The innovation event brought together E.ON colleagues from 13 countries for dozens of masterclasses, speakers, technology showcases, and activities.
Coming together to network and discover cutting-edge technologies: On 21 and 22 June, around 400 participants gathered at E.ON’s Brüsseler Platz headquarters in Essen, Germany for a successful first edition of the Impact Festival, E.ON’s biggest internal innovation event to date. Hosted by E.ON Innovation, the event allowed colleagues from various divisions and countries to meet and be inspired by the scaling and ingenuity of regional projects from across the Group.
Unique collaboration space
At Impact Festival, the main floor atrium of Brüsseler Platz was transformed into a unique collaboration space centered around Impact Street – a showcase of 23 Innovation Pavilions representing regional projects from 13 countries. Some of the projects that were presented included:
- Wasserheld (Water Hero): a data-driven hardware installation that warns of water leakages before they happen. The solution is a collaboration between E.ON, Vodafone and RWW
- Prisma Phototonics: A US-Israeli sensor-free grid monitoring platform predicting failures, improving safety and security, and reducing maintenance costs
- Horizon 2020 project iElectrix: A collaboration of 15 partners from 8 EU countries and the Indian distribution grid operator TATA Power DDL to develop fast, cost-effective mobile storage
Machine-Learning race car
A curated set of interactive experiences included morning runs and yoga classes
A curated set of interactive experiences included morning runs and yoga classes and the first live demo in Germany of the AWS DeepRacer, an autonomous-driving, machine-learning race car programmed onto a physical track.
Over 36 masterclasses gave participants insights into trending topics from cryptocurrency to gamification, electrification, patents, and more. The line-up of speakers included internal and external experts from DNV, Thyssenkrupp, RWTH Aachen University and other institutions.
Journey towards energy transformation
During Hourly Spotlights, key innovation leaders such as E.ON COO Patrick Lammers and Westenergie Chairwoman of the Board Katherina Reiche took to the Main Stage to share hot takes on the energy transition and the future of energy.
“Innovation comes from within, and therefore establishing E.ON’s largest event dedicated to innovation has been a truly exciting and important step in our journey towards energy transformation,” says Thomas Birr, E.ON’s Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer, adding “The positive response and feedback to the event has been very motivating. We look forward to scaling innovation across the company and together with partners.”
