COMMON EUROPE CONGRESS 2025

COMMON EUROPE CONGRESS 2025

WELCOME TO COMMON EUROPE CONGRESS 2025

Don’t forget to reach out to your local country user group to get the discount code for the congress!

Common Europe, in collaboration with Common Sweden, is delighted to be holding its annual flagship event, Common Europe Congress, in the friendly city of Gothenburg offering extensive education, networking and relaxation opportunities. It’s also a great opportunity for exploring the city… so why not take a family mini-break as well.
Congress education areas targeted are IBM Power hardware, Application Development, Advanced RPG, Open Source tools and Languages, System Management, Db2 and SQL, IBM Storage, IBM i services and microservices, Security and Compliance and much more.
There will be two AIX / Linux tracks, to emphasize the Power Systems character of Common Europe.
Top IBM Business Architects and industry experts have already agreed to share their knowledge on the latest announcements, customer cases as well as practical subjects.
The congress content includes:

3 ½ days of latest education delivered by top IBM and industry leading speakers punctuated by large breaks offering maximum networking,
Three-hour in-depth workshops, 60 minutes’ education sessions and solution provider’s special slots,
A Solution Providers’ Centre open for 2 ½ days with top European and worldwide technology companies at their booths presenting innovative practical solutions that will enhance our solutions,
A Congress Dinner in the hotel with live entertainment.

We have negotiated special room rates in the Congress hotel itself,
The Common Europe Organization Team looks forward to seeing you in picturesque Gothenburg.

You will be able to validate your attendance (Check-In to sessions) using your personal schedule.

10:40 CEST

Latest and Greatest for the IBM i Operating System

Tuesday June 3, 2025 10:40 - 11:40 CEST

05 - F3

The IBM i team delivers new features on a regular basis. In this session Scott and Tim will bring to life the most recent new features for the IBM i operating system.
Covering High Availability & Resilience; Performance; Tools and Frameworks; Security; RPG; SQL/Db2 on i; AI; Automation

Speakers

Tim Rowe

STSM - IBM i Business Architect, IBM

Tim Rowe is the Business Architect responsible for Application Development and Systems Management for the IBM i operating system. His responsibilities include helping to make sure that the IBM i has what is needed to be successful both today and into the future. He sends much of his... Read More →

Scott Forstie

STSM, Db2 for i Architect, IBM

Scott Forstie is a Senior Technical Staff Member within IBM i development and spends most of his time working as the Db2 for i Architect. He has worked on IBM operating system development since joining IBM in 1989.Scott is a frequently published author, speaker at industry events... Read More →

Tuesday June 3, 2025 10:40 - 11:40 CEST
05 - F3

IBM i Div.

11:50 CEST

How to Build a LLM from scratch

Tuesday June 3, 2025 11:50 - 12:50 CEST

05 - F3

Large language models (LLMs) power today's most advanced AI systems, but how are they actually built? In this high-level, educational session, we'll break down how LLMs work, explore their key components, and walk through the process of building one from scratch. We'll cover essential concepts like data preprocessing, model architecture, and training techniques, without getting lost in complex math or code. Whether you're an AI enthusiast or a developer curious about the technology behind LLMs, this session will give you a clear, big-picture understanding of how LLMs are built and why they matter.

Speakers

Adam Shedivy

Software Developer, IBM

Adam is a software Developer working on enhancing client and open source integration on IBM i.

Tuesday June 3, 2025 11:50 - 12:50 CEST
05 - F3

IBM i App Dev, AI

14:00 CEST

JSON, SQL, XML done easy with noxDb

Tuesday June 3, 2025 14:00 - 15:00 CEST

05 - F3

JSON, SQL, XML, dynamic arrays, objects and graphs. You can do all that today in RPG, but it is rather complex. Perhaps it would be better if you had a framework that could provide more flexibility and make your code more simple? The noxDb framework was made exactly to be a player in the world of microservices and serverless architecture doing JSON in/JSON out ñ and even better: it is 100% ILE and 100% open source. If you need to modernize your RPG code and make it available as services on the web. If microservices is a business strategy or just curious about tools like yum, git and gmake then this session is for you.

