The application phase for the sixth Digital Logistics Award ended on 31 July 2023 and there is great interest in the award:

This year, 54 young companies applied with their innovative ideas and the field of applicants is more international than ever before. For the first time, the majority of applications came from the international arena and the Digital Hub Logistics received applications from a total of 18 countries.

What is special this year is that the Digital Logistics Award can be presented in presence for the first time since 2019. We are looking forward to meeting the finalists live in Dortmund on 12th September and getting in touch with the start-ups directly. The focus will also be on personal contact and networking.

A first look at the applications shows one thing above all: the range of innovative ideas is wide. The start-ups, start-ins and idea creators basically deal with all the current topics and technologies in digital logistics. The largest share of ideas come from the areas of IoT, cloud infrastructure, platform, big data and artificial intelligence.

Jury selects eight finalists

Now that the application phase is over, it is up to the jury to review the applications and select from the multitude of companies and ideas those that will enter the final of this year’s award.

Once again this year, experts from the logistics industry will come together to tackle this comprehensive task:

Andrea Peters | startport

Andreas Nettsträter | Open Logistics Foundation

Dr. Andreas Werner | Swisslog

Angela Bisping | Axxum Innovation GmbH

Carina Tüllmann | Open Logistics Foundation

Jörg Wamser | FTTF – Fraunhofer Technologie-Transfer Fonds

Patric Hoffmann | DB Schenker

Robert Bach | Beam GmbH

More information about the individual jury members is summarised here.

“We are delighted to bring together top-class logistics experts with experience for this year’s jury,” says Maria Beck, Manager of Digital Hub Logistics. In a jury meeting on 22 August, the jury will decide which eight teams will move on to the final. ” Once again, there are a lot of ideas with potential this year,” explains Beck. “With the wide range of exciting projects, it won’t be easy for the jury to decide.”

Grand finale as part of the Future Congress Logistics 2023

On 12 September, the eight finalists will have the opportunity to present themselves and their ideas in a 3-minute pitch to an expert audience and the congress participants during the Future Congress Logistics 2023. Afterwards, it will be up to the expert jury and the audience to vote for their favourites and thus decide which teams will win the Digital Logistics Award 2023. The winners, who will receive a total of 24,000 euros in prize money, will be selected on the same day and announced at a special awards ceremony during the evening event.

Don’t want to miss the pitches of the finalists and take part in the decision-making process?

You can register for the Zukunftskongress Logistik 2023 here and be part of it.