How can an app inspire drivers of Porsche's premium electric sports cars, and how can production line managers and IT administrators jointly identify and solve cyber security problems?  Participants in the master’s course "Global Team-based Innovation (GTI for short)" at Hasso Plattner Institute addressed just these questions and, with project partners Porsche and Rohde & Schwarz, developed the product-related prototypes "Circuit" and "Bastec".

An eventful time lies behind  the two HPI teams. Since the kickoff nine months ago in Hefei, China, the students have been occupied with the project partner tasks and developed and tested numerous prototypes. The students were then able to present the final project results to a wide audience at the Sugar EXPO in San Francisco.

What does GTI stand for?

The abbreviation "GTI" stands not only for the model of a well-known car manufacturer, but also for the development of innovations, concepts and prototypes as part of the Global Team-based Innovation course. "The aim of the course is to develop innovative solutions for the concrete challenges faced by participating companies. This happens in interdisciplinary teams with the industry partner," explains Christopher Schmidt, who is co-organizing the course as a research assistant in the "Enterprise Platform and Integration Concepts" group. In this way, Schmidt adds, the students gained important project experience while the companies benefited from the perspectives of the young academics and innovative solutions. Students use the methods of Design Thinking in developing these solutions. During the project, students work on the given tasks with a global partner team from the Sugar Network and thus gain initial experience in cooperation beyond national borders and time zones.

After their San Francisco presentation of the successfully developed prototypes, on June 20, 2019, at 3:15 p.m., the students will present the concepts they have developed over the last nine months in the D-Space at the HPI Main Building. If you're interested in learning more about Circuit, Bastec or the Global Team-based Innovation course, please stop by—we would be delighted to see you!

From idea to product

The cooperation with HUK Coburg from 2016/17 shows that the prototypes developed in Global Team-based Innovation are not just prototypes.

The "kv-o-mat" application, developed by participants of 2017/18, gives the user an easy introduction to the world of private and statutory health insurance. The application was implemented by HUK Coburg and can now be found on the company's website: https://www.huk.de/anwendung/kvomat/ihre-angaben. A second prototype is currently being developed.