At the beginning of the first day, Dr. Thomas Jenne from T-Systems gave a presentation on his business area and current topics in automotive engineering/consulting. In addition, Florian Chrometz, also from T-Systems, spoke about how T-Systems uses Google Cloud services for its work. After a short game to get to know each other, the four challenges were explained in detail and the groups were formed. This resulted in very internationally mixed groups with students from over ten countries, from which the participants benefited.
The students could choose one of the following four challenges:
- Software Defined Vehicle (Challenge Owner: Joachim Klink)
- Customer Experience (Challenge Owner: Michael Ayerle)
- Industry-X (Challenge Owner: Tobias Kasper)
- Sustainability (Challenge Owner: Sandip Dalvi)
For each of the topics there was a Business Model aspect (Makeathon) and a Coding/Data aspect (Hackathon), which the students worked on in the teams.
Each group had a fixed contact person (challenge owner) from T-Systems on board as a mentor. Technical experts from T-Systems and Google Cloud employees were also available at all times to answer questions and provide valuable input. For the coding aspect of the challenges, the students received data sets from T-Systems and each was given access to the Google Cloud.
At the beginning of the hackathon, the students hoped to gain deep insights into the world of Google Cloud and coding. They approached the challenges with an open mind and were excited to work together in teams.
After a busy first day, all groups came together again in the evening to report on the interim status of their group work.
This gave the mentors, professors and other teams the opportunity to ask questions and provide valuable input.
This was followed by a joint evening of networking.
The second day started with a presentation by Sven Löffler (T-Systems) on the Data Intelligence Hub tool, which T-Systems is currently developing. Nowadays, data should be seen as a product. With the help of the Data Intelligence Hub, T-Systems wants to help companies and private individuals retain management and control of their data.
Markus van Laak (Google) then gave a keynote on how end users can manage their data quickly, easily and worry-free. People can do without their own hardware these days, due to cloud solutions such as those offered by Google.
The four groups then met again for the final phase of group work.
In the afternoon, the four groups held their final presentations. Here they presented their project ideas and demonstrated their prototypes in the form of websites or apps.
The "Customer Experience" team developed a concept for a mobility app. Based on Google Maps, it should be possible for the end customer to be shown various suggestions for a trip from A to B and also to be able to book these directly in the app. All mobility service providers (e-scooter rental, car rental, car sharing, cab apps, Uber, public transport, airlines, etc.) including travel duration, price and direct booking option should be displayed here. This reduces the planning effort for a trip immensely for the end user and he only needs this one app to book all tickets or reservations.
In the "Software Defined Vehicle" group, the group developed a website for smart fleet management for companies. One of the proposals was a cost-optimized route suggestion via Google Maps, so that the cheapest gas station or e-charging station along a certain route can be navigated to. The fleet manager can view the driving data, consumption and location of his fleet vehicles externally at any time.
In the "Sustainability" group, a concept was developed on how car manufacturers can track their CO2 emissions along the entire production and supply chain.
Among other things, the students learned how to design a website with the help of a wireframe.
The "Industry X" team developed a concept for making the configuration of cars more sustainable and transparent for the end customer. The customer should be shown transparently during the online configuration of the car which inventory parts come from where, how long the delivery time is and what the environmental impact of each feature is.
The students in this group were particularly enthusiastic about how easy it is to learn and use Google Cloud Services.
"Cohesion is the key: despite the competition, the individual teams shared the knowledge they had gained from their own projects to support each other, and I am sure that some of the results became better as a result" summed up Dr. Jenne, welcoming the students' commitment to supporting each other in this way.
The industry partners were particularly positive about the fact that the students had new, fresh thoughts and an unbiased approach to the problems.
T-Systems was quick to recognize that for "today's younger generations, sustainability is not just a goal but a guiding principle, and they have lots of ideas about how to apply it to tomorrow's digital solutions."
The students were also excited about the great support and insights from the industry partners. The students were particularly positive about the fact that they could choose one of the four challenges themselves, depending on their individual interests.
Dr. Thomas Jenne (T-Systems) was impressed by the ambition with which the students participated in the competition. He left the event feeling energized by the exciting questions and stimulating discussions they sparked. "We as a company should engage even more with future talent like these students: They are an invaluable source of creativity, drive and, most importantly, a fresh perspective. Meanwhile, the real-world observations we give them can help them become the digital leaders of tomorrow."
Professor Dr. Daniel Schallmo was also "very impressed by the working atmosphere in the castle and by the commitment of the students. With T-Systems, we have gained a valuable partner that enables students to work on relevant topics in a structured way."
The university castle in Illertissen served as an ideal setting with plenty of space for the individual groups.
About T-Systems
With locations in more than 20 countries and around 28,000 employees (December 31, 2021), as well as annual revenues of 4 billion euros (2021), T-Systems is one of the world's leading service providers for information technology and digitization solutions.
T-Systems has more than 20 years of experience in the transformation and management of complex IT systems. The Telekom subsidiary currently has around 3,000 cloud architects and experts worldwide.
As a result of the merger with the former IT subsidiaries of Daimler and Volkswagen - debis and gedas - "automotive" has been an important pillar in T-Systems' image since the beginning of the company's history. For more than two decades, 13 of the 20 largest manufacturers and more than 3,000 dealers and international suppliers have placed their trust in T-Systems. Independent industry rankings regularly identify T-Systems as the number one ICT partner for the automotive industry. With around 4,000 international automotive experts, T-Systems offers technical expertise and in-depth process and industry knowledge from a single source.
About Google Cloud
Digital transformation is not simply about moving old IT infrastructure to the cloud to save costs and leverage its convenience. Rather, true transformation affects the entire enterprise and, by extension, every single employee. We understand today's technology requirements and the need for continuous innovation. That's why organizations are building their transformation cloud on Google Cloud to solve their biggest challenges.
