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Magdalena Soetebeer

Same procedure as every year

New Year’s resolutions: written, implemented, celebrated.

Once again, it wasn’t quite that simple. For 2023, too, we had so many ideas and so many plans – from online communication to a team workation – that in the end didn’t make it onto the agenda. But canceled & postponed ideas don’t stop us from celebrating the projects we successfully mastered in 2023, where we were able to move things forward and grow.

A whole year hardly fits in here – especially not with all the highs and lows of navigating toward meaningful goals between the shallows and whirlpools of a gripping, oppressive global political situation, the economic crisis & the budget freeze. Nevertheless, here is a short look back at our 2023, made up of some especially great projects but above all generously sprinkled with our personal highlights.

What does it take to build a human-centric internet?

And how can Web3 technologies make everyday life better?

As in previous years, we were once again able to provide and further develop the platform for the international innovation competition T Challenge of Deutsche Telekom AG and T-Mobile US. Creatives, startups, researchers and developers can submit their ideas via our platform. There, the ideas are then developed further and evaluated over the course of the open innovation process. After the human-centric internet in 2023, the next round in 2024 focuses on AI in telecommunications.

Read more here: Tokens, wallets & co. / Global search for AI innovators

What does Industry 4.0 mean for a shoe factory?

How can the digitalization of production be packaged accessibly in a board game?

At the Open Lab evening at the Futurium, we presented our learning game “Smart Factory” in a workshop. On a journey through time to a shoe factory of the future, different teams playfully discussed digitalized production in order to save the shoe factory from bankruptcy. Verena and Bernhard also presented it at various universities and successfully trained additional Smart Factory trainers.

More about the Smart Factory: Akteure 4.0

Meret’s theater deep dive

In January, Meret went behind the scenes at the Maxim Gorki Theater. As a change of pace from preparing for her final exams, we gave Meret a few weeks off so she could try her hand as an assistant director. As a thank-you, we all got a trip to the theater 🙃

How do we connect the brains of AI research?

Next Gen AI. Made in Europe.

“The next generation of AI technology is rooted in the minds of young talents. We encourage them” (AI-Grid) – AI Grid is a platform that brings together dedicated early-career researchers with fresh ideas in AI research and AI experts and mentors in a pan-European community. Built on our software solution PEACOQ, the platform lets researchers connect with each other and find sparring partners for highly specialized micro expert groups to jointly explore AI solutions.

More information is available on the AI Grid website

What is discussed during the Future Talk around the globe?

24-Hour Round-the-World Conversation of the Millennium Project

Every year on March 1, World Futures Day, the Millennium Project organizes a 24-hour conversation between futurists and the public to discuss views, thoughts and ideas about the challenges and opportunities for the future of humanity. Of course, we took part too (UTC+1, 12:00 noon in Berlin). The topics were as diverse as the participants, ranging from climate and emancipation to health and democracy. A small highlight for us: the exchange on the foresight approaches of different governments.

Press release from the Millennium Project

Design thinking training

At the beginning of the year, Magdalena and Charlotte successfully completed the “Advanced Track” at the d.school of the Hasso Plattner Institute and gained their first coaching experience. Their design thinking team developed a creative educational offering on digitalization for citizens with less digital affinity, which is now actually being implemented in Gütersloh. Well done!

What do futurists actually do?

Guest lecture at THWS (Faculty of Design)

As part of the lecture series “Current Practice and Design” in the Master’s program in Information Design, we gave the design students some input on what futures studies can mean, what role technologies can play in it and where potentials & risks lie – quite a challenge to fit all of that into 1.5 hours. Thank you for the invitation, Prof. Carl Frech!

How do the sites of a global corporation come together for one event?

Leadership conferences for Bayer Product Supply

This year, we organized two major strategy conferences that brought together the heads of Pharma Product Supply from around the world. For a three-day online event, we needed a concept that brought the program together across different time zones around the globe. For a multi-day on-site conference, we also designed a varied program for working on new mission statements and sharing perspectives and experiences. A small highlight of the on-site conference was a performance by star catcher Daniel Rose – with a star show to match the conference motto “Reaching for the Stars.”

Charlotte, it’s not a goodbye, it’s a see you later!

