INNOV8 4 EARTH

On September 7th the Pon Datalab organized the first edition of INNOV8 4 EARTH, aiming to bring tech people together to invent solutions that make the world a better place. Anyone who’s interested in technology and sustainability is welcome, so we had a great mix of data scientists, analysts, engineers, developers, designers, digital innovators and sustainability experts from Kalkhoff, Lease A Bike, Digital Solutions, Lensor, the CSR team and of course the Datalab.

We started the day with a brainstorm using the so called Disney method. All colleagues stepped into the role of dreamer (everything is possible), realist (how to make this possible) and critic (this is not possible because), coming up with many ideas to improve the energy system, mobility market or the lives of those who need it. The ideas that survived all three stages were pitched to the group, after which everyone picked their favorite idea to work on. The teams spent the rest of the day on creating their first prototype, dashboard, mock-up, website or program.

Case 1: Ride sharing app

The first team presented DriveWithMe, an app that allows Pon employees to share rides to and from work, based on an initial prototype developed by Marcel Bergner and Oliver Gernetzke for Kalkhoff. Users are able to enter their home and work address and specify on which day they would like to share a ride to the office, after which the app matches them to other colleagues.

Case 2: Meeting point recommender

The second team created a prototype of Meet in the Middle, a tool that calculates the optimal meeting point, minimizing travel time and emissions. The tool retrieves the home address of everyone who wishes to attend the meeting and calculates the travel time to every possible meeting point by car, bike and public transport.

Case 3: Programming lessons

The final team presented an idea to organize programming lessons to underprivileged children in collaboration with the educational non-profit JINC. The program starts with a guided tour in Move where children learn about career opportunities in the mobility sector. After that, the children learn to program in a tool called Scratch, where they program different steps to assemble a Gazelle bike, repair a Volkswagen car or install a Caterpillar solar panel.

We are very pleased with the outcomes of this first edition and are looking forward to the next. Hopefully more people will join us during future events to make an even bigger impact. The next edition will take place on the January 18th. You can register for the event here. Hope to see you there!

  • Kevin Haver

    Lead Data Scientist

  • Alyn Bolhoven – Meijer

    Data Scientist

  • Julia Hazenberg

    Data Science Trainee

  • Charlotte Koning

    Community Lead