von Günter Grabher
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25. Mai 2021
Industry meets Makers is an open innovation community building format that aims to initiate new collaboration models between top industry and the creative maker scene in order to make the resulting innovation and business potential fruitful for the benefit of both sides. The current core concept essentially consists of top industrial companies, SMEs and research organisations announcing so-called "briefings" in future technology areas such as robotics, AI, 3D printing, smart-textiles, Industry 4.0, IoT, Big Data, Blockchain, etc. and inviting innovative "makers" – start-ups, SMEs, freelance developers, designers, students and hobbyists – to solve these together with them within the framework of an approx. six-month get-to-know and co-creation period. In the desired ideal case, a successful joint follow-up project can be launched after the core term of the programme. OUR COMMUNITY Of course, our community does not only consist of the briefing partners and makers. A very colourful growing ecosystem has developed around them, in which all innovation drivers and supporters are welcome to get involved. THE STATUS QUO Industry meets Makers has been successfully implemented for 5 consecutive years since 2016 – in the first 3 years primarily in the Vienna area and from the 4th year onwards also in other Austrian provinces. The Covid-19-battered 5th year brought with it an increased virtualisation of the format, which at the same time also opened up the possibility of participants from other countries being able to join the process much more easily for the first time. This "internationalisation course" is to be further expanded from 2021 onwards by cooperating more with partners from other countries, gradually switching our written communication from German to English and, in addition to our analogue meeting and event activities, which we hope will soon be able to take place again, continuing to rely in parallel on virtual exchange formats in both language versions (German and English / we will work with synchronous interpreters). MORE ABOUT IMM REGISTER NOW