HERE+NOW.IMPULSE MAGAZINE /// 01/2016
HERE IT CREATES FUTURE. Over the years to come, digitalisation will make big changes to our lives. Whether it is industry, handicrafts or the service sector, all will have to adapt to it at high speed. The opportunities provided by digitalisation are just as great as the pressure to create innovations. For this reason, information and communications technologies have been defined as an important market of the future in the Saxony-Anhalt Regional Innovation Strategy 2014 – 2020. But it isn’t just the world of business which is facing a digital transformation, the world of public administration is as well. For companies and citizens that means user friendliness – in terms of ease of access, transparent processes as well as flexibility due to time and location independent administrative services. Increasing digitalisation requires more digital education. In recent years, the development of the internet has been so rapid that the requirements in the population have become very different. From primary school pupils to senior citizens, the levels of understanding surrounding technology need to grow, in addition to the ability to apply the knowledge in a correct and beneficial way. For innovations and applications in the digital sphere, the users’ confidence in IT security and data protection are basic requirements. In this respect, the digitalisation of our daily lives will only gain widespread acceptance if IT security keeps in pace with the wider developments. Saxony-Anhalt is well equipped for the digital age. The federal state is already home to many IT companies which have made the conscious decision to locate here and value the excellent local infrastructure. This not only includes sector giants such as T-Systems and SAP, but also cutting-edge start-ups such as UCD+ and marmalade.
HERE IT CREATES FUTURE.
Over the years to come, digitalisation will make big changes to our lives. Whether it is industry, handicrafts or the service sector, all will have to adapt to it at high speed. The opportunities provided by digitalisation are just as great as the pressure to create innovations. For this reason, information and communications technologies have been defined as an important market of the future in the Saxony-Anhalt Regional Innovation Strategy 2014 – 2020.
But it isn’t just the world of business which is facing a digital transformation, the world of public administration is as well. For companies and citizens that means user friendliness – in terms of ease of access, transparent processes as well as flexibility due to time and location independent administrative services.
Increasing digitalisation requires more digital education. In recent years, the development of the internet has been so rapid that the requirements in the population have become very different. From primary school pupils to senior citizens, the levels of understanding surrounding technology need to grow, in addition to the ability to apply the knowledge in a correct and beneficial way.
For innovations and applications in the digital sphere, the users’ confidence in IT security and data protection are basic requirements. In this respect, the digitalisation of our daily lives will only gain widespread acceptance if IT security keeps in pace with the wider developments.
Saxony-Anhalt is well equipped for the digital age. The federal state is already home to many IT companies which have made the conscious decision to locate here and value the excellent local infrastructure. This not only includes sector giants such as T-Systems and SAP, but also cutting-edge start-ups such as UCD+ and marmalade.
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WAYS AND MEANS<br />
20 21 WINNERS<br />
A BIG ADVANTAGE<br />
FOR THE SMALL<br />
PLAYERS<br />
Growth requires investments. Yet it is here<br />
that German companies are currently<br />
falling short. For this reason, the government<br />
of the federal state of Saxony-<br />
Anhalt has adapted its guidelines for the most<br />
wide-ranging and widely used funding instrument:<br />
the funding available to companies as part of the<br />
“Common Task for the Improvement of the Regional<br />
Economic Structure” (in German, the “GRW”).<br />
Who can benefit from the GRW financial support?<br />
STEFANIE PÖTZSCH: The GRW is attractive for<br />
almost all commercial businesses, but particularly<br />
small and medium sized businesses. It supports<br />
companies which establish or extend independent<br />
