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Technical University of Munich

Project "Zukunft digitale Bildung – Digital Changemaker" Wins Award

Studies, Awards, Sustainability |

A student project receives an award for social sustainability: students developed a platform that connects education stakeholders, increases the visibility of projects, and enables targeted collaboration between teachers, policymakers, and innovation drivers.
On stage: Christina Dieckhoff (Program Director for Young Talent Development at bid) and students Aykut Nalci, Kseniya Volochkovich, Moritz Rudolph, and Moritz Pablo Busch
Project presentation "Zukunft Digitale Bildung - Digital Changemaker" at the Demo Day of the Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation (bidt): Christina Dieckhoff (Program Director for Early-Career Researcher Development at bidt) and students Aykut Nalci, Kseniya Volochkovich, Moritz Rudolph, and Moritz Pablo Busch; Photo: Samuel Valenzuela

The project “Zukunft digitale Bildung (Future of Digital Education) – Digital Changemaker,” implemented with the involvement of Professor Klaus Diepold from the TUM School of Computation, Information and Technology (CIT) in cooperation with Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU), was awarded first prize in the category “Sustainable Society & Social and Ethical Aspects and Implications.” The “Digital Changemaker” initiative is a funding program of the Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation (bidt) and is offered by the Center for Digital Technology and Management (CDTM), a joint institute of TUM and LMU. Samuel Valenzuela from CDTM served as a coach on the project.

The award was presented by bidt during its Demo Day on May 21, 2026, at Munich’s Adult Education Center (Volkshochschule). The event brings together students from 13 funded digitalization colleges and includes project pitches, demonstrations, poster sessions, and networking opportunities with guests from academia and industry. Projects were recognized in four categories. In the “Sustainable Society” category, three teams competed, and all projects ranked among the stronger contributions in the audience vote.

Platform Concept Connects Education Innovation

Selfie of Kseniya Volochkovich with Moritz Rudolph, Aykut Nalci, and Moritz Pablo Busch
Four students from the "Zukunft digitale Bildung – Digital Changemaker" project team at the Demo Day hosted by the Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation (bidt) on May 21, 2026: Moritz Rudolph, Kseniya Volochkovich, Aykut Nalci, and Moritz Pablo Busch; Photo: Kseniya Volochkovich

The award-winning project “Zukunft digitale Bildung – Digital Changemaker” was developed during the winter semester by five students – Kseniya Volochkovich (Management and Technology, TUM, and Business Administration, LMU), Chiara Leister (Management and Technology, TUM), Moritz Rudolph (Electrical and Computer Engineering, TUM), Moritz Busch (Electrical and Computer Engineering, TUM), and Aykut Nalci (Electrical and Computer Engineering, TUM) – in collaboration with the nonprofit organization “Future Digital Education.”

At its core is the design and prototypical implementation of a digital platform that systematically brings together Germany’s currently fragmented ecosystem of education innovation. Educational innovations often emerge in isolation – across different federal states, institutions, and stakeholder groups – leading to parallel developments, limited access to existing solutions, and restricted opportunities for exchange.

Features for Visibility and Collaboration

The platform addresses these challenges with several concrete features:

  • A central overview of projects, organizations, and events
  • Networking opportunities for teachers, policymakers, initiatives, and startups
  • Access to expertise, including discoverability of subject-matter experts and topic areas
  • Support for collaboration across institutional and regional boundaries

Rather than replacing existing structures, the platform strengthens current networks and makes them more accessible. In doing so, it helps reduce duplication of efforts and enables more efficient use of existing knowledge.

For the development process, the students conducted interviews with stakeholders from education, policy, and innovation practice, analyzed existing solutions, and derived specific requirements. Based on this, they created a feasible concept and a functional prototype. The results are intended to contribute to the ongoing development of community and innovation activities within “Future Digital Education.”

Interdisciplinary Course with Practical Focus

The project was developed as part of the “Digital Changemaker” course, offered by the Center for Digital Technology and Management (CDTM). The interdisciplinary course is aimed at students from technical, business, and social science disciplines.

As part of real-world project partnerships, participants develop concrete concepts for digital transformation that also consider societal and ethical questions.

The course has been offered for several years as a joint program by TUM and LMU. In the summer semester of 2026, it is held for the last time, for now. The insights gained and successful course modules will be integrated into the CDTM core curriculum in the future.

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