The first working conference on Artificial Intelligence Development for a Resilient and Sustainable Tomorrow (www.kmi-leipzig.de/kmi-projekt/ai-tomorrow/) will be organized by the Competence Center KMI in cooperation with several partners. It is part of the DataWeek Leipzig (www.dataweek.de) and will take place from 29th to 30th of June 2023. 

Digital innovations change the way societies work. New opportunities are created with the use of digital technologies, including improved knowledge access, more extensive product development, the creation of new business areas, and the reduction in red tape. Digital transformation goes beyond pure technological improvements and affects the entire company and its employees in terms of reorganizing processes, business models and organizational structures. Communication and collaboration as well as information processes, industrial processes and demands change. Companies all over the world must adapt to these rapid developments, which requires a multidisciplinary approach to digital transformation to remain competitive.  

In Germany, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have a major impact on the economy. In fact, the share of SMEs in Germany was 99.4 percent in 2019 [1]. They account for the majority of all apprenticeships, making them one of the main drivers of competence development [2]. While large companies have the financial abilities to hire change manager and invest in consulting and training, SMEs struggle with the speed of the development and don´t have the financial and personal resources for adaption. To compete with larger businesses in terms of affordable prices and high-quality products, SMEs need to adapt to new digital innovations. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) - one of the key technologies of digitalization - can have a significant impact on business success and is increasingly becoming a game changer for SMEs. In contrast, Accenture´s 2022 study [3] shows that only twelve percent of companies consider their AI maturity level as high enough to use it to grow and transform their business, while 63 percent are still in the experimental phase of adopting AI in the enterprise. 

In addition to the challenges of digital transformation, current developments and crises such as EU AI regulations, disrupted supply chains, skilled workers shortage and climate change, have broadened the focus and question the effects and opportunities of digitization with a view to the next evolutionary step in the development of Industry 4.0, namely Industry 5.0. In a 2021 policy brief, the European Commission describes Industry 5.0 as "more future-proof, resilient, sustainable, and people-centric"[4]. While Industry 4.0 increases resilience and “the positive impact on the ecological and economic dimensions seems to be fairly widespread”, the social dimension, especially human-centric approaches and measures, may still be underestimated. People or human-centric approaches are therefore the main driver and innovation factor for Industry 5.0. A human-centered approach to digital transformation means focusing on people's needs and interests rather than viewing technology as the sole actor. 

Goal

The conference will be interdisciplinary. We welcome contributions from computer sciences, social sciences, law, policy and engineering to name a few. All submissions will be required to be unpublished and not under review elsewhere. 

The conference proceedings will be published by Springer. Therefore, the LNCS Template should be used: https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-guidelines.  

Papers should be submitted in PDF format ranging from 6 to 10 pages in length, including 10 empty lines right before the references for publishing as open access. In addition, a summary of half a page in German is required. Non-German speakers are welcome to contact us for help. 

Important Dates: 

• Deadline for paper submissions: 01 April 2023  ! Extended Deadline: 14 April 2023 !

• Paper reviews due: 14 May 2023 

• Notification of paper acceptances: 24 May 2023  26 May 2023

• Camera-ready paper submissions: 01 June 2023  16 June 2023

• Conference: 29th to 30th of June 2023 

AI-Tomorrow provides a double-blind peer review process for all research papers. Authors may not be named in papers, either explicitly or implicitly (e.g., by a reference to funding in the acknowledgements). The reviewers do not have access to the names of the authors.