or dependent operations in Saxony-Anhalt or which<br />
make changes to their manufacturing or offers here.<br />
What kind of financial support is on offer exactly?<br />
STEFANIE PÖTZSCH: The financial support is available<br />
for investments in fixed assets over a period of<br />
up to three years.<br />
MONIKA EBERHARDT: The wage costs can also be<br />
subsidised for two years. The rate of support is 15<br />
percent of the specified wage costs, but this can<br />
also be increased under certain conditions.<br />
Why do small businesses benefit to a<br />
particular degree?<br />
STEFANIE PÖTZSCH: Above all else, because of the<br />
rates of support: for small companies, the subsidy<br />
can amount to 35 percent of the fixed asset investments<br />
eligible for subsidy, for medium sized companies,<br />
up to 25 percent, and for other companies, up<br />
to 15 percent. For many companies, this kind of help<br />
is indispensable.<br />
STEFANIE PÖTZSCH<br />
Group Leader of the Investment and Market<br />
Department at the Investment Bank Saxony-Anhalt<br />
MONIKA EBERHARDT<br />
Employee in the Investment and Market<br />
Department at the Investment Bank Saxony-Anhalt<br />
MONIKA EBERHARDT: But remember: the documentation<br />
always needs to be submitted first before<br />
the project can get under way.<br />
What has changed in 2<strong>01</strong>5?<br />
STEFANIE PÖTZSCH: In 2<strong>01</strong>5, we took another close<br />
look at everything: what do the companies in our<br />
federal state actually need? Since then, it hasn’t just<br />
been projects which create new jobs that have been<br />
supported. Support is available to companies which<br />
secure existing jobs for the long term as well. Moreover,<br />
the minimum investment volume now totals<br />
just 50,000 Euros rather than 70,000 Euros. This<br />
represents another benefit for small businesses.<br />
How can I find out if my application is worthwhile?<br />
MONIKA EBERHARDT: Here at the Investment Bank,<br />
we will be pleased to provide you with individual<br />
advice, including about future changes to the support<br />
programme. For example, the printed materials,<br />
construction materials production and wholesale<br />
sectors have also been included.<br />
INNOVATIVE SUCCESS STORIES<br />
WINNERS OF THE BESTFORM ADVANCEMENT AWARD 2<strong>01</strong>5<br />
FAKTOR M AND SENSOMOTORIC INSTRUMENTS<br />
TOPIC: Sports glasses with eye tracking system<br />
On behalf of SensoMotoric Instruments, the Magdeburg-based industrial<br />
designers “faktor m – office for design and construction” have developed a<br />
pair of high-tech sports glasses with an ETG system which is undergoing continuous<br />
further development. The production process allows for the frames of<br />
the glasses to be adapted within a few days. This means that the glasses are<br />
already significantly lighter and smaller.<br />
www.faktor-m.de<br />
WINNER OF THE AURA 2<strong>01</strong>5<br />
RELAXDAYS GMBH<br />
TOPIC: Internet trading with social responsibility<br />
As the first winning company from the area of E-Commerce, in 2<strong>01</strong>5, the award<br />
went to the Halle company Relaxdays GmbH. Successful managing director<br />
Martin Menz, who is just 30 years old, doesn’t only stand for an offer of 3,000<br />
items from the areas of house, garden and leisure though. He has also created<br />
70 jobs in Halle, and hires his employees with socially aware criteria in mind.<br />
www.relaxdays.de<br />
WINNER OF THE “MOST INNOVATIVE ALLIANCE” HUGO-JUNKERS-PRIZE 2<strong>01</strong>5<br />
FRAUNHOFER INSTITUTE FOR MICROSTRUCTURE OF MATERIALS AND SYS-<br />
TEMS IMWS AND MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE OF MICROSTRUCTURE PHYSICS<br />
TOPIC: Error detection with the use of lock-in thermography<br />
Highly integrated construction elements in the area of microelectronics contain<br />
several stacked 3D semi-conductor chips with millions of individual transistors.<br />
How are the errors in them found? With high sensitivity thermal imaging technology<br />
developed in an alliance between the Fraunhofer Institute for the Microstructure<br />
of Materials and Systems IMWS (formerly the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics<br />
of Materials IWM) and the Max Planck Institute for Microstructure Physics.<br />
www.imws.fraunhofer.de/en
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