Prof. Klaus Kabitzsch, Senior Professor of Technical Information Systems at the Faculty of Computer Science at TU Dresden, accepted the Electrifying Ideas Award 2025 from Bernhard Kluttig, Parliamentary Minister of State at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, at the eSummit in Berlin on May 22. The prize is awarded by the German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (ZVEI) in recognition of innovations and solutions that promote the efficient use of energy and resources and pave the way to a climate-neutral future through digital transformation and the use of AI.

The AI-supported planning and design software "Auteras" for building automation developed by him and his team makes a significant contribution to avoiding greenhouse gas emissions in the building sector. It facilitates the selection and combination of software and hardware systems from extensive libraries during the planning stage. Auteras delivers optimal solutions that are automatically integrated into the building network directly on the construction site by downloading them. The software advises its users online in advance with simple questions and videos and finds the best and most cost-effective solutions for the achievable energy efficiency class for all customer requirements in just a few minutes. This enables energy savings of up to 30%. It also cooperates with neighboring tools in the tool ecosystem and saves up to 90% of the design effort, thereby supporting smaller manufacturers and trade businesses in particular.

In addition to TU Dresden, Swissbit Germany AG received the award for its universal digital high-security key for convenient cyber-secure processes. ZVEI President Dr Gunther Kegel emphasizes: "The projects are helping us to make progress towards digitizing complex processes securely and practically, simplifying their handling and using energy and other resources effectively."

Prof. Kabitzsch and his team are delighted with this recognition: "This makes us visible beyond the narrow circle of our industry, which is becoming increasingly important in an interdisciplinary ecosystem," says Klaus Kabitzsch.