commoneuropecongress2026: Full Schedule

Welcome to Common Europe Congress 2026

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

11:50 CEST

Monday June 15, 2026 11:50 - 12:50 CEST

It sounds like an oxymoron - serverless architecture is normally said in conjunction with frameworks like FastAPI in Python, Spring-boot in Java or LoopBack in Node.JS. But what about RPG? Can you leverage the same features in ILE? – of course you can! The ILEastic framework was made exactly to be a player in the world of microservices and serverless architecture – and even better: it is 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

2026 06 CEC2026 ILEastic serverless architecture pdf

Monday June 15, 2026 11:50 - 12:50 CEST
04 - RHÔNE 2

IBM i application development

14:00 CEST

Unlocking the Potential of IBM’s Administration Runtime Expert

Monday June 15, 2026 14:00 - 15:00 CEST

04 - RHÔNE 2

Administration Runtime Expert (ARE) is one of IBM i’s most powerful yet overlooked tools. This session reveals how ARE can simplify the management of even the most complex IBM i estates by automating configuration checks, detecting risks early, and ensuring consistent, compliant system environments.Attendees will see practical examples of how ARE reduces manual effort, reduces outages, and strengthens overall business continuity. If you’ve never explored ARE or didn’t realize what it can do, this session will show you why it should be a core part of every IBM i strategy.

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 their... Read More →

Ash Giddings

Product Manager, Maxava

Ash Giddings is an IT professional with over 30 years of experience in and around IBM midrange servers. He is the Product Manager at Maxava, a leading provider of disaster recovery, high availability, and cloud-based monitoring solutions for IBM i and beyond. Ash is an IBM Champi... Read More →

Unlocking the Potential of IBM’s Administration Runtime Expert pdf

Monday June 15, 2026 14:00 - 15:00 CEST
04 - RHÔNE 2

Systems management

15:10 CEST

CNX: Use AI to Build an IBM i Web App in Under 10 Minutes — No Coding Required!

Monday June 15, 2026 15:10 - 15:35 CEST

04 - RHÔNE 2

Valence, the leading web and mobile framework for IBM i, has become even smarter this month. In this fast-paced demo, we’ll show you how Nitro App Builder (NAB) — Valence’s browser-based low-code development tool — enables anyone with knowledge of their IBM i database to build and deploy modern web or mobile apps in minutes.
But that’s just the beginning.
You’ll get an exclusive look at the just-released Valence 6.4, featuring powerful new IBM i-centric AI capabilities designed to accelerate development like never before. With the integrated AI assistant, you can:

Instantly generate modern app UI components
Build dashboards and inquiry apps with download-to-Excel functionality
Create super intuitive and efficient data entry apps
Even generate RPG or SQL logic with AI assistance

No coding required — but the apps are fully extensible for developers who want it. This is full-stack IBM i app development on steroids! So whether you're a seasoned RPG developer, a super user who knows your physical files inside and out, or a programmer comfortable with HTML5 and JavaScript, Valence adapts to your skill level. And now with AI integrated directly into the entire development experience, much of the heavy lifting can be done for you.
The bottom line?
You can build real, production-ready IBM i web apps in record time! Join us for a live demo of Valence 6.4 to see it in action.

Sponsor speaker

Robert Swanson

Senior Partner, CNX

Rob has worked as an in-the-trenches IBM i developer since 1992, with the past 15 years focused on developing modernization efforts for legacy systems written in RPG. Currently serving as Senior Partner for CNX Corporation in Chicago, Rob is a strong advocate of introducing highly... Read More →

Monday June 15, 2026 15:10 - 15:35 CEST
04 - RHÔNE 2

15:55 CEST

Using SQL in Everyday Life

Monday June 15, 2026 15:55 - 16:55 CEST

04 - RHÔNE 2

SQL is great stuff, but that is only for getting stuff out of the database, right? … NO! Wrong!!
On IBM i its way more. Any task you might consider on IBM i SQL should be your first choice.
In this session we will explore how to make SQL part of your everyday IBM i activities.
We will look at the tools available and practical use case, even if you are an SQL neophyte or a SQL Rock Star.
Lots of live demos to show the useful and practical side of using SQL.

