A lot has happened since the launch of Germany's first digital scholarship about half a year ago: In addition to a team event to get to know each other, the Think Digital scholarship holders received exclusive insights into companies such as Google and networking opportunities at IBC community get-togethers. Last week a very special highlight was on the agenda for the Think Digital scholarship holders: They followed the invitation of Judith Gerlach, the Bavarian State Minister for Digital Affairs, to the Digital Ministry.

"As patron, I was very pleased to receive a visit from our excellent young digital talents. I was very impressed by the great personalities, the thoughtful questions and the interesting exchange. We can't have enough of such digital talent."

Judith Gerlach, Bavarian State Minister for Digital Affairs

"We are very proud of the success of Germany's first digital scholarship Think Digital! The visit to the Bavarian Digital Ministry by Judith Gerlach, our patron, showed the scholarship holders that they are on the right track and that their future belongs to them."

Mathias Wahrenberger, IBC Board Member and Managing Director Burda Digital

Exchange with the Minister

Judith Gerlach gave the students exciting insights into the young ministry, which was only founded in November 2018. The Digital Ministry is the first of its kind in Germany and consists of four departments that deal with digital strategies and innovations, IT strategies and digital administration. After a short introduction, the scholarship holders had the opportunity to ask the Minister questions. The focus was on topics such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and what it is like to work for the Digital Ministry. The students were also interested in how to bridge the (digital) gap between "young and old" and how digital access to city services works.

About the Think Digital scholarship

The initiator of the first digital scholarship for students in the Munich metropolitan region is the Internet Business Cluster (IBC), an association of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, the University of Regensburg and leading German digital companies. Besides the IBC companies Hubert Burda Media, Publicis.Sapient, Messe München, HSE24, GEMA and Hoffmann Group, IBM, Google Zukunftswerkstatt, Xing, Cyberport as well as Werk1 and Stadtwerke München are among the sponsors of the scholarship.