NUEDIGITAL’s Next Steps: Recap of the 2026 Briefing Day

Published on January 23, 2026

The NUEDIGITAL Briefing Day, held at the Ohm Innovation Center, marked the official start of the 2026 Nürnberg Digital Festival and provided a clear outlook on the upcoming two years. With participation from sponsors, supporters, and representatives from politics, academia, and industry, the event highlighted the festival’s ongoing evolution in terms of thematic focus, structural development, and collaborative partnerships. The Briefing Day was co-hosted by Technische Hochschule Nürnberg (Ohm).

Special thanks go to Prof. Dr. Niels Oberbeck, President of TH Nürnberg, and Nuremberg’s mayor, Marcus König, both of whom spoke on stage about the increasing significance of NUEDIGITAL for the city, the region, and the academic community, and what makes the festival so unique as a collaborative platform.

So, what’s coming up for the NUEDIGITAL community in the next two years?

2026’s Motto? “Recode the Future”

During his talk, Managing Director Ingo Di Bella brought it back to what really defines the festival: “NUEDIGITAL isn’t some fixed network—it’s a trust system.” That goes beyond how events are created—open, decentralized, and driven by the community. It’s really about the mindset: people stepping up, sharing ideas, and helping shape the festival year after year.

This year’s motto, “Recode the Future”, reflects that. In tech terms, recoding means reusing and reshaping existing code to build something new. That’s how we see the digital future—not a set program that runs on autopilot, but something we all write together, something we can improve, transform, and reimagine.

2026: The Bavarian Digital Summit Is on Its Way

On June 25, 2026, the Bavarian Digital Summit will be held as part of NUEDIGITAL for the very first time. In a video message, Bavaria’s Digital Minister Dr. Fabian Mehring summed it up clearly:

“I deliberately chose Nuremberg—as Bavaria’s second digital powerhouse, it stands out with its own identity, a strong community, and top-tier expertise.”

Looking Ahead to 2027: RoboCup Is Coming to Nuremberg

A year later, another major highlight is on the way: In 2027, Nuremberg will host RoboCup—the world’s largest robotics championship, which recently drew around 60,000 visitors. NUEDIGITAL and RoboCup are working closely together to make it happen.

Even in 2026, robotics will be a focus in the festival’s lineup—with events, partners, and formats that connect education, research, real-world applications, and society. At the Briefing Day, Prof. Dr. Stefan May, Local Chair of RoboCup, made it clear: it’s exactly this kind of connection that makes robotics such a meaningful topic for the festival.

At the Briefing Day, central supporters and longstanding partners of the festival assembled for a group press photo, serving as representatives of the diversity and commitment that define NUEDIGITAL.

Pictured (from left to right): Prof. Dr. Sven Laumer (Schoeller Endowed Chair of Information Systems, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg), Simone Wastl (Head of Corporate Communications, DATEV), Dr. Rainer-Johannes Wolf (Chief Executive Officer, Chamber of Crafts for Middle Franconia), Frauke Wille (Head of Communications, Nuremberg Chamber of Industry and Commerce), Saskia Funke (Head of Marketing and Sales, Funkhaus), Magdalena Weigel (Executive Board Member for HR and IT, N-ERGIE), Joachim Stelzer (Founder and CEO, BRANDAD Group AG), Stefan Gröning (COO, BNP Paribas S.A. / Consorsbank), Ingo Di Bella (Managing Director, Nürnberg Digital Festival), Marcus König (Lord Mayor, City of Nuremberg), Prof. Dr. Niels Oberbeck (President, Technische Hochschule Nürnberg Georg Simon Ohm), Andreas Krieglstein (Chairman of the CSU City Council Group), Wolfgang Puff (Head of Marketing Communications, IT Systems House of the Federal Employment Agency), Nadine Vicentini (Managing Director, bayern design), Benjamin Bauer (CEO, ZOLLHOF), Christoph Großberger & Alexander Brose (Managing Consultants, PRODATO).

A selection of images from the 2026 Briefing Day can be found at: nue.link/briefingday. Please use the following photo credit: “NUEDIGITAL / © Andreas Fischer.”

Be Part of NUEDIGITAL

From June 22 to July 2, 2026, the Nuremberg metro area will once again host more than 240 events—turning into a platform for shaping and talking about all things digital. Have an idea? Event proposals open February 10. Ready to play a bigger role in NUEDIGITAL 2026 and 2027?

Drop us a message and let’s make it happen