Hasso-Plattner-InstitutSDG am HPI
Hasso-Plattner-InstitutDSG am HPI
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23.03.2015

Pressemitteilung

CeBIT: The "Cockpit" for Top Managers Provides On-Demand Data Analysis

Potsdam/Hanover. Tedious business meetings with unclear presentations and non-current information – these are things that “bug” managers. Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) presents CeBIT visitors, particularly those in corporate management, with a better way for decision-makers to work. This method involves not only innovative software system but also special seating that is reminiscent of a cockpit. The whole thing has been developed by HPI students with their colleagues at Stanford University along with the Siemens Group. The fascinating solution can be seen among the presentations in Hall 9 at booth D44.

“The Q,” as the prototype is called, consists of a special table with space for up to 8 participants. Above the members’ heads hangs a cube with eight monitors, two on each side. Participants are thereby provided with important information in a simple graphical form and the direct eye contact between them is unobstructed.

The actual innovation works in the background. The software system offers immediate access to real-time corporate data and delivers ad-hoc answers. For all this to happen the data is graphically prepared and continually synchronized with the presentation. Via tablets, daily agendas and important details can be brought together interactively with the very latest company data on the screen and commentaries can be added.

Additionally, research tasks can be initiated by the system via voice control. “If a manager says: ‘Show me the income for China for the fourth quarter of 2014 in comparison with the same period for the previous year,’ the figures are instantly displayed,” said the project manager at HPI, Dr. Matthias Uflacker. No special technical knowledge is necessary to retrieve information.

The rapid operation speed is enabled largely by the in-memory data management researched and co-developed at HPI and brought to production maturity by SAP in the HANA platform. In developing the data cockpit the students implemented the Design Thinking innovation method. This methodology is taught in Stanford as well as in Potsdam and researched by both institutions in a collaborative program.

Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) is among the largest CeBIT exhibitors in the subject area of “Research and Innovation” at this year’s fair. The HPICurrent NewsSeite 2/2computer scientists are presenting the results of their latest research and development in the world of “Big Data” for the “d!conomy“ – the word coined for the “digital economy,” which describes the transformation leading to a fully networked economy. At its booth area, encompassing more than 380 square meters, HPI shows, for example, a new financial simulation software that enables lightning-fast profit analysis. HPI demonstrates the innovative possibilities for Big Data analysis not only in soccer but also in disease containment on a global scale. Some other topics that will be presented are new solutions on how to increase IT security and free online courses on information technology topics, which are open to everyone.

Note to the editors: You can find detailed material (texts, photos, videos) at our CeBIT website: www.hpi.de/cebit. For the duration of the fair you can also find interviews with prominent CeBIT guest on the topic of German as an IT location at www.it-gipfelblog.de.

Profile of the Hasso Plattner Institute

The Hasso Plattner Institute for Software Systems Engineering GmbH (https://hpi.de) at the University of Potsdam is Germany’s university excellence center for IT Systems Engineering. It is the only university institution in Germany offering the bachelor and master program in “IT Systems Engineering” – a practical and engineering-oriented study program in computer science, in which 470 students are presently enrolled. The HPI School of Design Thinking is Europe’s first innovation school and modeled on the Stanford University d.school. It offers 240 places yearly for a supplementary study.

There are a total of ten HPI professors and over 50 guest professors, lecturers and contracted teachers at the Institute. HPI carries out research noted for its high standard of excellence in its nine topic areas, as well as at the HPI Research School for PhD candidates, with its further branches in Cape Town, Haifa and Nanjing. HPI teaching and research focuses on the foundation and application of large-scale, highly complex and networked IT systems. The development and exploration of user-driven innovations for all areas of life is an additional field of importance. HPI always earns the highest positions in the CHE university ranking. Since the beginning of September 2012, HPI has offered openhpi.de, an interactive Internet educational platform. Its free online courses are open to everyone.