CANCOM Pironet:CANCOM Pironet: Winner of the “Digital Youngsters Award 2018” is the CANCOM trainee team from Cologne Winner of the “Digital Youngsters Award 2018” is the CANCOM trainee team from Cologne

VR goggles, robots, learning environments reminiscent of computer games - at the finals of the national "Digital Youngsters" competition initiated by WorldSkills Germany, seven trainee teams showed how they envision the training and work of tomorrow. In contrast to the plans of many companies to use digitization to make production more cost-efficient and increase profits, young people tend to see people and their work-life balance at the center of the working world of the future. Digitization plays an important role and will also fundamentally change education, but always for the benefit of learners and teachers. From the original 15 visions of training in 2030 submitted, the CANCOM team emerged as the national winner at the finals held at TeamBank AG Nuremberg.

 

"What convinced us as the jury about Team CANCOM's vision is the way it brings together many aspects that will be of great importance to training in the future," said Dr. Axel-Michael Unger, former president of the Federal Association of German Vocational Trainers and a member of the jury, explaining the decision. "With the AI-Ducation Cloud project, the trainees have developed a learning platform that includes a universal toolbox. Artificial intelligence and cloud-based learning enable individual learning opportunities to be used regardless of location. The concept convinces with its sustainability, health promotion and cost efficiency for companies and vocational schools. In the end, Team CANCOM was able to prevail over a very strong field of participants thanks to its holistic approach."

 

Hubert Romer, Managing Director of WorldSkills Germany, was also enthusiastic about each team: "You can say that all the competition entries are like a professional report. They are so deeply elaborated and described in detail, also very well thought out in terms of logic and consistency. The way the concepts are, you could bring them to an institution to start a future lab as well."

 

The CANCOM team based its concept on a cloud-based solution. It can be used independently of the end device and at any moment for efficient teamwork. An integrated artificial intelligence is the main feature, which supports the learner, for example, by analyzing learning patterns and responds to the individuality of the learners. Cloud connectivity enables consistent quality of education in every state. Efficient student time management with the help of AI allows learners to learn more in less time. As a result, the amount of free time available to trainees and teachers increases. It also eliminates the need for schools to invest in dedicated hardware and licenses. "The teams' approaches were very similar on the one hand, but very specific on the other, so everyone was able to show their strengths. It was a close call, but we are very happy to have won," said a delighted Aleksej Grabovsky along with his CANCOM teammates.

 

"We were very happy to host the Digital Youngsters Award 2018. Digitalization is a very important topic for us, but in this context it is also learning and lifelong learning. This starts with the apprentices and continues with the trainees, but also with our entire team, right up to the Board of Management. We have to open ourselves up and keep breaking new ground," said Dr. Christiane Decker, member of the Board of Management of TeamBank AG, summarizing the company's commitment to the competition. TeamBank had also awarded an honorary prize with a group of its own trainees. "The Audi AG team won because they convinced us and our trainees in the way they approached their considerations. They combined the topic of individualization with modularization, so that everyone can pick up their own learning pace and learn the way they want to, while still having all the options. Digitization is making an incredible contribution here."

 

In addition to the "Digital Youngsters Award 2018", the CANCOM team received a voucher for a workshop at TriCAT GmbH in Ulm, the specialist for virtual 3D learning and working environments, as well as a tablet from Samsung, cooperation partner of WorldSkills Germany.

The personal development and further education of people as well as the support of training and everyday work with the help of VR environments and smart devices formed the focus of all final teams. While experts from business, politics and education have their say in discussions on the topic of digitization - for example, at the Digital Summit currently taking place in Nuremberg - WorldSkills Germany and Samsung Electronics GmbH, cooperation partner of the project, are giving young people a voice with the "Digital Youngsters" competition. After all, they are the ones who will experience and shape the working world of tomorrow. Other finalists included teams from Audi AG, Annedore-Leber-Berufsbildungswerk Berlin, Heraeus Holding GmbH, GP Günter Papenburg Unternehmensgruppe, Brandt Zwieback GmbH & Co. KG and the Meisterschule für Schreiner Garmisch-Partenkirchen - Surface Group.

 

A BarCamp held during the finale with Nuremberg vocational school students showed that while the young professionals are definitely in favor of digitization, they are also quite critical of the development. According to them, restructuring in companies and the introduction of new hardware and software in particular should be carefully considered. "Digitization, yes, but in a sensible way," demanded one student. This would apply to both business and politics. Large companies should share their knowledge with smaller firms for the benefit of all, so that the latter also have a chance to keep up with the rapid pace of development. The education business must become more flexible and faster at the same time, he said. "Two-year-old textbooks are already out of date," says another student. At the same time, he emphasizes, "Nevertheless, even we young people are saturated by all the digital possibilities at some point. I still like to pick up a book and just switch off that way."