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    OSSYM 2026 - 8th International Open Search Symposium "Boosting Digital Sovereignity"

    → Europe/Berlin
    CODE University of Applied Sciences, Berlin, Germany

    CODE University of Applied Sciences, Berlin, Germany
    Andreas Wagner (CERN), Christian Gütl (Graz University of Technology), Megi Sharikadze (Leibniz Supercomputing Centre), Michael Granitzer, Stefan Voigt (Open Search Foundation)
    Description

    7 - 9 October 2026

    How can Open Web Search contribute to digital diversity?

    Not only Europe is heavily depending on web services from a few monopolistic economic players. Data is flowing out, value is being lost, and regulation is being undermined. How can we counter this situation with an open web data infrastructure? Which technical and economic concepts promise acceptance and strengthen digital diversity? Which ethical and legal questions need to be answered in this context?
    “Boosting Digital Sovereignty” is the ossym2026 conference theme. Join us in Berlin for inspiring talks, thoughtful discussions and latest scientific research findings.

    For the eighth time, ossym2026 is bringing together the European and international Open Web Search community.

    The hybrid conference provides a forum to discuss and further develop the ideas and concepts of open internet search and related topics such as webdata in the context of AI. The conference comprises various formats including scientific talks, poster sessions, panels, workshops, demonstrations, student engagement and informal discussion spaces. It is aimed at researchers, data centres, libraries, policy makers, legal and ethical experts, and the broader community.


    .  ( Open Search Foundation) t your Demo proposal here 


    Registration

     

       Register here for OSSYM 2026 

     

    Important Dates

    Submission deadline of full papers and extended abstracts
    15 March 2026

    Information about contribution acceptance
    1 June 2026

    Registration for the #ossym2026
    will open 15 June 2026

    International Open Search Symposium #ossym2026
    7 - 9 October 2026

    Online publication of proceedings
    October 2026 

    Conference format

    • Conference location: Berlin, Germany, and Online. 

    Venue

    CODE University of Applied Sciences
    Donaustr. 44
    12043 Berlins
    Germany 

    Conference Chairs

    Prof. Dr. Michael Granitzer | University Passau, Germany
    Prof. Dr. Christian Guetl | Graz University of Technology, Austria
    Dr. Megi Sharikadze | Leibniz Supercomputing Centre, Munich, Germany
    Dr. Stefan Voigt | Open Search Foundation, Starnberg, Germany
    Dr. Andreas Wagner | CERN, Geneva, Switzerland

    Local Chairs and Organization

    Stefan Voigt | DLR, Berlin, Germany

    Publication Chairs 

    Sebastian Guertl | Graz University of Technology, Austria
    Elias Sandner     | CERN, Geneva, Switzerland
    Andreas Wagner     | CERN, Geneva, Switzerland

     

    Poster Session Chairs

    To be announced shortly

     

    Programme Committee

    Prof. Emmanuel Cartier | European Commission JRC
    Prof. Dr. Alexander Decker | Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt, Germany
    Prof. Dr. Arjen P. de Vries | Radboud University, Netherlands
    Prof. Dr. Stefan Dietze | Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf and GESIS, Germany
    Msc. Roxanne ElBaff | German Aerospace Centre (DLR), Germany
    Prof. Dr. Kai Erenli | University of Applied Sciences BFI Vienna, Austria
    Dipl. Inf. Fabio Fracassi | Code.Berlin University of Applied Sciences, Berlin, Germany
    Diana Francisco de Sousa | Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra, Italy
    Dr. Maik Fröbe | Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, Jena, Germany
    Prof. Dr. Fabian Geier | Code.Berlin University of Applied Sciences, Berlin, Germany
    Priv.-Doz Dr. Christian Geminn | University Kassel, Germany
    Prof. Dr. Michael Granitzer | University Passau, Germany
    Prof. Dr. Christian Guetl | Graz University of Technology, Austria
    Prof. Dr. Matthias Hagen | Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, Jena, Germany
    Dr. Tobias Hecking | German Aerospace Centre (DLR), Germany
    Prof. Dr. Denis Helic | Graz University of Technology, Austria
    Msc. Gijs Hendriksen | Radboud University, Netherlands
    Prof. Dr. Andreas Henrich | University Bamberg, Germany
    Prof. Djoerd Hiemstra | University of Twente, Radboud University, Netherlands
    Msc. Phil Höfer | SUMA e.V., Germany
    Prof. Dr. Robert Jäschke | Humboldt University Berlin & L3S, Hannover, Germany
    Dr. Igor Jakovljevic | CERN, Geneva, Switzerland
    Dr. Jens Kersten     | German Aerospace Centre, Jena, Germany
    Prof. Dr. Mohammed Kaicer | Faculty of Sciences Kenitra, Morocco
    Dr. Jelena Mitrovic | University of Passau, Germany
    Prof. Dr. Engelbert Niehaus | University Koblenz-Landau, Landau, Germany
    Prof. Dr. Monica Palmirani | Università di Bologna, Italy
    Prof. Dr. Melanie Platz | Saarland University, Germany
    Prof. Dr. Martin Potthast | Kassel University, Germany
    Prof. Dr. Mirko Presser | Aarhus University, Denmark
    Prof. Dr. Georg Rehm | German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), Berlin, Germany
    Dr. Renée Ridgway | Aarhus University, Denmark
    Prof. Dr. Adam Roe | Code.Berlin University of Applied Sciences, Berlin, Germany
    Dr. Tim Smith | CERN, Geneva, Switzerland
    Prof. Dr. Benno Stein | Bauhaus University, Weimar, Germany
    Dr. Nicola Tonellotto | University of Pisa, Italy
    Eng. Marco Verile | European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra, Italy
    Dr. Stefan Voigt     | Open Search Foundation, Germany
    Dr. Andreas Wagner | CERN, Geneva, Switzerland

