Preparing for life in a climate-impacted future, Ericsson-LG Girls in ICT Hackathon

Ericsson-LG announced that three finalist teams won the Girls in ICT 2023 hackathon finals held on May 11th. Celebrating its 7th anniversary this year, Girls in ICT is an annual event hosted by Ericsson-LG, pursuing diversity and inclusion that transcends gender, nationality and generation, to encourage more female talent to enter the ICT industry.

Acting on climate change has never been more important. We see global efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees aligned with  the Paris Agreement. However, based on current developments, we are heading towards 1.5 degrees in a not-too-distant future. A 1.5 degree warming will lead to increased frequencies of higher than average temperatures and extreme heat waves, which may bring systemic change in our life.

With this year's Girls in ICT theme of 'Life in a climate-impacted future', many participants submitted various creative connected service ideas to adapt to the warmer climate. The teams that passed the initial screening process were provided with demo kits and training materials to demonstrate their submitted ideas. Furthermore, through the online ‘Ask Anything Day’, Ericsson-LG technical mentors provided guidance to each of the five finalist teams to solve their difficulties.

The five finalist teams invited to the grand finale, held on May 11th at the Ericsson-LG Seoul R&D Campus, competed through prepared demonstrations, presentations, and a Q&A session. A total of three teams, Guardians of Forest, SunnyBunnyHarmony, WINNER won the final championship through an evaluation consisting of four criteria: Clarity, Desirability, Feasibility, Technical Competence. Prize money, certificates of award, and internship opportunities during the university vacation period will be provided to all winning teams.

At the grand finale, which was also broadcast live, Eunkoo Lee, Research and Data Specialist, UN Women Centre of Excellence for Gender Equality, served as an external judge and presented on gender equality and diversity that can create new innovations under the theme of 'Harnessing technology and innovation to achieve gender equality.' In addition, Junsub Han and Jiwon Kim, who currently are Ericsson-LG employees, shared their own experiences and thoughts on diversity and inclusion.

Hannes Ekstrom, CEO of Ericsson-LG, said, “Creating a diverse and inclusive organization is core to our values and  we are empowering more women in various roles. In particular, the proportion of female leaders within Ericsson-LG nearly doubled compared to five years ago. Ericsson-LG will continue to make positive changes for our people, our customers and society.”