Speakers

Niels Liisberg

Chief Software Architect, Partner & IBM Champion, System & Method

Niels has developed IBM i middleware used in numerous applications worldwide. He is the architect of the IceBreak application server for IBM i. Over the years he has contributed to the IBM i community with presentations, demos, and loads of open source: ILEastic and noxDB to name... Read More →

Tuesday June 3, 2025 14:00 - 15:00 CEST
05 - F3

IBM i App Dev

15:15 CEST

Sponsor session: Remain Software

Tuesday June 3, 2025 15:15 - 15:40 CEST

05 - F3

Sponsors

Remain Software

Tuesday June 3, 2025 15:15 - 15:40 CEST
05 - F3

Solution provider

15:50 CEST

Open Source Success Stories on IBM i

Tuesday June 3, 2025 15:50 - 16:50 CEST

05 - F3

Case studies and implementation strategies for leveraging open source technologies on IBM i. From Python and Node.js to open-source databases, discover how companies are innovating while maintaining IBM i's reliability.

Speakers

Koen Decorte

Owner and CEO, IBM Champion, CD-Invest

Koen Decorte is owner of CD Invest, an international IBM business partner with offices in Belgium andSpain. CD-Invest is specialized in innovating and modernizing IBM i applications.Koen studied philology and computer linguistics.His focus is mainly on integrating and using open source... Read More →

Tuesday June 3, 2025 15:50 - 16:50 CEST
05 - F3

IBM i App Dev

17:00 CEST

Talk to your IBM i data: Using AI-RAG Pattern with LLMs to present db-data in an user-dialog-agent

Tuesday June 3, 2025 17:00 - 18:00 CEST

05 - F3

Discover how to unlock the power of generative AI to interact with your IBM i database. This session introduces the Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pattern and demonstrates how Large Language Models (LLMs) can transform static database information into dynamic, interactive user-dialog experiences.
Topics covered include:
ï   Building intelligent user-dialog agents that provide natural language access to IBM i data.
ï   Integrating LLMs with IBM i databases for real-time query generation and contextual responses.
ï   Leveraging the RAG pattern to enhance accuracy and ensure reliable data retrieval.
ï   Practical examples of turning raw db-data into conversational insights.
Whether you're modernizing enterprise workflows or exploring AI for improved user experiences, this session equips you with the tools and knowledge to make your IBM i data more accessible and actionable through conversational AI.

Speakers

Dirk Neumann

Owner, Neumann Softwaretechnik Consulting

Dirk Neumann is an expert in software integration, architecture, modernization and project management. He has been working in the power systems sector (IBM i, AS/400) for more than 25 years. As an expert in software technology, he creates integrative concepts for web applications... Read More →

Tuesday June 3, 2025 17:00 - 18:00 CEST
05 - F3

IBM i App Dev

08:00 CEST

Getting started with SQL stored procedures and UDTF

Wednesday June 4, 2025 08:00 - 09:00 CEST

05 - F3

Stored procedures and UDTF are gaining more and more attraction from companies around the world Why? Because it runs on basically any platform and makes life much easier for modernizing and integration to legacy systems. Everybody knows SQL more or less it is an Esperanto for any generation and it is quite natural to extend knowledge based on this design pattern.