     

     

    Document templates for contributions
    • Wednesday 7 October
      • 08:30
        Opening of Registration
      • Conference Opening: Welcome & Keynote
        • 1
          Conference Opening: Welcome & Keynote
        • 2
          Welcome
          Speaker: Peter Ruppel, Fabian Geier; CODE University of Applied Sciences
        • 3
          Opening Address
          Speaker: Engelbert Beyer; Head of Directorate T1: Technology-Oriented Research for Innovation, Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space
      • 10:30
        Coffee Break
      • Science Track: Retrieval
      • 12:00
        Lunch Break
      • Keynote: Sovereign AI Services Leading to a European Future of Search
        Convener: Julian Kunkel (Deputy Head of High-Performance Computing at the Göttingen Supercomputing Center (GWDG), Professor for High-Performance Computing at University of Göttingen)
        • 7
          Keynote: Sovereign AI Services Leading to a European Future of Search
          Speaker: Julian Kunkel (Deputy Head of High-Performance Computing at the Göttingen Supercomputing Center (GWDG), Professor for High-Performance Computing at University of Göttingen)
      • EuroHPC / AI Factory Session: Joint session of Open Web Data Working Group of EuroHPC and Open Web Search Community
        Convener: Session Chairs: Megi Sharikadze (LRZ); Heidi Laine, Per Öster (CSC)
        • 8
          Joint session of Open Web Data Working Group of EuroHPC and Open Web Search Community
          Speaker: Session Chairs: Megi Sharikadze (LRZ); Heidi Laine, Per Öster (CSC)
      • 14:45
        Coffee Break
      • Applications Track: Web data driven applications
        Convener: Session chair: tbd
        • 9
          Applications Track: Web data driven applications
          Speaker: Session Chair: Elias Sandner (CERN)
        • 10
          eMarketShield: Enhancing Consumer Protection in E-Commerce through Digital Innovation and Regulatory Oversight
          Speaker: Christoph Rinner (Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety)
          2026-10-07_OSSYM2026_eMarketShield_Enhancing Consumer Protection in E-Commerce.pdf
        • 11
          Scalable, Open, and Comprehensive Detection of Disinformation Campaigns on the Web (SOURCE)
          Speaker: Michael Granitzer, Jelena Mitrović, Laura Caspari, Hai Dang Dang, Martin Potthast, Sebastian Heineking, Stefan Voigt, Ursula Gmelch, Megi Sharikadze, Damir Kalimullin, Sibylle Richter, Benjamin Zeeb
        • 12
          Designing A Power Bi Dashboard For Data-Driven Supplier Comparison In Manufacturing Procurement
          Speaker: Beulah Devathasan; Emolin Indran Rajanbabu (Aarhus University)
          Beulah-Devathasan--OSSYM-presentation_0.pdf
          Beulah-Devathasan--OSSYM-presentation_0.pptx
      • Science track: Spatial modeling
        Convener: Session chair: Stefan Voigt (DLR/OSF)
        • 13
          Science track: Spatial modeling
          Speaker: Session chair: Roxanne El Baff (DLR)
        • 14
          Extraction Of Geospatial Disaster Related Information From Web News And Text Data
          Speaker: Vanessa Rittlinger (DLR)
          OSSYM26_VanessaRittlinger_SessionScienceTrack.pptx
        • 15
          Proposed Methodology for Open Search Infrastructure leveraging federated RAG-systems and open source Speech Intelligence for cross-domain collaboration featuring Disaster Management, Traffic Flow Prediction and Literature Studies
          Speaker: Prof. Dr. Engelbert Niehaus, Jonah Schuster, Maximilian Stoffel, Walter Kühn, Jörg Rapp (RPTU University Kaiserslautern-Landau)
          RPTU_OSSYM2026_Final_Federated_RAG_System.pdf
      • 17:15
        Closing of Day 1
      • 18:00
        Ice-breaker and buffet-dinner, with welcome address by DLR Board member Stéphane Beemelmans
    • Thursday 8 October
      • Keynote: From an Open Web Index to Agentic Information Access
        Convener: Michael Granitzer (University of Passau)
      • 11:05
        Coffee Break
      • Science Track: User behavior and preferences in search and AI
        Convener: Session Chair: Sarah Oberbichler (University of Luxembourg)
      • 12:35
        Lunch Break
      • Keynote: The Pulse of the Planet: Remote Sensing and geoweb data redrawing the map of human behavior
        Convener: Head of department „Georisks and Civil Security“ at the Earth Observation Center (EOC) of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Professor at the University Würzburg holding the chair “Global Urbanization and Remote Sensing”
      • 14:45
        Coffee Break
      • Parallel workshops: Workshop 1 - 3
        • 26
          Workshop 1: Evaluating Design Patterns for Legally Compliant Open Web Index and Search Engine Systems
          Speaker: Organisers: Sophia Meywirth, Paul Johannes (University of Kassel); Charlotte Werther (OSF)
        • 27
          Workshop 2: SOURCE workshop
          Speaker: Organisers: SOURCE team
        • 28
          Workshop 3: Student project session / Index access tutorial (tbd)
          Speaker: Organisers: Fabian Geier (CODE), Alexander Nussbaumer (TU Graz), Roxanne El Baff (DLR)
          UsingOWI-OSSYM2026.pptx.pdf
      • 16:45
        Closing of Day 2
      • 29
        Panel discussion (in German) „Souveränität im Netz – Wie eine europäische Webdateninfrastruktur Freiheit, Wirtschaft und Demokratie stärkt“ Weizenbaum-Institut, Hardenbergstraße 32, 10623 Berlin

