ESE Congress 2024: "A vision in a time when others only see doom and gloom"

ESE Congress 2024 "A vision in a time when others only see doom and gloom"

2024-12-12 From Sebastian Gerstl | Übersetzt durch KI 4 min Reading Time

Related Vendors

FAULHABER Drive Systems

dataTec AG

Wuxi InfiMotion Technology Co., Ltd.

Innovation, networking, and optimism: The ESE Congress 2024 in Germany brought together almost 1100 embedded software engineers in a professional yet familiar atmosphere with its over 100 lectures and seminars. Topics such as Rust, Cyber Resilience Act, and C++ reflected both trends and established practices, providing new impulses for the coming year.

Looking to the future: More than 350 participants listened to futurist Carina Stöttner during her keynote "Time Travel into the Future—Opportunities and Risks for the Software Industry" at the ESE Congress 2024. Overall, almost 1100 software engineers attended Germany's largest specialized congress on software engineering this year as well, despite gloomy economic reports!(Image: Nicolas Det) — Looking to the future: More than 350 participants listened to futurist Carina Stöttner during her keynote "Time Travel into the Future—Opportunities and Risks for the Software Industry" at the ESE Congress 2024. Overall, almost 1100 software engineers attended Germany's largest specialized congress on software engineering this year as well, despite gloomy economic reports!
(Image: Nicolas Det)

The current news from the automotive industry, especially in the field of automotive software, presents a mixed picture: delays in software development, problems with new technologies, and the pressure to meet increasingly complex requirements are straining the industry. Nevertheless, the demand for further training, networking, and innovation remains consistently high.

This was impressively demonstrated at the ESE Congress 2024: Despite dire messages from the economy, 1084 software developers from more than 400 companies and institutions gathered in the Stadthalle Sindelfingen from 2nd to 5th December 2024. Despite the challenges, there was a consistently positive and future-oriented atmosphere, underscoring the commitment to further development and joint progress. "It feels good to experience an event with a vision in a time when others only paint a bleak picture," summarized one participant regarding the general mood at the congress.

Gallery

Impressions from the ESE Congress 2024.(Image: Nicolas Det)

Gallery with 16 images

Rust and topics related to the Cyber Resilience Act are particularly in demand

This year's ESE Congress offered participants a comprehensive program with 108 lectures and compact seminars, as well as three inspiring keynotes. The tracks on the programming language Rust were particularly well attended, as they are gaining increasing importance in embedded development. Basic topics on the programming language, such as an illustrative explanation of programming in Rust or how best to transition from C++ to the open-source developer language, attracted so many participants that the lecture rooms, usually accommodating 200 spectators, were bursting at the seams.

Another highlight was the discussions around the Software Bill of Materials and the requirements of the new Cyber Resilience Act. Both topics were accompanied by numerous expert lectures and discussions, underlining the importance of software security and regulatory requirements for the future of embedded systems. Topics on software development in light of the new EU regulations were well attended and provided plenty of discussion material among participants, speakers, and exhibitors alike.

Added to this are the evergreen topics of the ESE Congress: Especially complexes on the implementation of C code, the latest developments in C++ standards—such as Dr. Reiner Grimm's illustrative lecture on the innovations in the C++26 standard—as well as both basic and advanced topics around software architecture are and remain essential pillars of the ESE Congress, attracting hundreds of participants to seminars and lectures alone.

Topics focusing on the automotive sector were less well attended than in previous years. However, this was not so much due to the relevance of the topics themselves but rather due to the current economic situation: The absence of participants from the automotive and supplier industries was particularly noticeable. The widely reported spending and travel cost freeze contributed to significantly fewer people from this industry attending the congress compared to previous years. This also explains the slight decline in participants compared to the previous year when the 2023 ESE Congress recorded a record number of 1195 participants.

In general, participants praised the broad range of topics at the ESE Congress, in which, as both participants and exhibitors stated, there is something for everyone: from basic topics like implementation or architecture to areas like safety & security, testing & quality, and even more general topics like appropriate project management. Topics that have been in the zeitgeist for some time—particularly open source and AI—continue to be very popular. This year, it was noticeable that areas such as real-time applications or security received more attention again than in previous years.

