Digital Transformation and Sustainability: The Mittelstand 4.0 Kompetenzzentrum eStandards Zooms in on These Megatrends @ZukunftDigital 87% of companies believe that digital transformation is a competitive opportunity*! Climate change, digitalisation, blockchain and new work environments have already arrived – How is your business affected? The Kompetenzzentrum eStandards event presented answers to these questions during insightful, practice-orientated workshops. Digital transformation and sustainability present a wealth of opportunities and challenges for Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SME’s). Crucial for the global agenda, these two major topics were the focal point of an event hosted by Mittelstand 4.0 Kompetenzzentrum eStandards on 10 October 2019. The keynote speeches and active workshops enabled participants to consider how their companies could benefit from becoming more digital and sustainable. Michael Kuhndt, the director of the CSCP, opened the event with a speech on the importance of digitalisation for a good life. Elisabeth Kraut, sustainability manager of Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG, focused on the importance of data gathering, particularly with regards to product ingredients. Anna Yona, Founder of Wilding Shoes, demonstrated how digitalisation can be at the core of sustainable business models. Workshop topics were diverse, yet complementary of each other. True to the core CSCP approach, they fostered collaboration and enabled participants to see the bigger picture. The main topics were: Supply chain transparency: examples from sustainabill regarding supply chain traceability, along with the GS1’s tool Ecotraxx and blockchain project. Resource efficiency and climate change mitigation: case studies presented by Maag, producer of flexible packaging, Happy Power Hour project and Cambio Analytics Gmbh. Corporate digital responsibility: highlighted that digitalisation should take place in harmony with society and the environment and addressed how this could be achieved. New work: presented workplaces of the future thanks to the Durchblick exhibition, as well as input from Impact Hub Ruhr Digital sustainable business models: The CSCP and Resourcify helped participants to evaluate their status quo and understand the related challenges. Circular economy: example of Cradle-to-Cradle certified Würth assembly system, circularity challenges faced by Wilding Shoes company and tools from R2Pi project helping companies to become circular. Every workshop finished with open discussions or brainstorming on possible solutions. Participating companies engaged with speakers but also learned from each other. “The practical orientation of the input providers has made complex topics very tangible. We benefit greatly from the fact that practical examples were used in such concrete ways”. Elisabeth Kraut was impressed by the diverse real-world examples. The final panel-discussion on the future of digitalisation involved representatives from different organisations who provided perspectives on what companies could already do short-term, and which goals are to be accomplished long-term, in order to develop sustainably. Anna Yona praised the insightfulness of the event: “Even though we are already a very sustainable and digital company, we were able to take many concrete points for new ideas and further improvements with us from the event.” For further information contact Patrik Eisenhauer. * The secret to a successful digital transformation