The new.New Festival opened its doors - these are the highlights of day 1

The new.New Festival 2018 opened its doors yesterday morning at Stuttgart’s Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle to a curious general public looking forward to experience innovation at first hand. It’s the first one out of three days full of opportunities to engage with 130 startups, 80 partners from the world of business research, politics, art and education and renowned international speakers on digital transformation topics. The conference program includes thrilling panel discussions, workshops, entertainment and numerous networking opportunities for corporate companies, startups and young talents. Here are the main highlights of day one:

The CODE_n Main Stage:

It was an honor to have the new.New Festival 2018 officially opened by the Minister of Economic Affairs, Labor and Housing, Dr. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut who shared the stage with humanoid robot Sophia from Hanson Robotics, Ulrich Dietz, the initiator of CODE_n, Fritz Kuhn, the mayor of Stuttgart and Moritz Gräter, the Managing Director of CODE_n.

The main stage provided room for truly inspiring insights, emotional speeches as well as exciting panel discussions and Q&A sessions.

The first one at was a thrilling panel discussion with Sophia, the humanoid robot from Hanson Robotics, Robin Hanson, Associate Professor of Economics at George Mason University and Marika Lulay, CEO of GFT Technologies SE. All eyes were on the stage and the audience turned up the heat with eager questions,  as well as the main topic of the panel ‘Are robots a chance or a threat for humanity?’

The next talks weren’t any less exciting, covering moral and ethical questions about artificial intelligence with Thomas Jarzombek of the German Parliament and the CEO of thingsTHINKING – a startup aiming to bring common sense to computers. Gülnaz Önes, CTO of Daimler Financial Services presented Sarah, the emotionally-intelligent digital human developed to redefine the customer experience. Other highlights from the main stage included cross-industry innovation, an interesting panel addressing the VR gender gap, and fascinating content that boosted the audience’s blockchain knowledge.

At 13:40 we had Catherine Allen, CEO Limmina Immersive,  Helen Kennedy, Head of University of Brighton,  and Sarah Atkinson,  Head of Creative Indutries King´s College (GB) speaking/addressing the VR Gender Gap.

Startup BW Elevators Pitch 

Regional Cup Stuttgart and Young Talents Pitch

It was an honor to celebrate the winners of the Startup BW Elevators Pitch Regional Cup Stuttgart at the new.New Festival. The Pitch was opened by Dr. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, Minister of Economic Affairs, Labor and Housing. “It is our wish to motivate young talents to establish their own companies. I am inspired by entrepreneurs who are working in this field. The chances are huge and there is risk, but that’s what makes it worth it. Don’t be afraid to be bold!” she said. Congratulations goes to MapStar in first place, EnerJob in second place, and Time Watson in third place! The winners of the Young Talent Pitch are B-Lock and Taste, Don’t Waste.

Top 50 CODE_n CONTEST Finalists:

Our Top 50 CODE_n CONTEST 2018 Finalists pitched their business models on our Pioneers’ Stage today. These innovative pathbreakers are working in the fields covering Machine Intelligence, Beyond Reality, and Cryptographic Trust, our three main categories of this year’s festival “Intelligence X.O”. We delved deeper into everything from artificial intelligence, virtual reality, cryptographic trust, blockchain, the internet of things, drones, and new technologies in communication.

Future of Work in the Future Work Life Lounge

Partners Kärcher and Trumpf are strong players in collaborating with startups and working in the Corporate Venture Capital field. Their panel discussion was on “How to catch brave digital talents from an overfished pool.” They both agreed that the work life balance is one of the most important topics for a new employee. Talents want to have enough free time and to come to the office as they please. Trumpf and Kärcher are searching for people who can think outside of the box, work cross-functionally and who are open to opportunities for development.

Can a city have a startup culture?

Christian Sommer, CEO of Startup Mannheim said: “Startups are always changing a city. If you want to grow a startup culture in your city, you have to have good contacts, especially to authorities and politicians because they have the power to make decisions. Furthermore, the city has to make a cultural change to open the minds of its citizens and to get the right vibe -the startup vibe! Nothing can be done without finding your partners who not only support you with money but also with experience. We are excited to be part of the new.New Festival 2018!”

Wellbeing is as important as Work

In the age of digital transformation and faced-paced lifestyles, it is important to remember to take a break and focus on wellness. Throughout the festival, there are Meditation Sessions led by Mathias Feil, MBSR and Mindfulness Teacher. It’s a great opportunity to take a rest and recharge no matter what your schedule looks like.

The Mobility Profiling Hackathon

Hackathons bring together people from various disciplines to solve a problem using different perspectives. CODE_n and Logicline, organizer of Hackathon Stuttgart, hosted the Mobility Profiling Hackathon powered by Daimler Financial Services AG. The objective? To create new ways of using mobility profiles – data collections in everyday technology (smartphones) that determine and record mobility behavior and predict future behavior based on previously visited points of interest. We had a great group of programmers, designers and IT-enthusiasts who created innovative prototypes within eight hours! Congratulations goes to team new.New Mobility!

Psst! Sneak Peak for today:

• We’re looking forward to announcing the Top 10 Startups who will be pitching their business models today on the Main Stage at 11:00-12:10.
• Make sure to head over to the Main Stage at 18:00 for the Award Show – a definite highlight not to be missed!
• Watch the live stream of the main stage here: https://www.newnewfestival.com/
• Lastly, don’t forget to follow us on all of our channels to stay updated with the latest news.