        Weizenbaum-Institut, Hardenbergstraße 32, 10623 Berlin

        This side event is organized by the PriDI Project – www.pridi-projekt.de
        Separate registration necessary – register here (German)

    • Friday 9 October
      • Keynote: Sovereignty for whom? The politics of breaking with dependencies in search
        Convener: Aline Blankertz (Structural Integrity)
      • Science track: Ethics+Society
        Convener: Stefan Baack (Independent researcher)
        • 30
          Social science session: Ethics+Society
          Speaker: Session chair: Stefan Baack
        • 31
          An Ethics-by-Design Approach for the Open Web Index
          Speaker: Alexander Nussbaumer (TU Graz)
          Ethics-by-design.pdf
        • 32
          Co-Creating Inclusive AI Search Frontends: Findings from the KIsu-Project with children, young people, and older adults
          Speaker: Melanie Platz; Kristin Altmeyer; Stephanie Heel; Sarah Malone; Kerstin Reese; Lisa Schick; Verena Wolf (Saarland University); Tanja Gottsmann; Maria Wiesner (fragFINN e.V.); Julius Gabelmann (DFKI); Ursula Gmelch; Christine Plote (OSF); Alessandra Rodrigues Eismann (Centigrade GmbH)
          OSSYM2026_KIsu_presentation.pdf
        • 33
          Open, to What End? A Capability-Theoretic Perspective on Open Search
          Speaker: Nicola Neophytou; Bhaskar Mitra (Independent Researcher)
          OSSYM 2026--Open- to-What-End.pdf
          OSSYM 2026--Open- to-What-End.pptx
      • 10:45
        Coffee break
      • Applications Track: AI in Science
        Convener: Session Chair: Heidi Laine (CSC – IT Center for Science)
      • Science Track: Crawling
        Convener: Session Chair: Vanessa Rittlinger (DLR)
      • 13:15
        Closing of #ossym26 & Wrap-Up & announcing #ossym27
      • 13:30
        End of Symposium