Registration is open for a no-cost conference on using German innovations in technology, policy and supply chain management to reinvent the Midwest’s auto and other manufacturing industries. The conference will be on Thursday, October 6.
Speakers from Germany and the US will explain how the auto industry of the future will change dramatically from the present, triggering new approaches to roads, buildings, energy and even driving itself. Policies and practices affecting construction, development, energy, manufacturing and the workforce also will change.
The keynote speaker is Peter Schneider from Berlin who wrote a major analysis of the Daimler-Chrysler merger.
Other presenters include:
* Manuel Sattig, BMW, Munich, on the auto of the future and its role in a transformed mobility system;
* Steve Vielmett, vice president of supply chain, Johnson Controls on energy for the auto of the future;
* Dr. Matthias Weigand, head of cross-media law for Bavaria’s environmental ministry on new regulatory systems for the future;
* Richard Longworth of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs on connecting the Midwest with international commerce;
* Gary Herrigel of the University of Chicago on how supply chains are changing in Germany and must change everywhere to be competitive.
The conference was organized following a Wisconsin challenge from American Council on Germany President William Drozdiak at a WisBusiness event in March. Drozdiak said the Midwest needed to learn how Germany has withstood the recession and how it is reforming industry to compete globally.
Mike Klonsinski, chief operating officer of Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, who was at the WisBusiness event in March, encouraged attendance at the conference, as did Cathy Stepp, Department of Natural Resources Secretary.
“This is a business-relevant conference about better ways to compete in the future,” said Paul Jadin, WEDC Secretary and CEO.
Bavarian environmental administrator Dr. Lothar Brandmair told DNR that the conference discussion could help “create a new path of environmental legislation” that meets “the necessity” of “enormous financial turbulances.” Bavaria is noted for regulatory innovation that produces greater than minimum protection while supporting the economy.
The event is at the UW-Madison’s Fluno Center and is supported by the American Council on Germany and German Marshall Fund. Co-sponsors are the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, Department of Natural Resources and UW Center for German and European Studies.
To find out more or register contact Bridget Pirsch at pirsch@lafollette.wisc.edu
Press contact: Terry Shelton, The La Follette School
