Do companies place too much focus on efficiency when designing the Future of Work? Axel Platz, Principal User Experience at Siemens, will show how to create a playful and experiential workplace that prevents the efficiency paradox.

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Axel Platz is a designer. In the Siemens AG corporate research division in Munich his research topics include the relationship between humans and technology, particularly in the context of work. He has received various distinctions for his design work, including the iF Interaction Design Award / Best of Category.

50 Shades of XR: Applications within Additive Manufacturing

The Additive Manufacturing industry is set to transform the whole manufacturing industry. But how do we transform ourselves in order to keep up with the accelerating digitization? Get to know how the EOS GmbH is trying to do so with the help of Extended Reality.

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Daniel holds a Master Degree in Business Entrepreneurship & Digital Technology Management from Hochschule München University of Applied Sciences. He is part of EOS team since 2018 where, as part of his master program, he was conducting the selection process for most suitable provider of Augmented Reality infrastructure and finding criteria for whether Augmented Reality is suitable for a specific use case or not. Later on, he joined EOS as a Augmented Reality Product Manager where he is mainly responsible for driving the AR roadmap of EOS by leading key projects for the entire Augmented Reality product development process from idea to go-live as well as for identifying and steering cross-departmental innovation and knowledge building regarding Augmented Reality.

XR Moms – The invisible year:
How women stay visible during parental leave

Parental leave triggers a lot of uncertainty and questions about the career for mothers. Alexandra Ginger, education representative at the XR Bavaria, present the XR Moms initiative which supports mothers in continuing their education during this time.

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XR Moms is an initiative of women in the Extended Reality (XR) industry who want to inspire other women to get educated about XR. Our goal is to make XR technology accessible to moms. We want to empower them to implement their own projects and support them in their careers. Therefore, we are developing a training program that is tailored to the needs of mothers and provides a safe environment to ask questions and exchange ideas.

How will XR, in particular virtural reality, impact the future of work? Sara Boss, Director Key Account Management at VRdirect, will discuss several real-life use cases.

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As Head of Sales at VRdirect, the Enterprise solution for a professional and efficient use of Virtual Reality, Sara Boss has been advising various large clients and industry blue chips since 2018. With a background in journalism and after years of experience in TV and film licensing, Sara already moved to the XR industry when it was still in its early days. In 2016 she built up the division “immersive media” for German media agency tb-vent and founded her own VR company. With her in-depth knowledge of the market, Sara is supporting companies on the introduction of VR as a mainstream technology for various internal use cases – as there has never been a better time.

Digital Mindsets – in between techno-optimism und technostress

In her presentation, psychologist Julia Reif will show the latest findings on how people face the developments of “New Work”. Her insights provide important impulses for the implementation of digital work models in practice.

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Julia Reif researches and teaches in the field of economic and organizational psychology. She studied psychology at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. Afterwards, she earned her doctorate there with a dissertation on the initiation of negotiations and habilitated on the topic of behavior regulation. In particular, her research focuses on gender differences in negotiation situations, relationship regulation in economic decisions, team adaptivity, health and strain in modern work environments, as well as integration and organizational acculturation. Prof. Reif is active as a speaker at conferences and conventions and as an author of numerous scientific papers. As a freelance consultant, Julia Reif cooperates with national and international companies in the areas of organizational diagnosis, organizational development, and organizational culture. In her research and consulting activities, she links theory and practice in the sense of evidence-based management.

Science fiction or reality? Malte Jung, Professor in Information Science and founder of the Robots in Groups Lab at Cornell University, will outline what work will look like when robots become co-workers or even superiors.

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Don’t ignore anthropology and the Gen Z! Anne Mette Worsøe Lottrup, Partner at ReD Associates, will present latest insights about the working requirements of the Generation Z and how human sensemaking is effective to receive insightful information on how to create the workplace of the future.

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Anne Mette is passionate about helping companies find new growth areas based on a deep understanding of the consumer’s world and the contexts shaping the business environment. Before coming to ReD, Anne Mette spent 11 years working for Novo Nordisk focused on developing commercial strategy, creating strong brands and translating strategy into powerful tactics. At ReD, Anne Mette has been instrumental in driving ReD’s healthcare practice by among other things advancing our understanding of digital technology on mental health, examining how COVID has upended people’s relationship with doctors, and redefining what a successful sales force in pharma will resemble in the future. Anne Mette holds a Masters in International Marketing and Management from Copenhagen Business School.