“The digital age demands and enables new solutions for our society, our cities, and also mobility,” says Andre Wehner, Head of Corporate Development and Digitization at ŠKODA. “At our ŠKODA DigiLab, we are working on innovative ideas to make mobility more efficient, comfortable and safe. We also rely on suggestions from external creative minds. In particular, we are very excited about the concepts of those taking part in the Hackathon. ŠKODA AUTO is continuously investing in the development of smart cars and services. Without clever infrastructure in the city, the potential of connectivity cannot be fully exploited. For this reason, we are looking for new ideas in the areas of connectivity and mobility for smart citiesWe will be developing smart ideas with the participants’ suggestions,” says Wehner.
Adriana Krnáčová, Mayor of Prague, will be taking part in the ‘International Smart Mobility Hackathon’ as the patron, and as the official partner, ŠKODA will be opening the event on 16 March at its digital lab in the Czech capital. At the brand’s think tank premises, developers, programmers, designers and other creative participants will form three-member working groups. Subsequently, the areas will be presented at various workshops where the teams will be competing against each other. They will be developing ideas for topics such as green mobility, big data usage, autonomous driving and smart cities. On 19 March, they will present their concepts to a jury. The winning team will receive prize money of 5,000 euros from the organiser and other donations from the official partners. ŠKODA guarantees, for example, an internship place at its digital lab.
ŠKODA regards digitization, connectivity and new mobility solutions as the cornerstones of its 2025 Strategy, which is why the manufacturer is appealing to original thinkers. The Hackathon participants will have the opportunity to develop their projects on behalf of ŠKODA or even at the company, and to expand them into profitable products and mobility services.
At a hackathon, students, programmers, designers, and other creative minds work against the clock on a project set by the organizer. The portmanteau is made up of the terms ‘hack’ and ‘marathon’. Like computer hackers, the participants solve tricky problems and develop new solutions. A hackathon can last from a few hours to several days. To begin with, the organizer presents the problem and the tasks to be solved in various lectures. Subsequently, the participants form small groups. Each team consists of experts from different areas. At the end of the hackathon, the groups will present their results to an expert jury.
