SAP Taps Millennials for Next Big Idea in Sustainable Industries
Feb. 24, 2014 /3BL Media/ — SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced the 2013 winners of the Global Connected Car Contest and the Utility of Tomorrow Innovation Contest. Attracting innovative idea submissions from university students worldwide, SAP narrowed down the list of finalists and selected winners who will get the opportunity to refine and implement their proposals with the help of industry experts. With the goal of exploring the path to commercial adoption for their ideas, winners will spend one week in the summer of 2014 working alongside engineers from SAP customers that sponsored the contests, such as San Diego Gas & Electric and other participating companies.
Growing up with digital tools and social media as second nature, today’s generation of students via crowdsourcing can take full advantage of creative thinking combined with the latest technologies to find more efficient ways to tackle everyday obstacles and make industries more sustainable. The innovative applications developed by this year’s winners have the potential to impact consumer behavior toward more sustainable practices.
“Millennials have two expectations from any service or app they consume; first it must be mobile and available whenever they want it, second it must help with the goal of being more sustainable and environmentally responsible,” said Gil Perez, senior vice president of Sustainable Industries and general manager of Connected Vehicles, SAP. “With their focus and unique relationship to technology, we believe this generation can develop groundbreaking new business models. Starting with the automotive and utility industries, SAP is bringing together leading customers from these verticals with the best student teams to take their ideas to the next level. These groups will create financially viable connected services that incentivize consumers to act in an environmentally responsible manner”.
For the Global Connected Car Contest, six winners were chosen for proposals that would impact the automotive industry under the following categories: urban mobility, traffic, fueling, parking, food and other. One example is the winning student submission from Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research in South Carolina in the parking category. Their application, ParkinGain, is designed to match drivers with parking spots based on price, location, travel time, and distance to their final destination. ParkinGain is an example of how personalization technology can integrate with both digital and physical infrastructure to improve the driving experience and urban vitality of a city. The app plans to include discounts to local businesses, as well as navigation directions and payment options. The same Clemson team also won for their app in the food category.
The Utilities of Tomorrow Contest asked students to submit solutions across the topics of green energy, smart appliances, sustainable resources and electric vehicle. Five winners were selected across the four categories, including the proposal for Green Home, a green energy mobile app submitted by the Dubai Womens College - Higher Colleges of Technology, located in Dubai, UAE. Green Home aims to help consumers manage and reduce home electricity use with advanced home energy management systems, combined with an element of gamification to share results over social media.
Visit the contest websites for a full list of winners and sponsoring customers of the Global Connect Car Contest and Utility of Tomorrow Innovation Contest.
For more information, visit the SAP Newsroom. Follow SAP on Twitter at @sapnews.
Media Contact:
Robin Meyerhoff, SAP, +1 (650) 440-2572, robin.meyerhoff@sap.com, PST
Shannon McLoughlin, Burson-Marsteller, +1 (617) 912-5412, shannon.mcloughlin@bm.com, EST
