Today we celebrate International Right to Know Day, which strengthens the foundations of our democratic society. Access to information and knowledge for all is crucial. Technological progress in recent decades has made it much easier for people around the world to access information. About two thirds of the world's population currently use the internet.

As an IT company, we are convinced that access to information and education is the key to a transparent and progressive society. Since our founding, we have maintained close ties with colleges and universities in the region and see ourselves as an important link between science and practice.

Over the years, we have supervised numerous academic projects and have become an important contact point for students during and after their studies. Essential to our successful networking with the academic world is our Scientific Advisory Board. This committee consists of lecturers in the field of business informatics. This allows us to always stay up to date and have access to excellently trained specialists.

As of the end of 2020, we also have our own scientific coordinator. With Dr Danny Hucke, we were able to win someone for our team who had previously worked in research. He takes care of our scientific advisory board while also supporting us in digital product development with his expertise.

Our cooperation with universities in the region (e.g. University of Leipzig, MLU Halle, TU Chemnitz) promotes the mutual exchange of knowledge. Not only do we gain early access to the latest trends and research results, but we also bring relevant issues as well as know-how from industry back to science.

LLast year, we gave a guest lecture on agility at the Chemnitz University of Technology and supervised a group of students for a semester as part of a project seminar. The task we came up with was the implementation of an application for finding parking spaces for trucks - a sector in which we have in-depth expertise, especially through our telematics projects with well-known partners. In 2023, we were able to expand our teaching activities and, for the first time, developed and implemented an entire lecture on the topic of "Agile Development of Application Systems" at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in cooperation with our Scientific Advisory Board. The module of the Masters in Business Informatics was aimed at students of the University group Halle-Jena-Leipzig. For 2024, the Master's module has now also been officially applied for the Master's programme in Business Informatics at the University of Leipzig and will thus take place as a completely inter-university course.

Furthermore, two of our UX experts held a seminar unit at the University of Leipzig this summer semester for bachelor students of Business Informatics. The elective module with a specialisation in e-commerce focused on UX on this day and our Xperts not only drew attention to ethical challenges such as dark patterns, but also conducted a small usability test with the students. For more than 10 years, we have also sponsored one person each year as part of the Deutschlandstipendium at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg.

In addition to our teaching activities, we have supervised a large number of academic theses from bachelor to PhD in the past and also currently have students with us. 2023 also marked the successful launch of our first IT Sonix Hackathon for students, fresh alumni and trainees. Under the motto "Keep us movin'", participants were able to put their skills and creativity to the test in the 24-hour hackathon. The hackathon revolved around the topic of sustainability and movement.

Since 2017, we have also organised the annual World Usability Day Leipzig. The event brings different people together and ensures a lively exchange of knowledge. Informative talks and workshops raise awareness of the importance of good usability in many areas of our lives. This year, we were able to secure the Paulinum of the University of Leipzig as the venue for our WUD - in the heart of the city, in the centre of knowledge.

Last autumn, we also started to share our bundled know-how from different business areas with the outside world. We regularly publish blog posts uand share our insights with our community. Our Xperts examine current trends and developments in the IT industry, but also exciting insights into topics of agile organisational development.

Through our work, we are committed to advancing education and research and making a positive impact on society and the economy. Our commitment to promoting education and the exchange of knowledge is at the heart of our corporate philosophy and we look forward to exciting projects and collaborations in the near future.