commoneuropecongress2026: Full Schedule

Welcome to Common Europe Congress 2026

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10:00 CEST

Sunday June 14, 2026 10:00 - 13:00 CEST

This hands-on workshop immerses attendees in a hands-on training session that will guide you through the steps to perform Live Update operations on the AIX operating system. This includes installing interim fixes, service packs and technology levels using the AIX Live Update capability. Equipping you with comprehensive knowledge on managing live updates for continuous availability on this robust platform.

Attendees will start by performing Live Updates on a HMC managed system. Then participants will configure their environment for management with PowerVC and perform Live Updates. Attendees will leave with knowledge they can use to implement and manage AIX Live Updates in their real-world environment.

BRING YOUR OWN LAPTOP!

Speakers

Chris Gibson

IBM Power/AIX SME, IBM

Chris is an IBM Power and AIX SME, with over 20 years of AIX experience. He has extensive skills in implementing IBM Power technology running AIX. He is a co-author of three IBM Redbooks. He has an extensive history in designing, implementing, and managing AIX systems. He has wri... Read More →

Sunday June 14, 2026 10:00 - 13:00 CEST
14 - ST CLAIR 2

Workshop

10:00 CEST

Getting stared in the world of SQL performance

Sunday June 14, 2026 10:00 - 13:00 CEST

08 - ST CLAIR 3A

Do you want to get started in the world of SQL performance? I this session I will show you how to get started what to monitor and by telling you my story. My struggles and errors.

Speakers

Rudi van Helvoirt

Technical Director, van Helvoirt Beheer

After having started as a System/38 programmer in 1986. In 1989 the switch was made to system programming and systems management.
Being passionate about systems management he founded van Helvoirt Automatisering in 1993.
Rudi enjoys helping IBM i customers ever since for running the... Read More →

Sunday June 14, 2026 10:00 - 13:00 CEST
08 - ST CLAIR 3A

Workshop

10:00 CEST

Workshop: IBM i Modernization Workshop with Bob

Sunday June 14, 2026 10:00 - 13:00 CEST

09 - ST CLAIR 3B

Learn to modernize IBM i applications using IBM Bob AI assistant through five hands-on labs (80 minutes). Transform a green screen order management system into modern web applications using AI-guided techniques applicable to your own codebase.Workshop Objectives (examples) :

Code Modernization: RPG Fixed-to-Free format conversion with AI assistance
Web Interfaces: Build React applications with Carbon Design System
Database Access: Refactor to SQL with performance optimization
AI Integration: Configure IBM i-specific AI modes and tools
Automation: Generate Ansible playbooks for system operations

Duration: 80 minutes | Level: Beginner-friendly | Requirements: VS Code + IBM Bob
https://github.com/bmarolleau/IBM-i-Application-Modernization-with-Bob/blob/main/README.md

Speakers

Sanjula Ganepola

Software Developer - IBM i App Dev & AI Toolchain, IBM

Sanjula Ganepola is a Software Developer at IBM working on IBM i application development tools. As an open-source advocate, he is an active contributor and maintainer of several Visual Studio Code extensions including IBM i Project Explorer, Code for IBM i, IBM i Testing, Source Orbit... Read More →

Benoit Marolleau

AI Solution Architect, IBM

Benoit Marolleau is a Solutions Architect and AI Engineer in IBM Client Engineering EMEA at IBM, based in Montpellier, France. He has extensive experience in application and infrastructure modernization, with specialized expertise in IBM i platform integration and artificial intelligence... Read More →

Sunday June 14, 2026 10:00 - 13:00 CEST
09 - ST CLAIR 3B

Workshop

10:00 CEST

Workshop: IBM PowerVC

Sunday June 14, 2026 10:00 - 13:00 CEST

13 - ST CLAIR 1

This hands-on workshop takes attendees from initial host onboarding to advanced automation in a single 3-hour session. We will start from a preinstalled PowerVC instance so participants can jump straight into adding hosts, importing images, provisioning VMs and perform more advanced CLI tasks to efficiently automate their PowerVC setup. Attendees will leave with sufficient knowledge they can use to tackle the official IBM PowerVC certification.

