A look back: Colourful night of digitalization 2019
Over 100 partners, around 6,000 visitors and plenty of insights into the digital stronghold of Karlsruhe – that was the Bunte Nacht der Digitalisierung 2019.
“The Colourful Night of Digitalization began at 2 p.m. in the town hall with a wonderful start – and it was clear from the many dialogues and discussions with the public at the ZKM that we had chosen the right format.”
Gabriele Luczak-Schwarz, First Mayor of the City of Karlsruhe and Chairwoman of karlsruhe.digital.
Bringing all facets of digitalization to life in a city festival of digital ideas and solutions – that was the basic idea behind the Colourful Night of Digitalization, which took place in Karlsruhe for the first time this year. More than 150 guests attended the opening event in the town hall with Lord Mayor Dr. Frank Mentrup and the subsequent panel discussion on 11 October 2019 “Digitalization is an important location factor for Karlsruhe. As a driver of digitalization, we show transparently what we can do and use the networking capabilities that exist in our city,” emphasized CAS board member Martin Hubschneider, who as chairman of karlsruhe.digital was co-initiator of the Colourful Night of Digitalization. “The numerous resources in our city not only make us the engine of digitalization, but also offer a wide range of opportunities to actively shape it.”
“Digitalization depends above all on people”
To give citizens a look behind the scenes of the digital transformation, around 100 partners from science, business, administration and culture opened their doors for the Colorful Night: virtual reality at the University of Education, hands-on workshops at KIT, playful learning with Fischer technology at CyberForum or drone racing at CAS Software AG – the program was as diverse as Karlsruhe’s digital scene itself.
“Digitalization – especially in Karlsruhe – depends above all on the people who are committed to it. The technology is almost secondary,” explained Markus Losert, Head of the Office for Information Technology and Digitization – and he was not disappointed by the people of Karlsruhe: over 6,000 visitors were inspired by the various programme items throughout the city, which made the huge ecosystem of the digital stronghold of Karlsruhe visible and tangible. On a large and small scale.
Today’s raw material is digital expertise and we in Karlsruhe have precisely this digital expertise – from students, from companies, from scientific and cultural excellence. This is precisely why we have the opportunity to become THE IT location in Europe.
David Hermanns, Managing Director CyberForum e.V.
Digitalization meets sustainable mobility
And because an IT location naturally also needs a sustainable transport infrastructure, all visitors to the Colorful Night were able to use public transport provided by the Karlsruhe Transport Association (KVV) free of charge – and those who preferred to pedal instead of taking the bus or train could simply use the KVV.nextbike.
The question remains as to how to end a colourful night of digitalization in the fan-shaped city in a fitting manner. The answer is of course obvious: with a joint closing party at the ZKM | Center for Art and Media. Surrounded by digital works of art – such as self-recording and scratching KUKA robots – well over 1,000 guests brought this unique event to a close together. The live coding performance by Sonic Pi inventor Sam Aaron provided the perfect musical backdrop.
Colourful night of digitalization 2020
Is that it now? Of course not! The second Colourful Night of Digitalization in Karlsruhe is already in the starting blocks. Interested parties can already mark October 16, 2020 in their calendars!
We have compiled further impressions and voices from the digital industry in the official karlsruhe.digital aftermovie for the Colourful Night of Digitalization 2019.