Speaker Awards: Outstanding contributions honored

A highlight of the congress was the presentation of the Speaker Awards ESE 2023, which recognized outstanding lectures and contributions. Jan Altenberg was awarded for the best seminar 2023 with his hands-on contribution "Where is the Bottleneck? Performance Analysis of Embedded Linux Systems."

Subscribe to the newsletter now

Don't Miss out on Our Best Content

Business E-mail

Please enter a valid mailadress.

By clicking on „Subscribe to Newsletter“ I agree to the processing and use of my data according to the consent form (please expand for details) and accept the Terms of Use. For more information, please see our Privacy Policy. The consent declaration relates, among other things, to the sending of editorial newsletters by email and to data matching for marketing purposes with selected advertising partners (e.g., LinkedIn, Google, Meta)

Date: 08.12.2025

Naturally, we always handle your personal data responsibly. Any personal data we receive from you is processed in accordance with applicable data protection legislation. For detailed information please see our privacy policy.

Consent to the use of data for promotional purposes

I hereby consent to Vogel Communications Group GmbH & Co. KG, Max-Planck-Str. 7-9, 97082 Würzburg including any affiliated companies according to §§ 15 et seq. AktG (hereafter: Vogel Communications Group) using my e-mail address to send editorial newsletters. A list of all affiliated companies can be found here

Newsletter content may include all products and services of any companies mentioned above, including for example specialist journals and books, events and fairs as well as event-related products and services, print and digital media offers and services such as additional (editorial) newsletters, raffles, lead campaigns, market research both online and offline, specialist webportals and e-learning offers. In case my personal telephone number has also been collected, it may be used for offers of aforementioned products, for services of the companies mentioned above, and market research purposes.

Additionally, my consent also includes the processing of my email address and telephone number for data matching for marketing purposes with select advertising partners such as LinkedIn, Google, and Meta. For this, Vogel Communications Group may transmit said data in hashed form to the advertising partners who then use said data to determine whether I am also a member of the mentioned advertising partner portals. Vogel Communications Group uses this feature for the purposes of re-targeting (up-selling, cross-selling, and customer loyalty), generating so-called look-alike audiences for acquisition of new customers, and as basis for exclusion for on-going advertising campaigns. Further information can be found in section “data matching for marketing purposes”.

In case I access protected data on Internet portals of Vogel Communications Group including any affiliated companies according to §§ 15 et seq. AktG, I need to provide further data in order to register for the access to such content. In return for this free access to editorial content, my data may be used in accordance with this consent for the purposes stated here. This does not apply to data matching for marketing purposes.

Right of revocation

I understand that I can revoke my consent at will. My revocation does not change the lawfulness of data processing that was conducted based on my consent leading up to my revocation. One option to declare my revocation is to use the contact form found at https://contact.vogel.de. In case I no longer wish to receive certain newsletters, I have subscribed to, I can also click on the unsubscribe link included at the end of a newsletter. Further information regarding my right of revocation and the implementation of it as well as the consequences of my revocation can be found in the data protection declaration, section editorial newsletter.

The best speakers for lectures were awarded:

Frank Benkert, who bridged the gap between technology and team leadership with "Sustainably Motivating Employees"
Dr. René Graf, who presented creative development approaches with "What the Hack?! How Hackathons Propel a Development Team Forward"
Christian Wenzel-Benner, who vividly explained the "Clock Drift in Distributed Embedded Systems"

The Newcomer Award went to Dr. Simon Duque Antón for his lecture "AI: Wish and Reality," which shed light on the critical handling of artificial intelligence.

Even outside the lecture halls, the ESE Congress and its participants once again showed their best side. During the lecture breaks, there was always a large crowd and the best opportunity for networking and professional exchange at the more than 40 exhibitor booths and speaker meeting points. Also, established traditions such as the foosball tournament, the developer party, and the entertaining evening event—this year featuring comedian and magician Thomas Fröschle and his program "Devices Out of Control"—helped make the developer congress, as usual, a cozy, family-like event.

The ESE Congress 2024 impressively demonstrated that the embedded community thrives on exchange and further education even in challenging times. The event impressed with innovative ideas, practical lectures, and an entirely optimistic atmosphere to reflect industry trends—and to provide the developer community with new impulses for the coming year.(sg)