Strengthening companies in digitalisation

The state of Lower Saxony is funding a joint project between the University of Oldenburg, Jade University of Applied Sciences and Emden/Leer University of Applied Sciences with around 2.25 million euros.

In future, regional companies will benefit even more from innovations from the University of Oldenburg, Jade University of Applied Sciences Wilhelmshaven/Oldenburg/Elsfleth and Emden/Leer University of Applied Sciences. In the "Regional Innovation System NorthWest" project, the three universities are developing tools to support small and medium-sized enterprises in research and development in a more targeted manner than before - for example by providing advice or access to laboratories. The focus is on the topic of digitalisation. The state of Lower Saxony is funding the project as part of the "Transfer in Lower Saxony: Strong structures for innovative projects" programme with a total of around 2.25 million euros over the next five years.

"Ideas for social and technological progress are often born in science. In order for these ideas to grow and flourish, they have to leave their nursery. Inventions must become marketable products, ideas must become convictions that are capable of winning majority support. We want to strengthen this transfer process with our funding programme," explained Lower Saxony's Science Minister Björn Thümler at today's presentation of the funding decision in Oldenburg. The local project "Regional Innovation System NorthWest" translates this intention into convincing measures with its focus on the topic of digitalisation and the planned platform for transfer potential, among other things, said the Minister.

University President Prof. Dr Dr Hans Michael Piper emphasised the importance of the project for the region from the perspective of the three university heads: "As a strong trio of universities in the northwest, we are bringing our expertise together in a profitable way. Our focus is clearly on the perspectives and needs of regional companies."

"The economy of the Northwest Lower Saxony region is characterised by small and medium-sized companies, which usually have fewer research resources of their own than large companies," emphasised project leader Prof. Dr Wolfgang Nebel, Department of Computing Science at the University of Oldenburg. Accordingly, it is more difficult for these companies to develop their own innovations or adapt new technologies for their business field, according to Nebel. The three universities want to use the project to intensify cooperation with the region's small and medium-sized businesses and thus strengthen the region's innovative power. They are working closely with the chambers of industry and commerce, business development agencies and technology centres in the region.

The "Regional Innovation System NorthWest" project is divided into four sub-projects that complement each other:

innoMarket sub-project

A marketplace for innovations is being created here in the form of an online platform. Regional companies that want to use a university service, need advice or are looking for specialised equipment, for example, can use the platform - similar to online shopping - to check whether the universities have a corresponding offer. In particular, research infrastructures such as living labs, equipment and expertise as well as offers to support digitalisation activities are to be found on the marketplace.

innoDoc sub-project

In future, anyone looking for a contact person from the universities for a specific question will be able to find them via the online platform innoDoc, which is linked to innoMarket. innoDoc is intended to function similarly to an internet forum and become the core of a social network of companies, scientists and innovation consultants in the medium term.

innoLabs sub-project

In the innoLabs sub-project, existing laboratories and test fields at universities and their affiliated institutes are used as open innovation workshops. Companies as well as scientists interested in founding a company can test new systems, processes or facilities there. The focus here is also on digitalisation. The initial aim of the sub-project is to familiarise companies in the region with the existing infrastructure. Subsequently, the participants also want to use the potential of the regional technology centres in Varel, Nordenham and Aurich, for example, to design further laboratories. In the long term, this should encourage more start-ups.

innoTalk sub-project

The innoTalk sub-project is all about informing managers and decision-makers from the business world about digitalisation trends in a targeted manner. To this end, public events are organised to present new technologies and developments in a practical and generally understandable way and also promote personal contact. Dialogue events are planned along the lines of the "Oldenburg Dialogue" of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, in which entrepreneurs, technology consultants and business promoters come together in small groups. In addition, an annual regional showcase for digital innovations is to be organised under the title "Innovations-Kongress NordWest".

The three universities are jointly responsible for the "Regional Innovation System NorthWest" project. The University of Oldenburg is the spokesperson university for the network. The OFFIS computer science institute, which is also home to the Centre for Digital Innovation Lower Saxony, is an associated partner. The University is in charge of the innoMarket and InnoDoc sub-projects, while the innoLabs and innoForum sub-projects are managed by the two universities.