Where business and science develop digital solutions

From the Internet of Things, cloud solutions and data science to mobile apps: For just over a year, a global team from Liebherr-Hausgeräte has been working on digital future topics at the Ulm Science Park. Proximity to the local universities and colleges also plays an important role: They are competent partners for visionary collaborations – such as the partnership with the Transfer Center for Digitalization, Analytics & Data Science Ulm (DASU).

Knowledge and value creation from data

Founded by the Ulm Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the city administration, the university and the Ulm University of Technology, one of DASU's goals is to bring future digital topics to small and medium-sized businesses and to develop solutions. For example, researchers from the two universities support companies, municipalities and educational institutions with data science and analytical issues. "Another goal of our transfer center is to retain workers in the region and open up prospects," explains Prof. Dr. Reinhold von Schwerin of the Ulm University of Technology and founding chairman of DASU.

Fresh input and new talent

As part of the cooperation, Liebherr is a foundation member on the one hand. In doing so, Liebherr supports DASU financially and, among other things, acts as an advisor and co-designer of topics relevant to the future. At the same time, the company benefits from access to expertise in specific areas such as security and data protection. "Through contacts with our partners, we see a great opportunity to get fresh input from the university and research environment as well as from other industries in the region. In addition, we also hope to gain access to new talent that will work for us in the long term by collaborating with DASU," reports Heinz Klemm, Head of Global eDevelopment at Liebherr-Hausgeräte.

First joint project

In a first joint project, students from the Technical University of Ulm are working with Liebherr to research how smart refrigeration appliances can be made even smarter. This is a project from the fields of AI and machine learning: Using image recognition processes, refrigerators are to recognize which foods are running low, taking into account the individual eating habits of their users. While the research team is currently developing the basic process, the next phases will involve the development of corresponding app functions and user experience.