Drone parcour, robot DJs & panda workshop: First Colourful Night of Digitalization Karlsruhe
A city tour with the augmented history app “Stadtgeist Karlsruhe”, a hands-on drone course, guided tours through the research departments of the renowned knowledge forges, generally understandable lectures on the trend topics of information technology, insights into the work of innovative start-ups and at the closing party at the ZKM I Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, robot DJs and live coding will provide the atmosphere at the end: at the Colourful Night of Digitalization 2019, visitors will be offered a concentrated package of information on Friday, 11 October at numerous decentralized event locations throughout the Karlsruhe city area. October, visitors will be offered a concentrated package of information and hands-on activities at numerous decentralized venues throughout Karlsruhe.
Opening at the town hall – closing party at the ZKM
The premiere of the digital city festival starts at 2 p.m. in Karlsruhe City Hall with a welcoming address by Lord Mayor Dr. Frank Mentrup and a panel discussion with representatives of the karlsruhe.digital initiative from the fields of science, business and administration. Finally, from 10 p.m., all guests are invited to the ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe to share new impressions and experiences surrounded by digital works of art – such as self-recording and scratching KUKA robots – and to dance and celebrate to the live coding performance by Sonic Pi inventor Sam Aaron.
Decentralized program between 3 and 9 p.m. throughout the city
In between, visitors are spoilt for choice, as the program is – as the name suggests – colourful and diverse and the 100 or so partners from business, science, administration and culture offer over 200 free program items. While companies can take part in a drone course(CAS Software AG), a speed thinkaton(ISB AG), a coding exit game(ITscope) and a virtual scavenger hunt(Enscape GmbH), universities can offer programming workshops for children and young people(KIT), for example, Music and Sound Design for Video Games workshops and the Sound Dome(University of Music) can be attended, and the technology of the digital classroom of the future can be tried out by young and old alike at the DHBW Karlsruhe and the Karlsruhe University of Education . At the Badisches Landesmuseum ‘s Happy Digi-Day, you can experience and use digital exhibition offerings at museum x and discuss their usefulness (or nonsense).
This makes the unique ecosystem of the digital stronghold of Karlsruhe visible and tangible – and accessible free of charge with public transport and KVV.nextbikes in a climate-friendly way.
The complete programme for the Colourful Night of Digitization can be found here. A program overview and background information can also be found in the BNN special supplement.
“Digitalization plays a very important role in Karlsruhe”
“The lively participation in the premiere is a clear sign of how important a role digitalization already plays in many areas of society,” emphasizes Karlsruhe’s First Mayor Gabriele Luczak-Schwarz. For the Chairwoman of karlsruhe.digital, the Colourful Night of Digitalization is also an ideal opportunity to break down inhibitions between the players from science and business on the one hand and the citizens at on the other. “Digitalization can only reach society if everyone involved pulls together,” says Luczak-Schwarz. And it is precisely because of the rapid pace of development of innovative technologies that dialog with future users is particularly important. The city administration itself is also opening its doors for the Colourful Night of Digitalization and giving guests a look behind the scenes of schools, offices, associations and projects at numerous stands in the town hall, in the digital citizens’ office and in the DigitalLab.
“Can bring interesting digitalization topics to the attention of the public “
For Martin Hubschneider, founder of the software company CAS Software AG, the Colourful Night of Digitalization with its numerous offers is a new distinctive trademark of Karlsruhe as a digital location. “This is an opportunity for companies and research institutions to promote themselves and bring their important and interesting work into the public eye,” says the Managing Director of the CyberForum business network. In addition, numerous students can also gain an impression of the career opportunities offered by potential employers at the Colourful Night of Digitalization, says Hubschneider. If Karlsruhe, with its current workforce of around 30,000 employees in around 4,400 companies in the digital sector, wants to remain competitive in the long term, as many graduates as possible from Karlsruhe universities, such as the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), must be kept in the city.
KIT participates with an extensive program at several locations
At the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, visitors can find out about current research topics at various locations during the Colourful Night of Digitalization (#DigitaleNachtKA) and talk to scientists about the impact of technologies on society. The central point of contact is the large foyer of the mathematics building on the South Campus, where exhibits, demonstrations and hands-on activities are presented to a wide audience. Experts will provide tips on digital security and will also be on hand to provide information on computer simulations, encryption algorithms or study opportunities and career profiles in a digital society. The Robot Learning Lab will also be presenting itself, as will the MaterialDigital innovation platform. Other locations will provide insights into how machines learn or how the future of work and industry is shaping up. In a workshop, pupils will learn how to program a robot arm themselves, and the Karlsruhe high-performance computer will also be open to visitors. “I am pleased that we, as a research university, can contribute so many exciting program items to the Colorful Night of Digitization and give the interested public an outlook on the future,” emphasizes Professor Thomas Hirth, Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs at KIT and Chairman of the karlsruhe.digital initiative. Details on the KIT program can be found here.