Second funding phase for the digital hubs and regional AI Labs

The Ministry of Economic Affairs has decided on the second funding phase for the digital hubs and the regional AI labs. As part of the initiative of the economy 4.0, there is a special focus on driving the digitization of the economy and the use of future technology artificial intelligence in the country.

The Digital Hubs and Regional Ki-Labors go into a second funding phase. This was decided by the Ministry of Economics, Labor and Tourism, after the budget legislator provided a total of ten million euros for the sustainable structure of the digital hubs and 4.2 million euros for the further development and stabilization of the AI labs. "As part of the Initiative Business 4.0 We pay special attention to the digitization of the economy and the use of future technology Artificial intelligence in the country ", according to Economics Minister DR. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut .

The support calls will be published shortly in the coming year. At the digital hubs, existing centers should receive the possibility of further development and new actors are to be given the opportunity to apply for funding in order to be able to establish themselves as regional digitization centers. Similar to the regional digital hubs, the second tender of the AI-Labs should be open to both existing and potential new sponsorships.

digital hubs as part of the digital ecosystem

"Baden-Württemberg is an important business location because it is also strong. The country is characterized by the fact that it is not only of economic power packages, but is also internationally successful medium-sized companies in rural areas," said the Minister of Economic Affairs. Against this background, the Ministry of Economic Affairs launched a promotion call as part of the initiative Business 4.0 Baden-Württemberg to bring future technologies and digital innovations to the country's space via regional digital hubs.

In this way, the existing strengths of small and medium -sized companies (SMEs) are to be linked to new technological possibilities and new value creation potential is to be developed. Ten regional digital hubs were funded with a project term of three years and with up to one million euros per hub. The ten digitization centers are distributed across all of Baden-Württemberg-from Heidelberg to the Black Forest, from East Württemberg to Freiburg. In the past three years they have become important components of the country's digital ecosystem.

"The digital hubs act as essential regional first -time positions on the subject of digitization and other future technologies, in which, in particular, existing companies, start -ups and research actors can find out together, experiment and implement new project ideas," says Hoffmeister -Kraut. Together with the three subject-specific DE: Hubs in Baden-Württemberg, they form the powerful digital hub network Baden-Württemberg.

digitization centers are a success model

The numbers show that the digitization centers are a real success model in Baden-Württemberg. By March 31, 2021, 983 presence events were carried out in the ten digital hubs, 20,396 companies and institutions were achieved, 521 digitization projects were carried out and 930 cooperation between business, science and other partners initiated.

With the AI Labs, an important contribution was made to bring AI into the country. Since 2019, 19 regional AI laboratories-initially model-like-have been promoted nationwide in order to facilitate access to AI knowledge in particular. "Artificial intelligence is the key technology for the added value and competitiveness of the country's economy. Hardly any area of digitization can be expected to be so high growth rates." Ki Made in Baden-Württemberg "must also become an internationally. We have to consistently advance the commercialization of AI, ”said Minister Hoffmeister-Kraut.

During the project duration of up to 15 months, many sustainable offers such as training and test dreams were created. The previous promotion of AI labs expires at the end of 2021 at the latest. The multitude of tailor -made offers for medium -sized companies must now be bundled and further developed. "With these measures, we are currently supporting our numerous small and medium -sized companies in the country effectively in digital transformation, the use of future technologies and coping with the crisis," said the minister.

Initiative Business 4.0

With the initiative Business 4.0, the Ministry of Economics, Work and Tourism Baden-Württemberg would like to promote the digitization of the economy together with 35 partner organizations-across all industries and with special focus on the promotion of small and medium-sized companies and their employees. The Initiative Business 4.0 is a central part of the interdisciplinary digitization strategy of the state digital@bw. Since the start of the initiative in 2017, the partners have implemented numerous activities in their respective areas to advance the digital transformation of the economy. The Ministry of Economics, Labor and Tourism has supported digitization with a wide range of measures, from information and networking to advice, research and development to concrete support programs.

Economy Digital Baden-Württemberg