Speakers

Niels Liisberg

Chief Software Architect, Partner & IBM Champion, System & Method

Niels has developed IBM i middleware used in numerous applications worldwide. He is the architect of the IceBreak application server for IBM i. Over the years he has contributed to the IBM i community with presentations, demos, and loads of open source: ILEastic and noxDB to name... Read More →

Wednesday June 4, 2025 08:00 - 09:00 CEST
05 - F3

IBM i App Dev

09:10 CEST

Keynote - IBM Flash System

Wednesday June 4, 2025 09:10 - 10:10 CEST

05 - F3

Speakers

Neil McGovern

WW Sales Leader – IBM FlashSystem, IBM

Wednesday June 4, 2025 09:10 - 10:10 CEST
05 - F3

Storage

10:20 CEST

TBD

Wednesday June 4, 2025 10:20 - 11:20 CEST

05 - F3

Will be announced first half of May

Wednesday June 4, 2025 10:20 - 11:20 CEST
05 - F3

Power Hardware / Storage

11:30 CEST

RPG Code Assistant Update

Wednesday June 4, 2025 11:30 - 12:30 CEST

05 - F3

In 2024 at POWERUp, Steve Will, CTO & Chief Architect of IBM i, launched a project to create a tool that would use an AI Large Language Model, trained to understand RPG, to make life much easier for programmers who work with RPG, and to allow businesses to more confidently hire programmers and know there was a tool that could help any programmer work with existing RPG code. That project, the RPG Code Assistant project, has had a year to mature. In this session, Steve will give you the latest update. Joining him will be Adam Shedivy, on of the developers on this project, who will give insight into what it takes to create and train the tool.

Speakers

Steve Will

IBM i CTO & Chief Architect, IBM

Steve is the CTO and Chief Architect for the IBM i Operating System. Spending the past fourteen years of his IBM career in this position, he has become an award-winning speaker, author of the influential blog "You and i," (https://bit.ly/You-and-i-blog) and is one of the most sought-after voices at customer briefings and events. Steve has worked on IBM i and its predecessors since before the creation of the AS/400, and is currently responsible for setting the strategy of the IBM i operating system, as well as deciding which enhancements will be implemented. In his role, he talks to clients and pa... Read More →

Adam Shedivy

Software Developer, IBM

Adam is a software Developer working on enhancing client and open source integration on IBM i.

Wednesday June 4, 2025 11:30 - 12:30 CEST
05 - F3

IBM i, Strategy

12:40 CEST

TBD

Wednesday June 4, 2025 12:40 - 13:05 CEST

05 - F3

Wednesday June 4, 2025 12:40 - 13:05 CEST
05 - F3

Solution provider

14:05 CEST

AI developer tools for Db2 for i

Wednesday June 4, 2025 14:05 - 15:05 CEST

05 - F3

What if you could write and debug SQL for Db2 for i using natural language? In this session, weíll introduce an open source AI code assistant designed to help developers generate, optimize, and troubleshoot SQL more efficiently using the VSCode Db2 for i extension. Weíll explore how AI can translate natural language into SQL (NL2SQL), provide real-time debugging insights with the SQL Error Logging Facility (SELF), and offer intelligent indexing recommendations. Whether you're a seasoned developer or new to Db2 for i, discover how AI can transform the way you work with SQL.

Speakers

Adam Shedivy

Software Developer, IBM

Adam is a software Developer working on enhancing client and open source integration on IBM i.

Wednesday June 4, 2025 14:05 - 15:05 CEST
05 - F3

IBM i App Dev, AI

15:20 CEST

Modern SQL Mastery: Advanced Techniques for DB2 for i Performance and Productivity

Wednesday June 4, 2025 15:20 - 16:20 CEST

05 - F3

Take your SQL skills to the next level with advanced techniques that maximize DB2 for i's capabilities. This deep-dive session covers powerful features including common table expressions, window functions, JSON handling, and advanced indexing strategies. Through real-world examples, learn how to transform complex business requirements into efficient SQL solutions. We'll explore performance optimization techniques, demonstrate modern SQL patterns for replacing traditional record-level access, and show how to leverage the latest DB2 for i enhancements. Whether you're modernizing legacy applications or building new solutions, you'll gain practical skills to write faster, more maintainable SQL code. Includes live demonstrations of performance tuning and query optimization.

