Editorial On the international stage, 2025 was one of our best years. Our board visited Seoul, Hiroshima, Tokyo, and Yokohama, meeting with top leaders at Hyundai, Mazda, Honda, Subaru, Panasonic, and JAXA. These meetings took our relationships in Asia to a higher level. The Tokyo Systems Engineering Summit has become our second-largest networking event, drawing over 300 participants. The Berlin Sympo- sium welcomed more than 650 guests and had a fully booked exhibition floor. This shows that meeting in person is still very important for sharing ideas, inspiration, and learning together, even as the world becomes more digital. With HARMONIQ and euroFMX, we also secured two important funding grants. These grants help us extend our impact beyond our members, reaching both national and European research communities. In 2026, we are focusing on diversification and growth. Our main skills are well- suited to sectors such as defence, medical technology, and autonomous systems, where long product lifecycles, safety, and secure data exchange are essential. We plan to build new partnerships, leverage our member companies as connectors, and expand into markets such as India and the United States. We are also strengthening our work with key partners, including the Aerospace and Defence Industries Associ- ation, BVMed, and JAXA. These organizations share our values and help us reach further. prostep ivip’s strength has always been its neutrality and ability to cross industry lines. We will use this strength to support our goals for diversification and international growth. The upcoming prostep ivip Symposium 2026 in Frankfurt, with the theme “The Next Frontier: Agentic AI and the Rise of Software-Defined Industry,” starts this new chap- ter. I warmly invite you to take an active part in shaping our journey as a co-speaker, thought leader, or critical voice that makes our association stronger. This annual report shows what we have achieved together. I sincerely thank you, our members, the board, and the whole team. Let’s keep moving forward together. Dr. Alain Pfouga Managing Director, prostep ivip Association prostep ivip annual report 2025 5
