Digitalization not only impacts business environments and models but the entire way we work. Ever-accelerating innovation cycles and agile development methods have changed the rules of how teams should be structured and work together. This also affects Rohde & Schwarz, one of the leading global manufacturers of communication technology for professional users.
The technology group discovered at an early stage: Because of digitalization, past criteria for success do not necessarily guarantee success in the future. That is why the company relies on its own network of employees, whose goal it is to serve as a drive motor for the digital transformation from within: the so-called “digital rebels”.
The network, consisting of talented digital professionals with the mentality of initiating and implementing sustainable changes, within the company, can be found in every division, every hierarchy level and every location – company-wide and thus worldwide, connected through their joint mission.
Götz Mayser is one of them: For 14 years he has held various positions at Rohde & Schwarz. For one year he has been involved in the marketing and sale of solutions for the detection and defense of remote-controlled drones. “The digital rebels are a great opportunity to network across divisions”, he explains. “Everyone who is open to new ideas, people, discussions and technologies should become part of the community”. The rebels, with their attitude of inwardly pushing forward new ideas and outwardly providing insights into the company, serve as somewhat of a model for a new employee profile at Rohde & Schwarz.
Not only the way of working changes, but also the work areas are shifted. The company has been the world market leader for 80 years and is known as one of the top employers for electrical engineers – but is increasingly hiring graduates in computer science. The experts at Rohde & Schwarz are currently developing solutions for autonomous driving, cybersecurity, drone detection, and network testing. Specific projects are shown at university events, meetups or at hackathons. That way students get a glimpse of the latest developments, such as the winner teams of the last HackaTUM Drone Detection, a hackathon at TU Munich. Götz Mayser showed them one of Rohde & Schwarz’s newly developed drone detection solutions on an airfield.
Here you can meet the rebels yourself:
· Meetup „Machine Learning Group“, Berlin, 9. April
· Meetup „Autonomous Driving“, München
· TechFest München 14. bis 17. Juni
· IoT Hackathon 10. und 11. Juni
Doctoral and master students will find further insights into the innovative research topics on the Software Campus application platform, which is open until 23 March.
