Duration: April 15th - October 18th, 2021
Our 6th round at a glance
Our 6th Industry meets Makers round started after preparatory networking and industry partner meetings in Q1 2021 with an online kick-off event on April 15th, 2021 and ran from then until the virtual Best of #IMM2021 finale on October 18th, 2021 at the Digital Days. The absolute programme highlights of the year included our hybrid and decentrally organised Future Tech Bootcamp from June 21st till June 24th, 2021, our appearances at numerous partner events such as the B2B Software Days on May 10th, 2021 and the EIT Manufacturing Days on May 11th, 2021 in the course of the Vienna Up'21, the Creativity meets Industry hackathon of the Creative Region from June 22nd till June 24th, 2021, the Cotec Innovation Summit on July 15th, 2021, the IoT Forum on September 14th, 2021, the Millennium Innovation Days on September 30th, 2021 and the Digi Summit on October 6th, 2021, as well as the new Electronic Pulse series launched in cooperation with the Infineon Hub, the Factory Hub Vienna and the UAS Technikum Wien. We also continued to work intensively on expanding the SME-focused activities that we are driving forward together with the UAS St. Pölten, net for future and the Tabakfabrik Linz as part of our Digital Makers Hub programme, and after the official end also immediately started again with further industry and network partner meetings in preparation for our 7th round.
the Programme in Detail
ONLINe-Kick-off-Event
April 15th, 2021 via Zoom
Due to the extension of the Covid 19 pandemic, we held our kick-off event virtually for another time on April 15th, 2021.
After a short welcome by our supporters and technology partners from various Austrian provinces and South Tyrol, such as DigitalCity.Wien, Vienna Business Agency, UAS St. Pölten & Digital Makers Hub, net for future, Business Upper Austria, ITG Salzburg, WISTO, Business Agency Burgenland, SFG, BABEG, Location Agency Tyrol, Enterprise Europe Network, NOI Techpark, GEMINI Startup Base, Trivion / Umdasch Group Ventures and MAYER MAKES, 13 organisations presented 11 new challenges that could be tinkered with together in the following months.
These included industrial companies, such as Infineon, VOSS, ABB, HP, Phoenix Contact, PALFINGER, TELE Haase and Microtronics, as well as infrastructure and service providers like the Wertstatt 8 of the Energie AG or location agencies and network, research and educational institutions like the Vienna Business Agency, the Smart Textiles Platform Austria, Salzburg Research and MCI Innsbruck.
After the intro part, the participants gathered in different breakout sessions, in which 1 or 2 more hours could be spent thinking about possible solutions and next joint steps.
future tech bootcamp
June 21st - June 24th 2021 via Zoom and with local space partners
After our first analogue future tech bootcamp at the UAS St. Pölten in 2019 and a virtual future tech bootcamp in 2020, we went through with a hybrid version of the format for the first time from June 21st till June 24th, 2021.
The moderation and live editing of the event was organised centrally from the TV studio at the UAS St. Pölten and transmitted from there to the web, and the cross-regional and international team communication was managed via Zoom and online chat.
In parallel, local analogue activities were organised for the regional community at space partners throughout Austria during the bootcamp, ranging from workshops and co-creation sessions to barbecues and live gigs.
At the bootcamp, 10 innovative solutions were developed. Who took part and what came out can be seen and read on the corresponding programme pages and blog posts.
Best of #IMM2021 @ Digital Days
October 18th, 2021 via Zoom and B2Match
As in previous years, our Best of #IMM2021 event took place on the first evening of the Digital Days. It was centrally moderated from the ERSTE Campus and broadcasted live online via Zoom and B2Match.
In addition to the solutions already presented at the end of the future tech bootcamp in June, 9 further results were presented by the participating teams in the course of this final, ranging from new technology solutions for cranes in the marine environment, innovative greening concepts for facades and the creative use of smart textiles and CO2 sensors to interactive learning applications for children.
More details on the participating companies and teams, as well as the projects generated, can be found in the post-event report in our blog, on the results pages and in the original programme.
Group meetings & workshops
via online video conferencing tools
The detailed coordination between our network and industry partners as well as the participating maker teams was organised again this year via a digital communication tool and at regular small group meetings and individually agreed 1:1 coordination appointments. Due to Covid 19 safety regulations, almost all of them took place in the form of video conferences.
Electronic pulse
3 dates via Zoom
The keynote series electronic pulse gives insights into success stories of startups within the electronic sector.
We launched the format in 2021 together with the partner organisations Infineon Hub, Factory Hub and UAS Technikum Vienna and want to continue it in 2022.
In 2021, 3 talks with start-up entrepreneurs have already taken place. These included online sessions with Christoph Kienmayer, managing director and founder of PIDSO on June 22nd, 2021, Alexander Manafi, CEO and co-founder of ToolSense on July 15th, 2021 and Bernhard Kohlhauser, CEO and founder of Plasmateria on August 31st, 2021.
IMM @ partner-Events
from May until October 2021
In 2021, Industry meets Makers was present with its community at numerous partner events. Our activities included participation in matchmaking sessions at the B2B Software Days on May 10th, 2021 and the organisation of a panel discussion on the topic “Open innovation in the manufacturing industry – yes it’s possible!” with Infineon, Tributech, TELE Haase and Mayer Makes at the EIT Manufacturing Days on May 11th, 2021 in the course of the Vienna Up'21, support for the Creativity meets Industry hackathon of the Creative Region from June 22nd till June 24th, 2021 in Linz, the contribution of an virtual expert talk at the Cotec Innovation Summit on July 15th, 2021 in Portugal, an IMM project presentation with Phoenix Contact at the IoT Forum on September 14th, 2021 in Vienna, a hybrid expert talk at the Millennium Innovation Days on September 30th, 2021 in Lustenau and a virtual presentation of IMM at the Digi Summit on October 6th, 2021 in Chemnitz/Germany.
Digital Makers Hub Activities
January till December 2021
Numerous exciting activities were also set in 2021 in the FFG-funded Digital Makers Hub, of which Industry meets Makers has been a member together with UAS St. Pölten, net for future and Tabakfabrik Linz since 2019.
The programme that has been implemented is aimed specifically at SMEs and is intended to help them introduce a digital culture and the intelligent use of new technologies.
A detailed overview of all activities that were put into action in 2021 can be found on the Digital Makers Hub website.