Between research and practice: Jena at Data Science Day 2026

The city of Jena was represented as a visitor at this year's Data Science Day 2026 and used the event to discuss current developments in the fields of artificial intelligence, data science and digital innovations.

The keynote speech by Sören Laue from the University of Hamburg entitled "The Modern Era of Deep Learning: From Foundations to the Present" took center stage. The presentation spanned the spectrum from the theoretical foundations of deep learning to today's applications of artificial intelligence and posed key questions for the future: Where do we currently stand with AI? How did we get there? And what conclusions should society, science and business draw from this?

The Data Science Day also offered a varied program with presentations from research and industry. Representatives from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) showed how work processes are increasingly evolving from manual and isolated procedures to networked, intelligent environments that rely on automation and artificial intelligence.

Another focus was on applications in the healthcare sector. The Laboratory for Mental Health Mapping presented approaches on how machine learning and neuroimaging can contribute to gaining new insights into mental and neurological health.

Companies also contributed their perspectives: devXY presented new approaches to content publishing in the R software environment, while TNG Consulting gave practical insights into applied data science in software consulting - including methods for trench detection and location clustering.

In addition to the specialist presentations, the company fair offered numerous opportunities to exchange ideas with companies and institutions. Among others, the following companies were represented Intershop, dotSource, Spleenlab, TNG Consulting and Accenture. The breaks and networking formats were used intensively to establish contacts between science, business and municipal stakeholders.

The visit to Data Science Day 2026 once again showed how dynamically the fields of AI and data science are developing and what opportunities this presents for municipalities, companies and research institutions. Further information on the event can be found on the official website of the event at Data Science Day Jena 2026.