The kick-off event on July 9, 2009 highlighted the complex topic of energy and connected an entire complex of themes. 

In his welcome speech, Lord Mayor Dr. Klaus Weichel referred to the chances and consequences of new energy concepts for Kaiserslautern .

Professor Dieter Rombach, Managing Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering (IESE) and Professor Frank Bomarius, Assistant Manager of the Fraunhofer IESE, gave presentations on the topic "Smart Energy – New Perspectives on Energy Supply". The Lauter Institute is working on new energy concepts in Kaiserslautern and is researching the development of intelligent energy management with the help of information and communication technologies. The objective is to link different energy forms in an intelligent way – both economically and energetically - via an integrated software system.