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 →

Monday June 15, 2026 15:55 - 16:55 CEST
04 - RHÔNE 2

IBM i application development

17:05 CEST

How to Validate and Control AI Uncertainty from BOB or Any LLM for Reliable Business Outcomes

Monday June 15, 2026 17:05 - 18:05 CEST

04 - RHÔNE 2

Artificial Intelligence, by nature, is probabilistic. Even in narrow tolerance bands, AI models can generate varying results for the same inputs — not due to bugs, but because of the statistical nature of learning.

While this flexibility allows AI to deal with complex problems, it also introduces uncertainty — a dangerous liability in high-stakes business contexts. In using Project BOB or any LLM to modernize or transform code you can get mistakes, bugs or hallucinations in the new code, and sometimes those errors can be very tricky to be identified and corrected, it could be like looking for a needle in a haystack. I

n this session, we will see which methodologies to adopt to master these problems, to control any AI mistakes and also to influence and guide AI to fix and avoid them.

Speakers

Pascal Polverini

CTO, POLVERINI & PARTNERS

With thirty years of professional experience in North America, Europe and Australia Pascal Polverini has a strong experience in digital transformation, strategy roadmap and planning, end-to-end software architectures, with expertise on DB, programming languages, communication protocols... Read More →

Monday June 15, 2026 17:05 - 18:05 CEST
04 - RHÔNE 2

IBM i application development

08:00 CEST

NEWLY ADDED SESSION: Securing Open Source on IBM i

Tuesday June 16, 2026 08:00 - 09:00 CEST

04 - RHÔNE 2

Open source software brings innovation, flexibility, and modern development tools to IBM i, but also new security responsibilities. In this session, Alan Seiden explains how to keep your IBM i environment safe while benefiting from open technologies. You’ll learn how to assess and strengthen your open source supply chain, including precautions for VS Code extensions and lessons from recent Node.js npm attacks. Alan will share practical guidance on patching and updating PHP and other open source components, defending against denial-of-service threats, and applying IBM i-specific measures and permissions. The session includes some of the latest developments in web and application security that every IBM i administrator and developer should understand to protect today’s connected systems.

Learning Objectives:

`- Evaluate and strengthen the open source supply chain. - Apply practical security measures for open source technologies on IBM i - Implement IBM i-specific hardening techniques

Speakers

Alan Seiden

Principal Consultant, Seiden Group

How to modernize and create something new while leveraging your valuable business logic. Supporting developers, mentoring, staff augmentation, architecture, development and programming. Seiden PHP+ Server for IBM i,
APIs, IBM i, open source, web, PHP, Node.js, Python, RPG, ERPs... Read More →

Secure your Open Source Alan Seiden COMMON Europe 2026 06 16 pdf

Tuesday June 16, 2026 08:00 - 09:00 CEST
04 - RHÔNE 2

IBM i application development

10:30 CEST

RPG Unit Testing Made Easy In VS Code

Tuesday June 16, 2026 10:30 - 11:30 CEST

04 - RHÔNE 2

Join us for an in-depth look at the IBM i Testing VS Code extension and IBM i Testing CLI. In this session, we will demonstrate how you can now write and execute RPGUnit test suites (supporting both RPG and COBOL) directly within the editor using local files or source members. We will cover the basics of the RPGUnit test framework, showcase how to generate test stubs that make it easy to get started, demonstrate how to execute tests with code coverage, and even run tests in a CI/CD pipeline with GitHub Actions. If you are looking to adopt new and modern tooling, come check out this exciting addition to the IBM i development ecosystem in VS Code.

Speakers

Alan Seiden

Principal Consultant, Seiden Group

RPG Unit Testing Made Easy In VS Code Alan Seiden Common Europe 2026 06 16 pdf

Tuesday June 16, 2026 10:30 - 11:30 CEST
04 - RHÔNE 2

IBM i application development

11:40 CEST

JSON, SQL, XML done easy with noxDb

Tuesday June 16, 2026 11:40 - 12:40 CEST

04 - RHÔNE 2

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 – 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