Daimler held its first China Hackathon in Beijing on September 3rd and 4th. A total of 75 participants were invited to develop creative ideas and code prototypes related to automotive e-commerce within a given timeframe of 26 hours. The event was aimed at students, graduates and experts in the fields of IT, software engineering and computer science.
Hubertus Troska, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, responsible for Daimler Greater China: “Our Chinese customers in particular are truly ‘always on’. For them, the connectivity of our cars and the customer experience is crucial. This makes digitalization a key success factor for Daimler Greater China. We want the best digital talents on board to further strengthen our position in the world’s largest automotive market.”
During the 26-hour development phase, the 75 participants worked in self-organized teams of five. Among other topics, this involved suggestions regarding the user interface but also apps that provide advice on financing your dream car. “Following Hackathons in the United States and Germany, we are now continuing the journey in China. The Hackathon is a highly productive format for everyone involved. It gives talented young people an insight into our company, while we benefit from an external perspective and further innovative ideas related to e-commerce,” said Marc Lampe, Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Daimler Greater China.
The winners of the Hackathon were decided by a panel of Daimler managers and external experts. The winning group received a prize of RMB 100,000 (around EUR 13,500), the second place took home RMB 60,000 (around EUR 8,000) and RMB 30,000 (around EUR 4,000) was received for coming third. The teams with the best group cohesion and the best geek spirit were also awarded RMB 5,000 (around EUR 600) each.
The Hackathon in China is part of a series of Hackathons in Germany, the United States and India, which is supported by the DigitalLife@Daimler initiative. The multi-disciplinary DigitalLife@Daimler team implements projects relating to the digitalization of the company. Future Hackathons are planned in places including Bangalore, India and Sunnyvale in the United States.
