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 lets employees at Scania from various departments team-up to find new solutions and test applications based on their various needs and ideas. What started as a weekend hack in Scania’s gym-hall in 2012 by a bunch of enthusiasts from the IT department, has become an institution that is relevant to the whole company.
The latest event was a hybrid event, to give the chance to involve people from several places around the world. In Sweden it was held at the big ice hockey arena Scaniarinken in Södertälje. Engaging a total of around 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 from Scania about Scania Hack:
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.
So, the Scania Hack is the perfect place to plant innovative ideas and try them out with expert help. “But it is never mandatory to compete during the Hack. We have a broader approach with an open, creative atmosphere for teambuilding around all sorts of ideas,” says Jimmy Löfstedt, Project Leader of the Scania Hack 2022. “And we see a wider representation of departments participating, wanting to make their work easier with digital solutions.”
Jennifer Huang works at Scania IT and she saw her first Scania Hack as an introduction to a great company culture: “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.”
Scania code Challenge
Scania Code Challenge started in 2019 and is a problem solving challenge created by employees at Scania for students. During the year, Scania is present at several universities and schools to reach out to students, giving them a chance to take on the Code Challenge.
At Scania Hack, a number of students who qualified is invited to the final that takes place in Scaniarinken. They are divided into several teams to solve problems, compete with the other teams and network with Scania employees during the day.
Career news
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05 Sep 2023
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