Smart, Smarter, Mobile Media Day

On 29 November, the Mobile Media Day (MMD) took place at the VCC Vogel Convention Centre Würzburg. The programme was very diverse. On this day, current developments in the areas of mobile news, voice-controlled digital assistants, podcasts, health, startups and smart cities were the focus. Prof. Dr. Rainer Thome gave an interesting and quite amusing lecture on Smart Würzburg. How does a city become a smart, i.e. intelligent city? You need clever, original ideas. How do you come up with smart and innovative ideas? On the one hand, ideas can come from innovative startups, for example. Another option is offered by the "World Café" format. This is an interactive format in which different people sit together at a table, think about a specific topic, discuss it and try to find innovative solutions to problems. In simpler terms, brainstorming with café charm. Towards the end of the MMD, a "World Café" on the topic of Smart Würzburg took place in cooperation with Universität Würzburg, the Centre for Digital Innovation (ZDI) Mainfranken and Würzburg AG. At each table, suggestions for improvement on a specific topic such as energy or education were collected and written down. Dr. Christian Andersen from the ZDI was also there and subsequently answered some interesting questions about the ZDI and startups in general.

Are "World Cafés", which are open to all students, also planned at the ZDI?

Dr. Christian Andersen: Yes, "World Café" will certainly be a format that we will use there. In addition, other agile methods and methods from design thinking are planned. So this is also a format where you do brainstorming together and put something on paper together, you have something documented. You build on the ideas of others and that is ultimately the method behind it.

Is it also planned to work together with Würzburg AG?

Dr. C. A.: Yes, Würzburg AG is also one of the network partners of the ZDI. They are a good source of topics, especially when it comes to topics like today's Smart City topic. They are at the pulse of the times, with the city's economic development officer sitting in on it, who also notices the topics that are emerging and will then feed these topics into the ZDI.

Would it be advantageous for a startup if the idea could be linked to Smart Würzburg? For example, does that have a positive effect on funding opportunities?

Dr. C. A.: Of course, I actually expect that a few innovative ideas will come out of it, and there are always funding opportunities for innovation. If that arises, we will of course also support it in the application process, and if money then comes from the state or whoever, that will of course support the project.

In your opinion, what are the most important factors for a successful startup?

Dr. C. A.: First and foremost, I would always say the team, because you simply need the right people behind it who are passionate about the idea. And then of course the idea itself, an innovative idea. But then market access is often also an issue. Do I already have customers who are interested in my products? How easily can I reach them? How easily can I convince them to spend money on it? Then of course the network in general, making sure you build on the right legal structure, these are all kind of handcraft work. But the most important thing is, as I said, the team.

What mistakes do startups make that are not successful? Does failure lie in a non-functioning team?

Dr. C. A.: The reasons are often very diverse. It can of course be the team, where there is friction, where things don't work out, where there is no driving force. But it can also simply be the issue of financing, where you don't get far enough with the resources you have available, so that on the one hand you yourself are already in the black, or you don't get far enough that investors say the idea has so much potential, we will invest in it. These are often planning errors. As a start-up centre, we support the founders in this, so that people think about the right things beforehand before they act and don't waste time on pointless things. So as I said, the reasons why you can fail are diverse.

The ZDI is to be completed in the coming spring. Is there a waiting list for founders who want to use office space at the ZDI?

Dr. C. A.: Actually, I already know of a few interested parties who would like to move in there. We don't have an official waiting list yet. To be honest, we simply don't have time for that at the moment because we are currently only planning all the buildings. But when the time comes, we'll see how we approach it. We of course still need to build in regulations, such as how access will work, etc. Especially next year we also have the State Garden Show, we need to sort that out with those responsible so that the founders also have access during the State Garden Show. As I said, there is no waiting list as such, but people who are interested should simply get in touch with us and then we'll make sure it works. Many thanks to Dr. Christian Andersen for the interview.

Lisa Schräder