About 1,100 people of all ages tinkered and worked on 10 November 2018 at the Mini Maker Faire in Salzburg at 30 different stations. Salzburg Research also showed the currently unusual cooperation between companies and Makers based on many successful examples. This will provide solutions to important problems of tomorrow.

Numerous makers from home and abroad – from Salzburg to Zagreb to South Korea – had plenty of opportunity to try out and experiment at 30 different stations. Classic craftsmanship and digital future technologies merged into a creative festival. Making is a passion for technology and works, as well as the ability to solve a problem with cost-effective, digital tools and materials. Companies, start-ups, children, adolescents and adults alike were delighted.

DIY as a Source for Business Innovation

“Do-it-yourself is right on trend. But DIY is more than a hobby! Creative activities with a technological orientation give rise to important innovation competences and skills. Anyone who has experimented with scrap robots today has what it takes to develop solutions to the challenges of the world in the future”, says Siegfried Reich, managing Director of Salzburg Research Forschungsgesellschaft mbH.

As a framework program invited the Salzburg Research Research Society for “Makersalon”. Experts there showed insights and reports on the still unfamiliar cooperation of industrial companies or innovative companies and makers at the interface of technology, design, science, arts and crafts.

Working Together for Tomorrow’s Problem-Solving

In one of the presented success stories at the interface between making and companies, a forward-looking solution was created for a global challenge: Within the framework of a cooperation between a German company and resourceful makers from Vienna (Futurebuilt GmbH), a mobile, solar-powered water treatment plant was developed. The innovation is less the machine itself, but the business model behind it: Drinkable water is sold, not the machine. Technology helps with implementation: Filters are monitored by means of visual, artificial intelligence, augmented reality enables communication across language barriers, and Blockchain realizes a payment system independent of national borders, machine logistics and spare parts. This allows drinking water to be made available to many people worldwide at affordable prices.

Impressions of the Faire