Speakers

Upendra Rajan

Senior Technical Program Manager, IBM

I have a strong track record of delivering solutions to large-scale clients. I've worked on several aspects of data center IT infrastructure (compute, storage, networking, virtualization, operating systems, cloud computing, running a worldwide program), and led a team of experts to... Read More →

Sunday June 14, 2026 10:00 - 13:00 CEST
13 - ST CLAIR 1

Workshop, Power Hardware

10:00 CEST

Workshop: Manage and optimize IBM FlashSystem deployments in real‑world scenarios

Sunday June 14, 2026 10:00 - 13:00 CEST

10 - ST CLAIR 4

Speakers

Guillaume Legmar

Storage Flashsytem Specialist, IBM FRANCE

Sunday June 14, 2026 10:00 - 13:00 CEST
10 - ST CLAIR 4

Workshop, Storage

10:30 CEST

05 - ISV Day - Special Invite Needed

Sunday June 14, 2026 10:30 - 15:30 CEST

Roseraie

Speakers

Tim Rowe

STSM - IBM i Business Architect, IBM USA

Tim Rowe is a Senior Technical Staff Member within IBM i development and spends most of his time working as the Architect for Application Development and Systems Management. He has been working on the IBM i operating system since 1989. Tim is a frequent author, industry speaker and... Read More →

Sunday June 14, 2026 10:30 - 15:30 CEST
Roseraie

IBM Event

13:00 CEST

Lunch (for Workshop attendees)

Sunday June 14, 2026 13:00 - 14:00 CEST

15 - ST CLAIR FOYER

Sunday June 14, 2026 13:00 - 14:00 CEST
15 - ST CLAIR FOYER

General

14:00 CEST

IBM i Security Auditing Deep Dive: Unlocking the Power of the Audit Journal

Sunday June 14, 2026 14:00 - 17:00 CEST

08 - ST CLAIR 3A

IBM i’s integrated auditing capabilities are a cornerstone for security and compliance, yet many organizations fail to leverage them fully. This 3-hour deep dive begins with the auditing process itself—how IBM i writes log entries and why auditing is essential for security. From there, we’ll explore the audit journal architecture and structure, including common fields, subtype-specific details, and changes introduced across IBM i releases. We’ll examine the most important entry types and what they reveal, then move into practical techniques for configuring auditing at the system and user level. You’ll learn how to use built-in tools and SQL for powerful analysis, implement remote journaling for resilience, and understand the limits of IBM i auditing—what cannot be found in the audit journal.The content is based on the speaker's real-world experience implementing audit journal tools for customers, ensuring practical insights and proven approaches.Designed for anyone interested in IBM i security—from entry-level to advanced—, this session will give you actionable strategies to turn raw audit data into meaningful insights for security and compliance.

Speakers

Kurt Thomas

Senior System Engineer, Fortra

Kurt Thomas, CISSP, works with organizations all over the world to help them get the most out of their IBM Power ecosystem. His interests range from cybersecurity, data privacy, and operating systems to artificial intelligence. Kurt is Technical Product Manager for a number of Fortra's... Read More →

Sunday June 14, 2026 14:00 - 17:00 CEST
08 - ST CLAIR 3A

Workshop

14:00 CEST

Workshop: Advanced Ansible Workshop on IBM Power

Sunday June 14, 2026 14:00 - 17:00 CEST

13 - ST CLAIR 1

This hands-on workshop focuses on practical Ansible automation for IBM Power. Starting from a preconfigured lab, participants will set up Ansible, integrate it with PowerVC, and work through the IBM Power AIX collection to automate common admin tasks. Time permitting, attendees can optionally deploy a modern web application from GitHub to Power using the playbooks they build. Participants leave with tested playbooks, reusable role templates, and clear steps to reproduce the automation in their own environments.

