The Vienna Congress 2020 will put a special emphasis on Israel. Despite the difficult political framework, the start-up and high-tech nation is convincing when it comes to innovation and digitalization. At the Vienna Congress 2020, a high-level delegation, headed by the Israeli Minister of Economic Affairs and Industry Eli Cohen, will present what constitutes Israel’s success and what Austria and Europe can learn from it.

Moderation: Lital Shemesh – News Anchor and correspondent for the commercial Channel 20, State of Israel

Panelists:

Adiv Baruch – Chairman of the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute

Noam Katz – Senior Deputy Director General for Media and Public Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Ministry, State of Israel

Dan Shehtman – Nobel Laureate in Chemistry

Aviv Shir-On – former Ambassador of the State of Israel to Austria

Concerns about the future of democracy and the constitutional state are growing worldwide. While Europe is being threatened by populism from inside, China, with its digital social credit system, is developing an authoritarian version of a digital society. Will this become an attractive global model? Decision-makers from politics and business will explain how we should deal with these threats and which direction Europe’s politics should head in the view of digitization.

Moderation: Mathias Del Campo – Associate Professor, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan, USA

Panelists:

Iain Begg – Professorial Research Fellow and Co-Director of the Dahrendorf Forum at the European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science

Phillip Blond – Director of ResPublica, author of “Red Tory”

Bernhard Felderer – former President of the Austrian Fiscal Advisory Council

Václav Klaus – former President of the Czech Republic

Lukas Mandl – Member of the European Parliament

Ron Prosor – Head of the Abba Eban Institute of International Diplomacy at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya (IDC); former Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations

Tibor Szanyi – former Member of the European Parliament

The global competition for research, development and innovation can only be won with excellence and a first-class research landscape. The importance of basic research, excellence strategies in the education and science system and national RTI strategies are in the centre of the discussion of this panel, in which international Nobel Laureates report on their experiences and perspectives.

Moderation: Sierd Cloetingh – President Academia Europaea

Panelists:

Stefan Hell – Nobel Laureate in Chemistry

Tim Hunt – Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine

Jean-Marie Lehn – Nobel Laureate in Chemistry

Dan Shechtman – Nobel Laureate in Chemistry

Kurt Wüthrich – Nobel Laureate in Chemistry

Ada Yonath – Nobel Laureate in Chemistry

In times of digitalization well-established infrastructure is from utmost importance. A number of different options create potentials for future growth. These range from “internet of things”, which creates new possibilities for growth and potential, all the way to e-health and autonomous vehicles. Smart Cities and Villages will also lead to higher efficiency in energy and decarburization. To make efficient use of all options, a call to action is needed. The infrastructural frameworks, as well as attractive business areas, have to be created. In this panel chances and possibilities will be discussed from the perspective of applicants in the infrastructure sector. Moreover, the needs of entrepreneurs will be put in the center of focus, in order to (among others) answer the question how businesses can deal with the future challenges of digitalization.

Moderation: Vincenz Leichtfried – Digital Entrepreneur and Data Security Expert

Panelists:

Bernd Datler – General Manager of ASFINAG Maut Service GmbH

Leonid Eidelman – Immediate Past-President of the World Medical Association (WMA)

Axel Kühner – CEO, Greiner AG

Merle Maigre – Executive Vice President for Government Relations at CybExer Technologies; former Director of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence

Sandra Manninger – Architect and Assistant Professor of Practice in Architecture at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning

Oskar Mencer – CEO Maxeler Technologies, Head of Computer Architecture Group, Imperial College London

Kleiner Festsaal (1.Floor) | (in English language) 

This workshop will focus on the personal experience of experts from different fields of medicine, among them Nobel Laureates and international medical pioneers. It shows which influencing factors play a role for excellent achievements in science and research in practice – and which lessons can be learnt.

Moderation: Andrea Kdolsky – Head of Department of Health Sciences, St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences;  former Federal Minister for Health, Family and Youth, Republic of Austria

Panelists:

Leonid Eidelman – Immediate Past-President of the World Medical Association (WMA)

Stefan Hell – Nobel Laureate in Chemistry

Tim Hunt – Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine

Gero Miesenböck – Director, Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour; Waynflete Professor of Physiology, University of Oxford

Thomas Szekeres – President of the Austrian Medical Association and the Vienna Medical Association

Ludwig Urban-Saal (1.Floor) | (in English language)  

As digitalization is progressing, cyber security becomes a central issue. Without a secure infrastructure, essential digitization projects cannot become reality. At the same time, the dangers of cyber-attacks are increasing enormously. In this workshop of the Congress of Vienna, international and national decision-makers and experts will discuss which security-relevant measures are essential for the infrastructure of the future.

Moderation: Phillip Blond – Director of ResPublica, author of “Red Tory”

Panelists:

Vincenz Leichtfried – Digital Entrepreneur and Data Security Expert

Merle Maigre – Executive Vice President for Government Relations at CybExer Technologies; former Director of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence

Oskar Mencer – CEO Maxeler Technologies, Head of Computer Architecture Group, Imperial College London

Tibor Szanyi – former Member of the European Parliament

Eric Kandel – Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine

Moderation: David Ungar-Klein – Initiator of the “Vienna Congress com·sult”