With a smile and a tear, we said goodbye to our working student Charlotte after she completed her design thinking training; she is now getting started at the Fraunhofer Institute in innovation management and technology transfer. Still, we are staying in touch – she continues to support us as an external facilitator at our internal strategy workshop. Thank you!

How do you train a chatbot?

First steps in training a conversational AI application

How do you train a chatbot that is meant to talk with people with mental illness and accompany them on their path to recovery? In a student project at HTW, Nilofar and three fellow students experimented with models of the “Rasa” framework, trained them and developed an interactive web application. Rasa is an open-source platform that enables developers to build intelligent voice assistants capable of holding natural, context-aware conversations with users, thanks in part to its extensive integration of machine learning and NLP technologies.

Valuable feedback to improve our products, too

2023 saw significant advances in artificial intelligence that not only shaped the global AI landscape but also advanced our own engagement with and understanding of the field. One focus was integrating AI into our software, particularly as part of our application for the DATI pilot funding program. Tackling various AI questions and preparing for the pitch not only allowed for self-reflection but also brought valuable feedback that helps us improve our products and tailor them better to our clients’ specific needs.

What guardrails does a Berlin cooperative set for its path into the future?

Mission statement process for the tenants’ cooperative SelbstBau

How do the residents of around 30 buildings in Berlin envision the future of their cooperative? To answer this question, we designed and facilitated a series of workshops in which a new mission statement was developed. In the coming year, too, we will support the cooperative with follow-up workshops and another futures conference.

Congratulations on completing your apprenticeship

After three years of training in media design & communication, Meret has successfully completed her apprenticeship with us and is now diving deeper into the world of theater – studying theater studies at Freie Universität Berlin. Thank you, Meret, for enriching our team with your skills and your warm nature. The door to the Schaltzeit team is always open to you!

How do we keep an eye on the future of work with the help of human and artificial intelligence?

Horizon scanning for the federal ministry

We are proud to have successfully piloted and institutionalized the horizon scanning process of the “Denkfabrik” (think tank) department, and to have launched the platform Denkfabrik.AI, tailored to the federal ministry. The AI modules of our process even made it into coverage by the Süddeutsche Zeitung and DER SPIEGEL. Alongside improving AI implementations, the human side didn’t fall short either: in many Futures Literacy events, we were able to bring the topics and processes to a broad group of employees at the ministry.

Article on horizon scanning in SZ

Teamwork within the Advanced Foresight Group

The Advanced Foresight Group is a network of experts in futures work for companies and the public sector. For horizon scanning and a project or two, we were once again able to count on an intensive and productive collaboration with Dr. Bernhard Albert and Dr. Stefan Niederhafner from our network this year. We’re already looking forward to seeing you in person in Berlin again soon. Win-win!

How do you communicate the launch of new lab software?

New communication strategies for the pharmaceutical industry

We developed a communication concept for researchers at a chemical manufacturer facing the challenge of testing and gradually implementing new software in their lab environments. The goal was to inform and involve all user groups comprehensively in order to ensure a successful launch together. A project of passion – sometimes everything is just fun!

How can we think creatively about positive and desirable future scenarios amid today’s global challenges?

The global political situation, particularly in regions such as Ukraine, Iran and the Middle East, once again held our team’s attention over the past year. How can we think creatively about positive, desirable futures when the present threatens to drown in chaos and fatal historical entanglements seem to nip hopes in the bud? We remain alert and look for ways to make small contributions and to master the challenges of these times.

Lucas’s master’s thesis on the use of AI in futures studies

After actively supporting the ministry projects on the future of work, Lucas is now focusing on his master’s thesis in the Master’s program in Futures Studies at Freie Universität Berlin. In his thesis, Lucas examines the use of AI in futures studies and how it changes the competencies required of researchers. Soon we’ll be able to browse his work and learn even more about the use of AI and changes in the world of work.

How could the CO₂e footprint of food be clearly labeled?

How can consumers make conscious choices about their consumption?

The TCL initiative (Together for Carbon Labeling) researches what information consumers need to make conscious purchasing decisions and presented its concept in several sessions in the Bundestag. At these events, we moderated the dialogue on mandatory CO₂e labeling between policymakers and representatives of food companies.

