Review: Ericsson Ideathon 2018
The first Ideathon powered by Ericsson Eurolab and the digitalHUB Aachen was held last weekend! The guiding theme of the event was a very contemporary one: “Connecting Industries”.
Starting on the 23rd of November, around 40 students and young professionals from Aachen formed 10 teams and worked together on the development of innovative and business driven ideas for improving and utilizing connectivity within the industry.
Jan Peter Meyer- Kahlen, the head of the ICT Center Eurolab opened the event and welcomed the participants, followed by an introduction of EricssonOne – Ericsson’s open innovation platform as well as the 5G offer for connecting industries, introduced by Marijana Krsteva-Topaloska and Norbert Niebert, respectively.
The response to the challenge to produce, within 24 hours, an idea which is innovative, incorporates top-notch technology and has strong business potential was excellent. The participants’ ability to generate and put together ideas as well as present them well, showed maturity, passion, and competence which exceeded the expectations of the jury! Of all the impressive ideas, only one team could be selected as a winner – and that team was “Aixsolutions” for their idea regarding smart transport, providing more environmentally friendly and cost efficient transportation of goods. The drivers of this event, the Innovation Garage at Ericsson and EricssonOne, have offered further coaching to the most promising ideas which have the potential to develop further toward the process of realization. All teams had fun and had the opportunity to broaden their professional network during the coffee, snack, and pizza break chats in the inspiring environment of the Digital Church! It was a great event overall with a very friendly atmosphere with highly motivated and happy students!
