Colourful night of digitalization: municipal utilities present themselves in the "shop window" on the market square
How does the electricity get from the power station to the socket and the drinking water from Hardtwald to the tap? And what role does digitalization play in the daily work of a large energy supplier? Answers to these and other questions will be provided by the employees of Stadtwerke Karlsruhe in the “showcase” on the north side of the market square during the Colourful Night of Digitalization.
On Friday, July 1, from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., interested visitors will be introduced to digital concepts in the energy sector at the joint advice center of Stadtwerke and Karlsruher Tourismus Gesellschaft (KTG). The main topics will be digital networking under the Smart City banner and the municipal utility’s fiber optic network. Numerous experiments will be shown in the “showcase” to bring the complex topics closer to a prepared audience in an exciting way. Experts from Stadtwerke will also be present at the closing event of the Colourful Night of Digitalization from 10 pm at the ZKM I Centre for Art and Media Karlsruhe.
Pioneer in digitalization
The decision to take part in the Colourful Night of Digitalization was quickly made at Stadtwerke. “We didn’t have to think twice,” emphasizes Laura Friedt from the marketing department of the municipal energy supplier. The Colourful Night of Digitalization is organized by the karlsruhe.digital initiative and starts at 2 p.m. with a panel discussion in the town hall on the market square at the joint opening. Numerous companies and organizations from business, administration, science and culture will then present their digital solutions for networking work processes and products with various target groups until late into the night. The aim of this city festival is to raise public awareness of digitalization in Karlsruhe as an IT location with numerous companies from the cyber sector and renowned IT faculties at the universities. In addition, people in Karlsruhe are to be made aware of the high level of digital expertise in their city. As a large company, Stadtwerke wanted to play a key role in driving digitalization in the city, said Friedt. With the fiber optic network and the Smart City projects, Karlsruhe is already playing a pioneering role in this area.
Digitalization is a high priority for municipal utilities
“Digitalization is already very important to us at ,” emphasizes Laura Friedt. Nevertheless, Stadtwerke Karlsruhe is also constantly looking for new ways to further develop digitalization. One lighthouse project is the Demolab for digital services on the Stadtwerke premises. Various data from sensors is collected there and merged and visualized in real time . The Demolab focuses on street lighting, the environment, safety and electromobility. Another aspect of the demolab is the intelligent irrigation of urban greenery. In the “Smarter Friedrichsplatz” project, the needs-based water supply for trees is being tested under real conditions on the centrally located site in the city center .