Award ceremony of the 2024 innovation competition
July 2024. Smart City approaches in the Neuperlach testbed: This year's Innovation Awards of the City of Munich were presented at a ceremony at the Munich Urban Colab. With this prize, Munich looks for new and innovative solutions to challenges in our city every year.
For this year's innovation competition of the City of Munich, the Department of Labor and Economic Development had Neuperlach in particular in mind in order to test the award-winning ideas for a smartcity here.
With the most promising solution proposals for this year's challenges, the following teams were among the many exciting and inspiring applications whose ideas were particularly convincing:
• Sky Eye:
Improving the data situation on stationary traffic
• Start-up Tür an Tür – Digitalfabrik gGmbH:
Digital Welcome Centre – AI-supported information portal for new and future Munich citizens
• WORKINGER – Work in Germany:
Job and recruiting compass for international newcomers
• UTurn Mobilitätswende:
Choose Green – Mediation of energy-efficient mobility routines for Munich
• SE3 Labs GmbH:
The cool side of Munich – Routing for footpaths in the shade
Of the five challenges in the competition, the ideas of the start-ups SE3 Labs, UTurn Mobilitätswende and WORKINGER are now being further developed in a co-creative process lasting several months (see below for a detailed description).
Picture Credits: City of Munich/Bert Willer, Architekturgalerie/Cornelia Hellstern
JOB AND RECRUITING COMPASS FOR INTERNATIONAL NEWCOMER WORKINGER – Work in Germany
The current labour shortage is hitting many sectors of the Munich economy hard and the integration of people with a history of flight and/or migration into the local labour market is associated with a variety of difficulties – from legal and bureaucratic barriers to lengthy, inefficient processes. Misunderstandings and a lack of information between authorities, companies and job-seeking newcomers to Munich make rapid integration difficult.
With the "Job and Recruiting Compass for International Newcomers" challenge, the Department of Labor and Economic Development is pursuing the goal of developing a digital, AI-based, smartphone-compatible and multilingual application based on the job integration map, which guides and accompanies access to the Munich labor market as an individual digital journey. This is intended to simplify and accelerate the job entry of international newcomers and their recruitment by companies for labour market integration in Munich.
The start-up WORKINGER supports SMEs in their search for craftspeople. Pre-qualification and matching are carried out with the help of digital tools and AI. Administrative processes are also supported.
The jury particularly liked the fact that WORKINGER wants to enable international newcomers to prepare for the local labour market at a very early stage – sometimes even before they arrive. At the same time, Munich-based companies can benefit from improved access to international talent and optimised initial contact.
CHOOSE GREEN - PROMOTING ENERGY-EFFICIENT MOBILITY ROUTINES FOR MUNICH
UTurn Mobilitätswende
Mobility plays an important role when it comes to stopping climate change. Above all, this also means a profound change in our everyday behaviour. Promoting behaviour that uses as little energy as possible in mobility is no easy task.
The Department for Climate and Environmental Protection is therefore looking for a tool to help Munich residents change their behaviour in favour of energy-efficient everyday routines and a climate-friendly lifestyle in the area of mobility with the "Choose Green – Communicating energy-efficient mobility routines for Munich" challenge.
This is exactly where the UTurn Mobilitätswende team comes in. In a playful and appealing way, citizens are to be supported in critically questioning their mobility behaviour and finding creative alternatives at the same time. The approach utilises the energy and emotion of the game. The tool can also be used in other important areas such as nutrition, consumption or energy and thus promotes a sustainable lifestyle in all aspects of everyday life.
THE COOL SIDE OF MUNICH - ROUTING FOR FOOTWAYS IN THE SHADOW
SE3 Labs GmbH
Redesigning public spaces with construction measures that protect pedestrians from the heat is costly. The municipal department wants to make an innovative contribution to heat protection with the help of smart optimisation of the footpaths that have to be walked in the city. A target group-orientated solution is particularly important for the health of heat-sensitive pedestrians. In addition to the shade cast by buildings, structures and vegetation, which depends on the time of day and season, the cooling effect of green spaces also plays a decisive role in route planning.
With the challenge "The cool side of Munich – Routing for footpaths in the shade", the Geodata Service in the Municipal Department hoped to develop an advanced route planning system based on the spatial (geo)data from the Munich Digital Twin and generate a georeferenced route that can be displayed in a digital map application.
The project "SpatialGPT Urban Shade Guide: Cool routes through Munich" by SE3 Labs GmbH uses Munich's digital twin to navigate pedestrians along cool routes. The technology integrates real-time data such as construction sites and barrier-free paths, enriched by a minute-by-minute, AI-based analysis of the shadows cast by buildings and vegetation for route planning.
The jury was particularly impressed by the innovative use of the data from Munich's digital twin, the user-friendly and barrier-free control via an AI-supported voice assistant and the high degree of flexibility in the proposed solution.