Stuttgart, 17 November 2011 – “CODE_n12” is the name of the international competition which will showcase the 50 best ideas in the field of mobile IT solutions in hall 16 at the digital world’s most important event, the CeBIT fair, in March 2012. Shortly after announcing the competition in mid September, more than a hundred applications were received. There are now candidates from over 20 nations – all convinced they have discovered the “Code of the New”. Further exciting solutions from around the world are expected to arrive before the submission deadline on 30 November 2011.

Ulrich Dietz, the CODE_n initiator, states: “There are already a number of really exciting business ideas. The CeBIT is an ideal location for companies in the Digital Economy to present their concepts and business ideas to a global audience”. The CEO of IT company GFT Technologies AG, was himself recently named “Entrepreneur of the Year” in Germany. Dietz plans to open a unique “Hall of Innovation” in Hanover – a lively, open meeting place for innovators to discuss new mobile solutions for the future. CODE_n12 is being sponsored by Deutsche Messe AG, Ernst&Young, Fujitsu, ZKM and BITKOM.

The market for mobile devices and solutions is currently booming. Analysts expect that by 2013 every third company employee – or over 1.14 billion people – will be using smartphones to receive e-mails and access business information via the Internet. The consumerisation of business applications will add further momentum to the digital mobility trend, especially with regard to security and real-time applications. The pace of development in the field of mobile solutions for end consumers is already fast – particularly with regard to sport, health and public administration apps. New York, for example, was recently the first council to present its strategy for a digital city.

But there are still “plenty of unsolved problems and undiscovered applications,” says Lars Hinrichs, founder of the XING network and one of the CODE_n12 jury members. The competition offers a wide field for innovations: from mobile accounting systems for smartphones to digital solutions for private and business customers or revolutionary new ideas such as the “Internet of Things”. The submitted ideas already promise some exciting new approaches for tomorrow’s mobile world. “You can expect some surprises,” says Hinrichs after a first look through the competition entries. “Not only from the usual high-tech strongholds in the USA and Europe, but also from India and Brazil. The candidates so far have submitted some brilliant ideas for new apps, smartify solutions and gadgets for our mobile society”. The announcement of the competition in China and Japan is only just getting underway.

Deutsche Messe AG, one of the competition’s official sponsors, aims to underline the CeBIT’s reputation as a showcase for innovations by providing a dedicated exhibition hall for CODE_n. “The response to CODE_n at our international press conferences and various talks held on site has been very positive,” says Ernst Raue of Deutsche Messe AG. “We expect Hall 16 to be a magnet for all visitors looking for innovations and new creative ideas from young start-ups”. Two internationally acclaimed artists, Tobias Rehberger and Jürgen Mayer H., are working on the design of the Future Lounge, which will provide the backdrop for those innovators selected by the jury.

Start-ups with creative IT-based solutions on the topic of “Shaping Mobile Life” have until 30 November 2011 to submit their applications for one of the 50 places at the CeBIT 2012 and for the CODE_n12 Award worth €25,000. Documents can be submitted online at www.code-n.org.