EintrachtTech – Centre Responsible Digitality

The so-called “Internet of Things” means that digital processes in our environment run as if by themselves. Networked devices trigger real events, collect a wide variety of data and, combined with sensors, microphone and camera technology, provide an unimaginable amount of information. This networking can make our work easier, or at least they change the way we work, and creates completely new everyday tasks, new opportunities, but also its own conditions affecting our lives: it transforms jobs and leisure activities, changes our mobility, how we communicate and – sometimes more, sometimes less subtly – what we focus our attention on. Actually implementing innovations here is an exciting and complex practical task. What opportunities do we have to try things out and negotiate, while at the same time utilising “real”, ready-to-use technologies? The stadium of the Eintracht Frankfurt football club has been serving as such a testing ground for the Rhein-Main region for some time now. A large sports venue and the management of football events as a laboratory for digitalisation – with respect for the traditions and values of the club and the demands of its members and fans. How this goal can be achieved and the ideas, projects and goals behind the project Arena of IoT are the subject of this episode of Digitalgespräch.

Dr Oliver Bäcker is head of the Arena of IoT at EintrachtTech, the digital subsidiary of the sports club Eintracht Frankfurt. In this episode of Digitalgespräch, the specialist in innovation and technology management provides insights into specific projects and developments in and around the stadium. Bäcker describes the background to Eintracht Frankfurt’s particular digital focus, how the club’s values and interests are incorporated into the design of specific innovations and how members and fans are involved in the process. With hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring, Bäcker discusses which projects are attracting the most attention from politicians and the public, whether the sporting competition between football clubs is also extending to th field of digital innovation – and what significance the analogue experience continues to have and retain.