Palomar5 Camp a great success

In a full-day summit yesterday, Palomar5 Camp residents, who had traveled from 13 countries for the initiative's first "creative camp," presented their results to guests representing the fields of economics, science, politics and media.

For six weeks, the Digital Natives had worked together to produce innovative and creative ideas for future working life.

"We are very positive about how well our first ‘Innovation Camp’ worked out," said Jonathan Imme, a founding member and spokesman of Palomar5. "The high levels of creativity and self organization of the participants, the large number of small ideas and expansive visions, and the openness of companies to both the format and the results all exceeded our expectations. We are very much looking forward to continuing our work next year."

Established in Berlin in 2009 and supported by Deutsche Telekom, the initiative Palomar5 brings together a network of young, creative people who actively participate in making decisions about tomorrow's business world. Palormar5's goal was to distance itself from old-fashioned ways of thinking and to create a unique realm for innovation, which does justice to the needs and possibilities of the digital generation.

A large spectrum of ideas
The goal of the Palomar5 Camp was not only to think through ideas for the workplace of tomorrow, but also to develop concrete solutions that can be implemented to make work more human, more effective and more creative. Six weeks of collaborative, enthusiastic production have resulted in a spectrum of ideas from online tools through product prototypes to large-scale visions.

For example, the Samara Network project www.ahumanright.org wants to revolutionize the worldwide distribution of internet access. Only 5 percent of the world’s population has access to the Web at DSL speed. At yesterday's summit, the team presented the basic parameters of a concept that should provide broadband access to 95 percent of the world’s population – and this, at basic bandwidths, completely free of charge.

Deutsche Telekom very enthusiastic
Another example is the Inspire Bureau project, which will soon begin operations. On a new web-based platform, companies will be able to find young, international leading thinkers for presentations and workshops, with automatic information about who is available nearby.

Christopher Schläffer, Chief Product and Innovation Officer of Deutsche Telekom AG, said in his address to close the Camp: "We are very enthusiastic about both the format for innovation and the results that these outstanding young people have developed in such a short time. We can see here a lot of potential for future implementation and look forward to watching the progress of Palomar5 project in the future."

Indeed, some of the international participants are planning to stay in Berlin indefinitely in order to continue their projects together. "The intensity and openness of the cooperation that has arisen between us during the last six weeks is unique. We have experienced and achieved something together that has changed us permanently and will remain with us forever," continued Jonathan Imme.