Climate-friendly eating and drinking?

How can scenarios on the future of cash be visualized?

What happens when everyone pays only digitally?

And what happens if cash experiences a renaissance? For a study on the future of cash conducted by the iit, we took on the graphic design of three different future scenarios. Especially with topics that seem mundane in everyday life, clear, comprehensible images help convey the complex relationships behind them and invite people to imagine themselves in different future worlds.

Welcome on board, Julia & Arezu!

With a background in education and pedagogy, Julia is interested in Futures Literacy (futures skills for young & old) and organizational development. Arezu studies film & media and brings her artistic approach to our media design. Maybe we’ll soon shoot a speculative design short film? Hooray, two new members have joined the Schaltzeit crew – we’re looking forward to working with you!

What if an entire spectrum of scientific topics could be experienced as a virtual exhibition?

Nilofar’s deep dive into the toolbox of interactive data visualization

After our software developer Nilofar put a lot of work into the horizon scanning platform “Denkfabrik.AI,” she explored, as part of her studies at HTW, how scientific topics can be presented visually in varied and engaging ways. Imagine experiencing the entire spectrum of topics in a virtual exhibition! How cool would that be? In her master’s program, she wants to take a deep dive into the possibilities of web-based virtual exhibitions using Three.js and Vue as IC.

How should a foresight platform be built so that people actually want to help shape futures processes and innovation?

Further development of our platform PEACOQ

Step by step, alongside our projects, we are optimizing our white-label software PEACOQ, gathering ideas for new features and taking up valuable feedback from clients and futurists. This year – how could it be otherwise – much of the talk was about further ways to implement AI. But last but not least, we also want to give design a central role – what good is perfect technology if people don’t enjoy using it? Work on!

By the way, the software owes its name PEACOQ to our very first trend radar, the round centerpiece of the first version more than 15 years ago, which reminded us of a peacock: a fan of different colorful elements for the discourse on futures. Times change, but the name has stayed to this day.

Magdalena joins the futures studies crowd

In October, Magdalena also started the Master’s program in Futures Studies at Freie Universität Berlin. Having previously used her background in communication design to work on how orientation knowledge for decisions about the future can be creatively prepared and communicated, she is now learning how orientation knowledge can be created on a sound methodological basis.

What does the trend radar of the largest network organization in German mechanical engineering look like?

Trend radar software for the VDMA

Shaping the machinery and plant engineering of tomorrow together is the VDMA’s mission. The association represents the shared interests of this diverse industry in economic, technical and scientific matters. We are delighted to help shape the software for the trend radar as part of the foresight process and to develop it further step by step.

Wait, what?

Is it over already?! The year is already behind us – and we still had so much planned! We’re happy to have tackled plenty of it. The rest of our packed 2023 to-do list (reviewed, sorted and supplemented in our small internal review-and-outlook workshop) goes into the master plan for 2024.

After so many words, we’ll keep it short: a big thank-you to everyone on the Schaltzeit team and to all our partners and clients for working with us in 2023! We’re looking forward to 2024 and wish you lots of energy. And now, first things first: switch off, recharge, enjoy & make the most of the holidays.

2024 – This year, everything (!) will be better.

Especially when our world seems to be sinking into multiple crises, when important changes on our planet are progressing far too slowly, and when other transformations are overtaking us at breakneck speed and leaving us behind – it is all the more important to confidently shape our personal future within the modest scope of our own possibilities. How fortunate, then, that we all so responsibly practice the popular custom of New Year’s resolutions, making plans anew every year and working on them ambitiously and consistently all year long. At least in our own lives, meaningful change works like clockwork. Or doesn’t it for you? We have something for you! A little gift, so to speak. Free, of course. You’re welcome!

Our guide is meant with a slight wink and helps you drastically minimize the efficiency and effectiveness of your personal goal-setting, paving the way for lasting procrastination and frustration.

We’d still be delighted if we managed to mobilize some inspirational energy for modifying and sharpening your approach to New Year’s resolutions. Whether your plans work out or not, you’re always welcome to drop by and talk about ideas and plans. Or just to say hi.