TL;DR. Baiersbronn is too rural for tech conferences. Within 30 km the only recurring program is the IHK Nordschwarzwald Innovation Breakfast AI series at the IHK-Bildungszentrum Nagold [2], plus single-day events at DHBW Campus Horb (22.30 km Luftlinie [1]) [8]. For a real international IT conference you have to cross the line: WFCS 2026 (IEEE Factory Communication Systems) in Offenburg, 21–24 Apr 2026 — 31.91 km Luftlinie [15] — is the nearest serious option [12].
What “within 30 km” actually covers
Baiersbronn sits at 48.50° N, 8.37° E. The 30 km Luftlinie circle includes Freudenstadt, Alpirsbach, Bad Wildbad, Horb am Neckar (22.30 km [1]) and Nagold. Offenburg falls just outside at 31.91 km Luftlinie [15]; Bad Herrenalb, Calw and Pforzheim are further again. Driving distances are 1.5–2× the straight line because of the forest topography — the road from Baiersbronn to Offenburg via Freudenstadt/Hausach runs closer to 50 km.
Inside the 30 km circle (2026)
| Date | Event | Type | Town | Venue | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 Jan 2026 | 22. Horber Werkzeugtag | Industry symposium | Horb | DHBW Campus Horb | [8] |
| 29 Jan 2026 | Innovation Breakfast — Social Media Trends 2026 (KI-Zeitalter) | SME briefing | Nagold | IHK-Bildungszentrum Nagold | [2] |
| 26 Mar 2026 | Innovation Breakfast — KI: Bild- & Videogenerierung | SME briefing | Nagold | IHK-Bildungszentrum Nagold | [3] |
| 21 May 2026 | Innovation Breakfast — Sichtbarkeit in ChatGPT & Co. | SME briefing | Nagold | IHK-Bildungszentrum Nagold | [4] |
| 26–29 May 2026 | Schnupperstudium Technik (Informatik dual degree) | Open campus | Horb | DHBW Campus Horb | [22] |
| 11 Jun 2026 | Innovation Breakfast — Führung im KI-Zeitalter | SME briefing | Nagold | IHK-Bildungszentrum, Calwer Str. 28 | [5] |
| 9 Jul 2026 | KI-Führerschein (half-day seminar, 250 €) | Paid training | Nagold | IHK-Bildungszentrum, Calwer Str. 28 | [6] |
| Year-round (2026) | Digital Hub Horb programming (follow-on after project end 2025) | Co-working / advisory | Horb | Technologiezentrum Horb | [10] [11] |
Reality check on the Werkzeugtag. It’s a Kunststoff-/Werkzeugbau tagung, not classic IT — but the 22nd edition explicitly added “industrielle Automation” to its scope, which is where it touches manufacturing IT/IIoT [8]. Next edition: 28 Jan 2027 [9].
Reality check on the Digital Hub. The funded project ended at the close of 2025; the partner network (Wirtschaftsförderung Nordschwarzwald + DHBW + IHK) keeps the formats running into 2026, but ad-hoc rather than on a published calendar [11]. The Horb location’s regular event calendar shows no 2026 dates as of May 2026.
No dedicated developer/Meetup scene. Freudenstadt, Baiersbronn, Bad Wildbad and Alpirsbach return no IT or developer meetups for 2026 — the towns have conference infrastructure (Kurhaus, Forum König-Karls-Bad) but no tech community using it. Use the closest big cities (Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Strasbourg) for that.
Just outside the line (worth the 30–50 minute drive)
| Date | Event | Town | Distance from Baiersbronn | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21–24 Apr 2026 | WFCS 2026 — 22nd IEEE Conf. on Factory Communication Systems | Offenburg | 31.91 km Luftlinie | [12] [13] [14] [15] [23] |
| 16–18 Oct 2026 | Black Forest Hackathon — Smart Automation edition | Offenburg | just outside | [18] |
| 21 Jul 2026 | Innovation Breakfast — Vibe Coding (build software without coding) | Pforzheim | outside | [7] |
| 4 Feb 2026 (past) | IT After Work — “Wem gehört die Suche?” at InnoTec Pforzheim | Pforzheim | outside | [20] |
| Recurring | Hochschule Pforzheim futureLAB — KI-Hackathon | Pforzheim | outside | [21] |
| 24–26 Nov 2026 | 112. Datenschutzkonferenz — Bund + 16 Länder, chair year of LfDI BW | Bad Herrenalb | outside | [16] [17] |
| 16 Jul 2026 | Käpsele Innovation Festival 2026 — startups, AI, MedTech, GreenTech, robotics | Freiburg | well outside | [19] |
Picking one if you’re already in Baiersbronn
- You want a real research conference. WFCS 2026 in Offenburg [12], 21–24 Apr — TSN, industrial wireless, JCAS, edge IIoT and AGV/UAV real-time comms [13]. ~80 attendees from twelve countries [23]; IEEE-quality but small enough to talk to authors. First time in Offenburg [14]. Registration closes 13 Apr [12].
- You want regulatory/policy. 112. Datenschutzkonferenz, Bad Herrenalb, 24–26 Nov 2026 [17]. LfDI Baden-Württemberg chairs the year, AI Act implementation is the headline theme [16]. Closed authority meeting — not an open conference — but the run-up produces public position papers worth tracking.
- You want hands-on. Black Forest Hackathon Smart Automation, 16–18 Oct 2026, Offenburg [18] — 48-hour weekend format. The Pentest (12–14 Jun) and Smart Health (4–6 Dec) editions are in Freiburg, too far for a Baiersbronn base.
- You want SME-style local content. IHK Nagold’s Innovation Breakfast cycle [3] — ~2 hour morning sessions on practical AI use, free to attend (the KI-Führerschein on 9 Jul is the paid exception at 250 € [6]). Walk-in level, not deep technical.
- You’re at a university. DHBW Stuttgart’s Horb campus runs the dual Informatik bachelor with ~200 partner companies [24] — the May Schnupperstudium [22] is the only campus event tagged “Informatik” in 2026.
What doesn’t exist
- No DevOps / cloud / SaaS conferences in the 30 km circle in 2026.
- No security-track conferences (CCC-style or otherwise) in the circle — closest is HS Pforzheim’s KI-Hackathon and the BfH Pentest weekend in Freiburg.
- No regular tech meetups in Freudenstadt or Baiersbronn — none registered on dev.events or Meetup.com for 2026.
- The Käpsele festival (Freiburg) [19] and any Karlsruhe/Stuttgart events fall well outside both 30 km and a reasonable day-trip from a Michelin-restaurant weekend.