Kick-off for the Oldenburg Innovation Quarter: IQON is pooling Oldenburg's IT research to create a dynamic area for cooperative research and development of innovative prototypes, products and business models around the Alte Fleiwa.
A neighbourhood in transition - founded 100 years ago, revitalised for a decade and a half and now on its way into the future with a great vision: this is the Alte Fleiwa in Oldenburg. At the neighbourhood day 100 years after the topping-out ceremony of the former, once largest European meat factory, the district was also presented to interested parties as the location of the future Innovation Quarter Oldenburg (IQON). In future, this will bring together four top research institutions to develop new technologies in a unique project: the OFFIS - Institute for Computing Science, the Department of Computing Science at the University of Oldenburg, the Institute of Systems Engineering for Future Mobility at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI).
The partners presented their plans as part of a programme with a "virtual laying of the foundation stone" and a panel discussion. The project, which is being funded by the federal government and the state of Lower Saxony with around 63 million euros, is currently one of the largest construction projects in computer science research in Germany.
The aim of IQON is to establish a new level of cooperation between science, business and society in order to drive forward the digital transformation. According to the principle of "co-innovation", innovation processes in terms of information technologies and digitalisation should no longer be isolated, but rather open and collaborative. The focus is on innovative prototypes, products and business models - from artificial intelligence to independent energy supply concepts.
"The foundation stone for the Oldenburg Innovation Quarter has been laid - and with it another milestone for Oldenburg: digitality is being thought boldly and forwards here," says Lower Saxony's Science Minister Falko Mohrs. "With OFFIS, the University of Oldenburg, DLR and DFKI, the IQON brings together outstanding research institutes that create synergies between research, teaching and industry. The special added value of the innovation quarter is created by the overarching idea of transfer. Where universities and research institutions work closely with companies, where space is created for co-innovation areas, real added value is created: through a change of perspective, the linking of knowledge and, ideally, direct applicability in practice."
"Oldenburg has made excellent progress as a centre of science in recent years. With the Oldenburg Innovation Quarter, we are leveraging additional potential: researchers and practitioners should be able to benefit from each other here and provide strong new impetus for the entire region," emphasised University President Prof. Dr Ralph Bruder. Together with other representatives from politics, business and science - including Lower Saxony's Economics Minister Olaf Lies - he spoke at a panel discussion about the expectations that business and science have of co-innovation.
"Oldenburg has already proven that successful co-operation between science and business is possible. With IQON, we have the opportunity to take this cooperation to a new level, to jointly develop and implement co-innovation models," added Prof. Dr Sebastian Lehnhoff, Chairman of the Board at the OFFIS computer science institute and Professor of Energy Informatics at the university.
The state of Lower Saxony is playing a key role in the financing of the project - up to 28 million euros have been promised. In addition, federal funds totalling 35 million euros will be provided. Part of the funding will be invested in the redesign and expansion of existing buildings in order to adapt the infrastructure, technology and design of the neighbourhood for future use. The larger part is earmarked for new buildings that will enable interdisciplinary collaboration with companies in one location in co-innovation projects. Practitioners from the Oldenburg IT network and start-ups will have the opportunity to set up in the IQON to drive their innovations forward.
"Together, we are creating an innovation centre that not only promotes excellence in the professional world, but also offers space for open dialogue and cooperation with society," says Prof. Axel Hahn, Director of the DLR Institute Systems Engineering for Future Mobility. Prof. Dr Antonio Krüger, CEO and Scientific Director of DFKI, emphasises the benefits for industry: "For companies that put our research into practice, IQON gives us an even broader and deeper base, meaning that we give them the opportunity to reach four scientific institutions, each with its own strengths, with just one contact person."
