Deutsche Telekom : First AI-Hackathon for women at Telekom

Hackers welcome: Telekom's first women's hackathon in Berlin's hub:raum was a great success. The topic of the event was artificial intelligence (AI) and data.

For two days, around 50 programmers, data scientists and graphic designers worked on their prototypes. They developed ideas for the categories social media, diversity and mobility. The hackers came from all over Europe to participate.

The team A(I)thena won first prize with its project on equal opportunities in the application process and received 5,000 euros. The women used the data to implement an app that prevents unconscious prejudices and thus enables more diverse teams. 'The data was interesting and the challenge of solving the diversity problem was most important to us. Above all, it was a lot of fun to hack together,' emphasized the winning team.

'With the hackathon, we wanted to create a space where women could experiment and network. Technologies such as artificial intelligence are changing the way we live. We want women to be involved in this development and to benefit from it,' said Kenza Ait Si Abbou Lyadini Sr. Manager Robotics and AI and one of the organizers of Women@Telekom, the women's network that initiated the hackathon. The hackathon was immediately met with great interest: weeks before the event, all spots were fully booked.

T-Labs, Telekom's research and development unit, supported the hackathon in organizing and processing the data. Claudia Pohlink, head of the AI department at T-Labs, explained their expectations: 'It was particularly important to us to give women every freedom and, above all, incentives to develop solutions'.

For Elke Frank, Head of Human Resources Development at Deutsche Telekom, the hackathon was also a matter close to the heart: 'For Human Resources, it is important to promote the topic of IT and AI among women. We want to draw attention to the fact that there are great opportunities for women here at Telekom.'