ESE Congress 2024: Carina Stoettner Takes the Embedded Software Industry on a Journey to 2040
How will the embedded software industry change by 2040? Which technological, societal and geopolitical developments will shape the next generation of software solutions across industry and services? These are the questions at the heart of the opening keynote by Carina Stoettner, futurist and managing director of the think tank Themis Foresight, at the ESE Congress 2024.
On 3 December 2024, her talk “Time Travel to the Future: Opportunities and Risks for the Software Industry” will open the largest embedded systems event in the German-speaking world.
Embedded software in 2040: what’s coming?
Carina Stoettner takes the audience into possible futures for software development. The focus isn’t on technical detail alone but on the bigger picture:
- How are global value chains changing?
- What role do resilience, digital sovereignty and energy-efficient systems play?
- And how are customer needs evolving in industry, in mobility and in medical technology?
Five key drivers for the future of the embedded sector
Among the areas of transformation Stoettner examines in her keynote:
- Systemic complexity: embedded software is becoming the backbone of connected, autonomous systems. Modularity and real-time capability turn into strategic success factors.
- Energy and resources: energy efficiency and long-lived software architectures become mandatory — regulation included.
- Regulation and security: geopolitical tension and new cyber risks call for robust governance.
- New ways of working and the talent shortage: the working world is shifting — teams need to operate remotely, in an agile way and across disciplines.
- Future markets and customer needs: embedded software has to orient itself more closely around use cases emerging beyond traditional industry — in health, education or climate technology.
