State Minister of the Interior and Digitization Strobl to the Strong AI Research Institutions KIT and FZI in Karlsruhe
2018_146_Digitalisierung Lauft  am Ursprung der Informatik_72dpi
State Digitization Minister Thomas Strobl (center) with Professor Jörn Müller-Quade (right) and staff members of the KASTEL Competence Center for Cyber Security at KIT. (Photo: KIT)

After stops in Stuttgart and Kehl, the running group of Baden-Württemberg Digitization Minister Thomas Strobl and Jürgen Mennel, former vice world champion in 100-kilometer racing, is now reaching the FZI Research Center for Information Technology, the innovation partner of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The third leg of the digitization run ends in the city that stands for IT and digitization like no other place in Baden-Württemberg: Karlsruhe. Scientists of KIT and FZI present their artificial intelligence research activities.

 

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“Every day, there are thousands of cyber attacks in the world. For this reason, cyber security will be of crucial importance to the success of digital change,” says Baden-Württemberg Digitization Minister Thomas Strobl. “Cyber security has become an important factor in the choice of location, in particular for world market leaders and hidden champions in our state. Baden-Württemberg is the innovation region No. 1. Here, we have a lot of know-how that has to be protected. At the same time, Baden-Württemberg is the home of a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises. The share of workplaces offered by them exceeds 60%. And it is these small and medium-sized enterprises that are not yet sufficiently prepared for coping with cyber attacks. That is why we have established the cyber brigade, a type of fire department that fights the fire at small and medium-sized enterprises after a cyber attack.

 

“AI has a long tradition at KIT. The learning matrix developed in the 1960s was an early version of AI,” says Professor Michael Decker, Head of the Informatics, Economics, and Society Division of KIT. ”Activity and movement trackers are highly popular gadgets in running. By means of AI, they will filter out even more valuable health and fitness data. However, data protection must be guaranteed. At KIT, we are working on reconciling the opportunities of AI and IT security,” the Professor for Technology Assessment adds.

 

“This third leg of the digitization run ends in Karlsruhe, a prominent location of IT. FZI as an institution of applied IT research considers the security of IT systems an important element of successful digitization,” says FZI’s Executive Director Jan Wiesenberger. “We are happy to present first experience gained from the “Cyber brigade” project and to show how important well-organized and highly qualified response to cyber attacks is in times of increasing digitization.“

 

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“AI methods might enhance security of IT systems,” says Jörn Müller-Quade, who heads the Cryptography and Security Working Group of KIT and initiated KIT’s Competence Center for IT Security KASTEL. “However, AI will also be used to attack IT systems in ways unknown today.”

 

[…]  

 

MInister Thomas Strobl (rechts) mit Bereichsleiter Prof. Michael Decker
State Digitization Minister Thomas Strobl (rigth) and Professor Michael Decker, Head of Division II at KIT (left). (Foto: FZI)

 

 

More about the KIT Information · Systems · Technologies Center: http://www.kcist.kit.edu 

 

Being “The Research University in the Helmholtz Association”, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 10,000 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,800 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.

mex, 15.11.2018
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