Innovative ideas for Jena: Hackathon and Smart City Forum inspire with creative solutions

Last weekend, Jena hosted the first Smart City Forum and thehackathon that followed the next day . The "Smart City" and "5G Traffic Networking" projects had invited people tothese specialevents topromote innovative ideas and solutionsfor the challenges of a smart city. Under the motto "Hack the paradise!", pupils, students, scientists and professionalscame together to take part in the events.

An expert jury and the enthusiastic audience determined the winners of the challenges. The winner was the team thatdeveloped a watering route optimization system for Kommunalservice Jenaas part of the "Soil moisture sensors"challenge.Second place went to the teams thatpresentedsolution ideas for measuring pedestrian frequency in thecity centre and for visualizing the live position data of a streetcar.

Kick-off of the Smart City Forum in the new StadtLab Jena

The new StadtLab, a space for experimentation and experience, was the perfect location for the kick-off event of "Hack the paradise!".After a welcome address by Benjamin Koppe - Head of the Department of Finance, Security, Citizen Services and Digitalization - and overall project manager Dorothea Prell , participants had the opportunity to attendseven specialist presentations on the topics of smart cities, "intelligent" cities and urbandata platforms . At a subsequent get-together, the participants and speakers were able to discuss the topics presented and form teams for the following hackathon.

Benjamin Koppe, Head of Department for Finance, Security, Citizen Services and Digitalization:

Our first hackathon "Hack the paradise" provided an opportunity tobring together creative minds from our urban society to developinnovative solutions to challenges posed by the Smart City project. With over 60 participants, it was a complete success as an exchange, networking and experimentation event.

Hackathon "Hack the paradise!" at the Lichtwerkstatt Jena

The actual hackathon took place at the Lichtwerkstatt Jena, an open makerspace for photonics and technical innovations. Here, the participants were able to get togetherin their teams and tackle the challenges .The questions were analyzed, sensors assembled and codes written in interdisciplinarygroups. The creative atmosphere in the Lichtwerkstatt Jena supported the pupils, students, scientists and professionals in realizing their ideas anddevelopinginnovative solutions.

Team pitches and jury evaluation

At the end of the eventful day, the teams had the opportunity to present their solutions in pitches. The winners were chosen on the evening of 17.06.2023 after being judged by the jury. But no one went home empty-handed. In addition to a goodie bag and a JenaKultur voucher , the main reward was the certainty of being part of a growing hackathon community. The event provided a platform for making contacts,exchanging ideas with like-minded peopleand discovering new perspectives.

DorotheaPrell, overallproject manager:

The Smart City Forum and the Hackathon have shown that these participation formatsare very well suited to addressing different target groups and gaining new perspectives on topics and challenges of the Smart City project. The exchange and networking withall interested parties, scientists and the citizens of our city was very inspiring and simply fun. Our project teams would like to thank thenumerous participants on 16 and 17 June 2023 for their commitment!

Together on the way to a smart and sustainable city

We, the Smart City Project and the 5G Traffic Networking Project, would like to thank all organizers, mentors, participants and especially the Lichtwerkstatt Jena for the success of this impressive event. The numerous ideas and solutionsthat emerged during the hackathon will serve as impulses for further development and will be incorporatedintothe projects.

The Smart City Forum and the hackathon are measures thatwere implementedas part of the Smart City (Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Construction) and 5G Transport Networking (Federal Ministry of Digital and Transport)funding projects.