Speakers

Upendra Rajan

Senior Technical Program Manager, IBM

Sunday June 14, 2026 14:00 - 17:00 CEST
13 - ST CLAIR 1

Workshop

14:00 CEST

Workshop: Db2 on steroids - deep dive

Sunday June 14, 2026 14:00 - 17:00 CEST

09 - ST CLAIR 3B

This deep dive will be about all the cool stuff Db2 can do now. This is all about the noSQL features. Db2 is now a complete ecosystem of structured and unstructured data, procedural programming, and features that reach services and resources out of Db2 and beyond.With the time given, I will cover as much as I can of: Common Table ExpressionsRecursive SQLOLAP, OnLine Analytical ProcessingGeospatialRegular expressionsCompound statementsStored proceduresUser-defined FunctionsUser-defined Table FunctionsJSONXMLService consumingAI SELF SQL Exceptions Logging facilitySQL ServicesRESTfullSQL TriggersTemporal support

Speakers

Niels Liisberg

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

Sunday June 14, 2026 14:00 - 17:00 CEST
09 - ST CLAIR 3B

Workshop

14:00 CEST

Workshop: Integrating AI with Db2 and RPG

Sunday June 14, 2026 14:00 - 17:00 CEST

10 - ST CLAIR 4

Explore the various ways to integrate Artificial Intelligence with Db2 data and RPG workloads

Speakers

Jesse Gorzinski

STSM and Senior Business Architect - AI and Open Source, IBM

Experienced business architect from IBM and a specialist in the IBM i platform. My passion is enabling enterprises to adopt artificial intelligence and open source technologies.

Sunday June 14, 2026 14:00 - 17:00 CEST
10 - ST CLAIR 4

Workshop

14:00 CEST

Workshop: Visual Explain – Hands-On Experience

Sunday June 14, 2026 14:00 - 17:00 CEST

14 - ST CLAIR 2

Visual Explain is your shortcut to understanding SQL requests and their performance impact on IBM i. In this interactive workshop, you’ll get hands-on experience with the tools used for SQL analysis and optimization.What to expect:Guided labs to help you get started and build confidencePractical exercises demonstrating how to analyze and graphically view SQL statementsInsights into working with Plan Cache snapshots for deeper performance analysisVisual Explain is part of Access Client Solutions (ACS) and has seen significant enhancements in recent years. This workshop will walk you through the latest features and best practices, ensuring you can leverage this powerful tool effectively.By the end of the session, you’ll have the skills to use Visual Explain to diagnose performance issues and optimize SQL queries like a pro.

Speakers

Morten Buur Rasmussen

Power Performance Specialist, IBM Expert Labs

Morten Buur Rasmussen is a performance Specialist at IBM Technology Expert Labs. Morten has 40 years of experience in the computing field. He started working with the S/38 and AS/400 in 1988 as programmer. Before joining the Lab Services and Expert Labs, he worked for IBM Denmark... Read More →

Sunday June 14, 2026 14:00 - 17:00 CEST
14 - ST CLAIR 2

Workshop

18:00 CEST

First timers introduction

Sunday June 14, 2026 18:00 - 19:00 CEST

02 - Auditorium

Speakers

Torbjörn Appehl

Vice President for Common Europe, Common Europe & LOAD System

IBM Champion for Power since 2016, love the IBM i platform since my very first contact with it in 1997. Today I am the CEO for Load System in Sweden. An IBM business partner with focus on IBM Power, IBM Storage, IBM Z and LinuxONE.
CEO for Load System AB in Sweden since January 20... Read More →

Zouhair Oulli

IBM i sysadmin, Kyndryl

I’m an IBM i system administrator at Kyndryl. I serve on the board of Common France and am a member of the Common Europe NextGen team. In my free time, I enjoy creating IBM i educational content and sharing useful knowledge and resources on my website.