OREANDA-NEWS. October 20, 2015. What made more than 70 students from 60 universities in 17 countries come together for SAP InnoJam? The fancy location — a BeachBar in Berlin’s hot Mitte district? Or the challenge to code for 32 hours non-stop with a bundle of fun activities thrown in and the chance to win a ticket to SAP TechEd?

This time there was another incentive. The event provided a forum for discussion with top SAP business leaders.

In his keynote, Stefan Ries, chief human resources officer at SAP, highlighted the opportunity to make an impact with the help of technology. Other SAP leaders shared stories from their own personal career journeys, including Jens Krueger, head of SAP’s Finance business unit and co-head of the SAP Innovation Center in Potsdam, and Anka Wittenberg, chief diversity and inclusion at SAP.

The students also discussed today’s business landscape during a panel with Ries, Jürgen Griesbeck, founder and CEO of streetfootballworld, and Reza Mehmansefat, co-founder and CEO of the startup Full Control. The panel highlighted how technology can be used as a key change agent and enabler in a corporate world, startup, or social entrepreneur organization.

Ultimately, what attracted the students to the event was probably a mix of all these factors. And ideally SAP will build on this success next time, because “SAP InnoJam: Coding the Future” is a two-part event. The second part will take place at the end of October at the HanaHaus in Palo Alto. Both locations – Berlin and Silicon Valley – embrace the local startup and technology spirit. The mission: getting the workforce of the future enthusiastic about SAP!