Scania hack
Scania Hack is an annual event for our employees where they are given the opportunity to be creative, to try new ideas, solve problems, boost innovation and entrepreneurship for a better tomorrow.
The Scania Hack enables employees from various departments at Scania to collaborate in discovering new solutions and testing applications tailored to their diverse needs and ideas. This initiative began in 2012 as a weekend hackathon in Scania’s gym hall. It’s since grown to become a way for hundreds of colleagues to use dedicated and approved time during work hours to prepare ideas with which to participate. It’s not just about coding, either; it’s about any idea that can improve Scania for the future.
The most recent event was conducted as a hybrid affair, providing an opportunity to involve participants from several locations worldwide. In Sweden, it took place at the Ice Hockey Arena in Södertälje. The event attracted the participation of approximately 500 employees globally.
An embracing culture is key
“The culture at Scania is about embracing employee engagement. This is probably extra important now, with the tough challenges Scania is facing with disturbances in the end to end flow. Not to mention our ambitious transformation that comes with driving the shift towards a sustainable transport system,” says Executive Vice President, Jeanna Tällberg, Head of People and Culture.
“Driving the shift also implies moving into unknown territory or handling uncertain conditions, which makes it even more important to encourage innovation and cross functional teamwork. We know that activities like the Scania Hack has been beneficial, both for the development of employees and for our business."
Jeanna Tällberg, Head of People and Culture
Opportunities for great ideas
Prior to the event employees can either send ideas of topics to work with or join existing ideas to create teams working together at the Scania Hack. The participating teams also have the opportunity to pitch their work that has been done at the event, in order to get chosen as winners. The winning project will automatically qualify for Scania Innovation Factory, another important green-house initiative to strengthen the intrapreneurial muscle of Scania.
Voices on Scania Hack:
“For me Scania Hack is partly about self-development. It’s a cool place to innovate and try new things. Winning is not important. For me as a developer it’s cool to have this supportive atmosphere where I can try and develop ideas that I have in mind."
/Salah Aswad, Software developer/AS engineer
“I had just joined Scania’s I-Talent Program directly after my graduation when I came to the Scania Hack, and I realised that I could continue to be innovative and brainstorm ideas even at my workplace! I believe that mankind is built to creatively work together, and Scania Hack is the way to do it.”
/Jennifer Huang works at Scania IT
Christina Crafoord works as Group Manager at P&C IT Solutions:
“I started at Scania in 2018 and have taken part in three Scania Hacks so far. It’s a great way to network with other parts of the business and create solutions together.
"I’m passionate about diversity and inclusion and I’m a Skill Capture ambassador. Last time we had a Skill Capture ambassadors team and we developed ‘Diversometer’, a tool to measure diversity so we can challenge the status quo and make our company even more diverse and inclusive.”
Göran Henrixon is Manager at Common Services, a group within the department of Intelligent Transport Systems, and has been one of the Hack generals for some years. He really enjoys the experience of energy flow at the Hack:
“I have seen so many good things come out at these gatherings, not only great ideas but also the positive spirit in the participating teams.”
“We can also see a change, or a broadening, of the purpose of the IT department during the past decade, from the more traditional back-seat tech-service to a more consultant role within software development and business support. It fits well with Scania’s digitalisation journey and the Hack is really supporting this in a fun and inclusive way,” says Göran.
Vahab Dyews, Scania Code Challenge participant
The Scania Code Challenge is a problem-solving competition designed by Scania's employees specifically for students. Throughout the year, Scania representatives visit numerous universities and schools to engage with students, offering them the opportunity to participate in the Code Challenge.
At the Scania Hack event, selected students who have successfully qualified are invited to the grand finale held in Södertälje, Sweden. Here, they are grouped into various teams to tackle challenging problems, compete against each other, and have the chance to network with Scania employees, enriching their experience.
Code Challenge participant
As a student, Vahab Dyews took part in the Scania Code Challenge. Today he works as a Scrum Master in a team within the field of Autonomous solutions at our Research & Development department.
“The best thing with the challenge was that I got an insight in Scania and what you can work with. But also got to meet all the great people at Scania,” says Vahab.