Speakers

Koen Decorte

Owner and CEO, IBM Champion, CD-Invest

Koen Decorte is owner of CD Invest, an international IBM business partner with offices in Belgium andSpain. CD-Invest is specialized in innovating and modernizing IBM i applications.Koen studied philology and computer linguistics.His focus is mainly on integrating and using open source... Read More →

Wednesday June 4, 2025 15:20 - 16:20 CEST
05 - F3

IBM i App Dev

16:30 CEST

Developing IBM i apps with AI

Wednesday June 4, 2025 16:30 - 17:30 CEST

05 - F3

AI is transforming how we build and interact with applications, and IBM i is no exception. In this session, we'll explore how AI can enhance IBM i development, covering IBM i's AI strategy, open-source stacks, and Watsonx integrations. Whether you're looking to modernize applications, leverage AI-driven automation, or explore open-source options, this session will provide the insights and tools you need to get started.

Speakers

Adam Shedivy

Software Developer, IBM

Adam is a software Developer working on enhancing client and open source integration on IBM i.

Wednesday June 4, 2025 16:30 - 17:30 CEST
05 - F3

IBM i App Dev, AI

08:00 CEST

What's New in Db2 for i

Thursday June 5, 2025 08:00 - 09:00 CEST

05 - F3

In the tradition of previous Technology Refreshes (TR), the database team is delivering enhancements on the same cadence. Attend this session to hear about the many enhancements to SQL on i, SQL Query Engine, IBM i Services and more. This session will cover the new and enhanced Db2 for i capabilities added to IBM i 7.4 and IBM i 7.5 over the most recent IBM i Technology Refreshes.

This session will include something for everyone and anyone who uses the IBM i.

Speakers

Ryan Moeller

Software Engineer, IBM

Ryan Moeller is a software engineer working on Db2 for i, specifically on the SQL Query Engine (SQE) team. He joined the team in the Rochester, MN development lab in 2020. Ryan specializes in SQL, database development, and query performance analysis.

Thursday June 5, 2025 08:00 - 09:00 CEST
05 - F3

IBM i App Dev

09:10 CEST

Db2 for i times 2 = Awesome

Thursday June 5, 2025 09:10 - 10:10 CEST

05 - F3

In this brand new session, two Db2 for i experts from IBM join forces and examine topics, technologies, and techniques that they use to help IBM i clients achieve success on Db2 for i. Attend this session and you'll get a confluence of Db2 for i knowledge, technique, and wisdom.

Scott Forstie has 36 years of experience developing Db2 for i and IBM i operating system features. His passion for SQL includes many innovations that are intended to help all personas that involve the IBM i.

Morten Buur Rasmussen has over 35 years of experience optimizing IBM i performance, specializing in Db2 for i, application efficiency, and system tuning. His passion for performance engineering drives him to find practical solutions that help DB engineers fine-tune databases and applications for peak efficiency.

Speakers

Scott Forstie

STSM, Db2 for i Architect, IBM

Scott Forstie is a Senior Technical Staff Member within IBM i development and spends most of his time working as the Db2 for i Architect. He has worked on IBM operating system development since joining IBM in 1989.Scott is a frequently published author, speaker at industry events... Read More →

Thursday June 5, 2025 09:10 - 10:10 CEST
05 - F3

IBM i Div.

10:20 CEST

Accelerate your SQL Queries with SMP

Thursday June 5, 2025 10:20 - 11:20 CEST

05 - F3

With Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP) now available as a no-charge feature in IBM i, you've gained access to a powerful feature that can significantly improve the speed of query execution. However, SMP must be approached carefully, as improper usage may produce lackluster results. This session will cover the inner workings of SMP, when to utilize SMP, and tools for controlling system-wide SMP usage.

Speakers

Ryan Moeller

Software Engineer, IBM

Ryan Moeller is a software engineer working on Db2 for i, specifically on the SQL Query Engine (SQE) team. He joined the team in the Rochester, MN development lab in 2020. Ryan specializes in SQL, database development, and query performance analysis.

Thursday June 5, 2025 10:20 - 11:20 CEST
05 - F3

IBM i App Dev

COMMON EUROPE CONGRESS 2025

From €204.79