A city of millions with an inventive spirit: In the recent past, Munich has become a constant in the competition for innovation. In the age of digitalization and the like, the state capital of Bavaria has long stood for technical progress and forward-looking trends. Whether it’s a solar-powered electric hybrid to work, vertical take-off air cabs to business appointments or being shot to other locations in a travel capsule covering almost 500 kilometers – companies from the state capital are working on these future scenarios. With a laptop and lederhosen is a reality. Companies at Munich Airport Business Park are also demonstrating how the ongoing transformation can make the world even more digital – and therefore more beautiful, safer and simpler.
“It’s the most silent revolution there has ever been. And it’s the fastest,” says Bavarian Minister President Markus Söder at the Digital Summit in Nuremberg. Those who miss the boat are confronted with high investment costs and a lack of expertise. However, it is not always the big media-effective innovations, such as the SION or Hyperloop, that should be made the flagship of all technical progress at tech conferences. Digitalization is more than that. It’s the little things, from assistance systems in smart homes to networked and autonomous AIs in companies, that support people and are gradually changing society.
Many of the companies located at Munich Airport Business Park are pioneers when it comes to digitalization. The cosmetics group AVON, for example, relies on professional data analysis and algorithms in addition to the digital control of a large part of its business processes in order to better respond to consumer wishes in sales and production. The Baden-Württemberg-based software manufacturer SAP introduced digital transformation processes in HR management more than a year ago with the aim of making employees happier, more motivated and better qualified. The company is also involved in a start-up that helps other companies to automatically realize recourse claims from flight cancellations and delays – on the basis of smart data. Other examples from the airport community: KOS Energie is establishing a fully automated energy trading system to drive the energy transition forward profitably and AEE is using drones to develop a technology that could revolutionize a wide range of industries in the future, from mail delivery to food retail.
Digitalization in all its facets can only progress on the basis of data, which must first be collected, read and processed accordingly. It is the fuel that drives the development of innovations. A raw material that needs to be understood, produced and marketed. For this reason, the requirements for trained specialists are also changing. Increasingly, the focus is on so-called e-skills. “E-skills are abilities that people learn when they use technology. Take car navigation, for example,” says Björn Tonn from Hallbergmoos-based company Digital Mashup. Together with his team, he ensures that companies do not miss the digital boat and therefore remain competitive. Digital expertise is needed because everyone will be confronted with IT sooner or later.
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