Talks

The Chaos Communication Congress is the Chaos Computer Club’s (CCC) annual symposium and hacker party.

Congress is the longest-running IT security conference in Germany, the biggest European hacker gathering and has grown into one of the most important conferences on digital transformation. We focus on topics such as information technology, digital security, making, and breaking. We engage in creative, sceptical discourse on the interaction between technology and society.

There are three lecture halls: Saal 1, Saal G “Grace Hopper“, and Saal Z “Konrad Zuse”. You can find the schedule either in the main talk schedule that only lists the talks, or in the combined schedule at the Hub which combines all events at 38C3.

Tracks

38C3’s lectures are organized by tracks, each track is curated by a team of experts in the respective field.

Art & Beauty

Art has the potential to hack how people see and understand the world, making language, images, sounds, bodies or bits do beautifully unexpected things. Even in it’s proper context, art can insert illegal instructions undermining autocracy and repression. After all, it’s only supposed to be beautiful, right? ;) The Art & Beauty track not only explores how computers, coding and networking expand the possibilities of art, but also as how the principles and practices of hacker culture can make artistic work more boundary-testing, more liberating, more welcoming for all creatures on this planet.

We look forward to presentations on impressive projects; demonstrations of artistic processes on the congress stage; lecture performances that expand the congress format; and theoretical reflections on the influence of new technologies on artistic practices and forms of expression.

Ethics, Society & Politics

The Ethics, Society & Politics track looks at the social, ethical, and political consequences of technology that affect our lives. We seek submissions that offer strategies to counter the shift to the right and the securitization discourse.

We can no longer trust that the law will always be there to protect us. A more diverse, creative, and disobedient Digital Rights activism is needed.

As surveillance creeps into all aspects of our lives and our infrastructures, we mustn’t cede the political discourse to reactionary forces but take a proactive stance.

True to the motto “Illegal Instructions – Now more than ever!”, we are looking for submissions that test activist strategies beyond position papers and open letters.

As hackers, we want to become active in solidarity – until the processor finally meets our requirements.

We want to explore the entire spectrum of collective disobedience, whether it’s against excessive state surveillance, right-wing structures, or harmful tech hypes.

We are looking for contributions to a congress after which we will not fall into hopelessness, but that will make us smarter, more powerful, and ready to go on. Legal, illegal, scheißegal* – whatever it takes!
(* “egal” is German for “don’t care, not relevant”, and the prefix is a “polite” amplifier)

Hardware

The Hardware track is all about development and creative use of things that allow the digital to make an impression on the physical.

On one hand our focus is on the whole process from architecture, planning, creation and debugging of everything ranging from textiles, musical instruments, robots, integrated circuits, means of transportation for people and Club Mate, launching stuff into space, alternative energy supplies to medical tools, toys and smartphones – all things hands-on.

On the other hand we are interested in unintended use cases. So please tell us your stories about expansion or repair of technology and about liberation of proprietary systems – from decapped smart-card to the firmware of your coffee maker to a modified agricultural machine. The manufacturer calls your hack an “illegal instruction” although the unexpected convenient exception actually just facilitates fair use? We want to hear about it.

Of course we’re also up for a surprise: Please submit all the things we can’t imagine!

Science

Science thrives on taking untrodden paths. The most exiting results often originate from using unconventional methods of measurement, taking a close look at the inconspicuous, or questioning truths believed to be certain. At the same time, scientific findings can lead to novel perspectives that challenge the political mainstream, be it regarding urban planning, mobility, climate change, diversity or many other issues.

When science collides with social discourse, it is both exciting and worrying. And when research and its results are deemed “illegal”, i.e., are actively rejected, ignored, or taken out of context, scientific exchange across social boundaries becomes increasingly important. That’s what the Science track is for. Whether you work at research institutions, universities, or in your garage: if you have new insights into exciting topics, can explain complex things like no other, or ask questions that no one else is asking – then you’ve come to the right place.

Security

The Security track hosts content demonstrating the influence of IT security aspects on users and machines. We ask for technical submissions describing problems and solutions in both hardware and software.

If you want to share your discoveries with thousands of fellow security enthusiasts; if you have developed new solutions to previously unsolved problems; or if you have found new problems which we knew nothing about, we invite you to present.

This includes topics from mathematics, networks, operating systems, web technologies, memory (mis)management, cryptography, programming languages, hardware design and other fields.

Listen to talks in your language

Most talks will be either in English or German, the Schedule will tell you, for each talk, the language it will be presented in.

The interpreters from c3lingo will translate all German talks into English, and probably all English talks into German. In addition, many talks will be translated into another language, like French, Spanish, Polish, or even Schwytzerdütsch.

To listen to the translations, visit mumble.c3lingo.org and select the hall you are in and the audio you would like to hear: the original as spoken by the presenters, English/German (translation-1), or a third language option (translation-2).

Join the audio channel through your phone or laptop using a web browser, the Mumble Desktop Client or find a mobile Mumble App. If possible, please connect your headphones via cable. This will make your audio more stable and free bandwidth for others that have to use Bluetooth.

Interpreted languages will be announced by c3lingo using Mastodon. You can find more information at wiki.c3lingo.org.