"As every year, we are absolutely thrilled after selecting the finalists," says Ulrich Dietz, CEO of the GFT Group and initiator of CODE_n. "In some cases you actually find yourself saying 'I should have thought of that myself'. But in every single case, the dedication, technical expertise and vision displayed by our finalists to implement their ideas is truly impressive."
The solutions submitted in the four topic areas, Industry 4.0, Smart City, Future Mobility and Digital Life, also demonstrate the full scope of this year's CODE_n theme "Into the Internet of Things" for both the economy and society as a whole. "The Internet of Things, the ever-increasing digitization process is having a huge impact on our private and working lives. Change is becoming constant. We are facing huge challenges. Our finalists are demonstrating how to cope with these challenges and exploit the opportunities. This both reassures and excites us."
"CODE_n15 is the perfect fit for CeBIT's lead topic d!conomy," says Oliver Frese, Member of the Board of Deutsche Messe with responsibility for the CeBIT trade show. "It gives young startups with disruptive ideas the chance to show what digitization will mean for industry and society in future. As in the years before, CODE_n15 will once again be a nucleus for digital pioneers at the CeBIT. And with this year's motto, "Into the Internet of Things", I'm certain hall 16 will once again thrill our visitors."
Among the finalists are startups from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, the UK and the US.
There is a strong international mix in the topic areas Future Mobility, Digital Life and Smart City. The eleven Smart City finalists come from ten different countries. "Cities around the world are growing at breathtaking speed. Many city administrations face huge challenges with regard to mobility, energy supplies, scarce resources, environmental protection and health provision," says Mark Smith, Managing Partner at EY (Ernst & Young). "Coping with the growth of these cities while maintaining or even improving the quality of life requires completely new ideas. Innovative digital technologies can help here. And I'm truly impressed by the intelligent and creative ideas and solutions developed by the finalists in these future-oriented fields," stresses Smith.
Frank Riemensperger, Country Managing Director of Accenture in Germany and co-chairman of the Smart Service Welt working academy, is not overly surprised by the large number of German finalists: "The reason why Germany is so strongly represented this year is clearly connected with the topic area Industry 4.0", he says. "Of the 13 finalists whose innovations focus on the industrial Internet of Things, nine are from Germany – this clearly shows the opportunities offered by the strong industrial core of Europe's largest economy. Especially when it comes to harnessing the almost limitless possibilities of digitization to develop Internet-based service business models around intelligent products. The need for digital transformation is huge and offers excellent growth prospects, especially in the leading industrial sectors." In their various approaches, the Industry 4.0 finalists have focused on platform solutions with which companies can efficiently manage their maintenance, administration and development of machine-to-machine applications.
Salesforce Germany's CEO Joachim Schreiner is impressed by the variety of CODE_n solutions which have created a veritable ecosystem of innovations: "Whether it's parking space sharing, central smart home control systems, clothing sensors which precisely measure and analyze your current health, or self-learning data mining solutions for forward-thinking analyses which help companies optimize their processes – all these ideas and business models are already emerging. This provides established companies with a huge reservoir of possible partners and future opportunities. And all this over five days in a unique exhibition hall – this is what makes CODE_n so fascinating."
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