Love SAP’s game changer story for professional soccer, as shown recently to Angela Merkel and David Cameron at CeBit’14:
‘SAP HANA shows itself from the best side at SAP's CeBIT stand. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron team up with SAP co-CEO Jim Hagemann Snabe and Brand Ambassador Oliver Bierhoff’.
Funny thing is, even if HANA would be enable retakes for English penalty kicks, it would not solve a systemic problem of the England squad :lol:
I’d like to add a viewpoint in the context of Soccer and Sustainability from the ‘not so IT-savvy’ part of the world.
My last visit to South Africa was in 2010 during the FIFA World Cup with my friend Michael. In between soccer games we visited the famous Kruger National Park outskirts, where Michaels cousin worked as a game ranger.
Soccer was on everybody’s mind during that period, so the camp staff invited us to an early morning round of soccer. Getting up early to get ready, we approached the sand pitch behind the camp, and ……bailed ! I don’t know about you, but for us this was a ‘no go’. The picture below shows why:
But one thing I recognized was that from several soccer balls in the nearby shed, only one had still air in it. Either the lions had an appetite for soccer balls, or the thorn bushes around the pitch were the culprits.
Because of this experience I was intrigued by the ‘One World Futbol’ project, where Tim Jahningen teamed up with rock star ‘Sting’. A soccer ball designed immune to lion bites, thorn bushes and barb wire for people who live in harsh environments around the world, including refugee camps, UN hot spots, conflict zones, inner-cities, and poor communities worldwide. Read here how to participate in the ‘Buy One Give One’ initiative. My kids love it, and its literally indestructible.
But its gets better. As an early investor in the project, I am proud to be the owner of one of the first SOCCKET balls. Check out the little ‘commercial’ my daughter Leila produced to learn more about the SOCCKET ball:
(Note: Apologize upfront that you have to watch my rusty soccer skills, but we could not get the funding for Lionel Messi in time :wink: )
Our Soccket Movie on Vimeo
Kick a ball, power a light, empower a people—welcome to the wonderful world of SOCCKET --> http://www.unchartedplay.com/
Here are some additional movies about the SOCCKET experience:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeQ-OrkUTII
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5nfKvW9itA (President Obama playing the SOCCKET…..his skills are ‘more rusty’ then mine :smile: )