This year, InterOP-VLab co-organized the I-ESA conference with the Greek pole INTHERTHESS in Crete. This three-day event took place at the beginning of April, bringing together 80 participants coming from various countries. The conference aims to foster dialogue and cross-disciplinary discussions among experts about interoperability.

During the opening ceremony, INTEROP-VLab president, Yves Ducq, introduced the association, its role, and values. And Stefanos Vrochidis from CERTH presented the Greek pole and the local organization of this 12th edition of the conference.

Among all the very interesting presentations, we had the chance to have two keynote speakers, Thomas Knothe and Sergio Gusmeroli, whose talks were the starting point of discussions about former work achieved by INTEROP-VLab groups, digital passport and the needs of standardization.

Additionally, several workshops were organized, some of them sponsored by EU funded projects such as i4Q, AIDEAS, CLARUS, XMANAI, AgileHand… It was the opportunity to discuss more technical aspects of interoperability and to address industrial challenges faced by the manufacturing partners. 

Hezam Haidar (INTEROP-VLab Technical Manager) presented EI2Network “Novel business model as one-stop-shops for cross-sector collaboration” supporting the efficient management of services and competencies but also facilitating collaboration in the digital age. Ei2Network (European Network for Interoperability & Innovation) is a vibrant one-stop-shop for cross sector collaboration between SMEs, DIHs and Technology providers to create innovative products with advanced digital technologies. For further information please visit EI2Network page.

In total, the conference featured 75 presentations and 11 workshops, with 57 scientific publications and 18 main publications shared with the audience. At the end of the event, the best paper will be awarded, with the winner to be announced shortly, marking the conclusion of the 12th edition of the I-ESA conference.