Universities and industry join forces to boost innovation in the region InnoREG: Innovation scouts identify local potential
On 8 October, the Braunschweig Regional Development Office announced the approval of funding for InnoREG. Through this new project, Technical University Braunschweig, Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences, and the economic development agencies of Braunschweig, Salzgitter, and Gifhorn intend to promote knowledge and technology transfer in the region. The focus is on collaborating with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to identify innovation potential and develop sustainable solutions together.
Astrid Paus, head of department at the Office for Regional Development in Braunschweig, handed over the funding approval during a kick-off event. The project is part of the “Zukunftsregion Südostniedersachsen” initiative and is partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The project’s goal is to further integrate science and industry and strengthen the region’s long-term innovative capacity.
Central to InnoREG are two innovation scouts who coordinate closely with the participating economic development agencies to contact companies, particularly SMEs, as well as other organisations such as social institutions, and visit them on site. There, they analyse individual innovation needs and identify concrete opportunities for cooperation with universities.
In his welcome address, Professor Arno Kwade, Vice-President for Transfer and Innovation at TU Braunschweig, emphasised that universities have a wealth of expertise and strong innovation potential which the regional economy should utilise much more than before to promote innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises but also to find sustainable solutions to challenges in production, digitalisation, and organisation. The InnoREG project accordingly enables the transfer service to expand the regional innovation ecosystem between universities and SMEs in a targeted manner, generating added value.
Jörg Saathoff, Head of Technology Transfer at the Transfer Service of TU Braunschweig, and Kai Hillebrecht, Head of Knowledge and Technology Transfer at Ostfalia, agree that the speed at which new products and services must be developed today poses major challenges, particularly for SMEs. Jörg Saathoff adds, “Our task is to promote exchange between universities, industry and society in order to apply the latest scientific findings in practice.”
Björn Hobus, one of the innovation scouts, adds, “Our discussions generate new ideas for companies and provide universities with valuable insights into practical experience. This is exactly where our InnoREG project comes in.”
From needs analysis to project implementation
The project relies on an actively managed, systematic process:
- Surveying innovation needs among companies and organisations.
- Networking with suitable research partners in the regional innovation ecosystem.
- Initiating joint projects that produce new products, services or processes.
This approach to innovation scouting enables innovations that actively shape regional change, for example in the areas of digitalisation, artificial intelligence and sustainability, through targeted knowledge and technology transfer.
Strong partnerships – open structure
A special feature of InnoREG is the close cooperation between universities and business development agencies. This structured cooperation enables the development of transfer offers tailored to specific needs and requirements.
The project is open to further partners and thrives on active regional exchange.
About InnoREG
InnoREG is a joint project of Technical University of Braunschweig, Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences, the City of Braunschweig, WIS – Wirtschafts- und Innovationsförderung Salzgitter GmbH and Landkreis Gifhorn Innovation & Service GmbH. It is funded by ERDF funds, the City of Braunschweig and the participating economic development agencies from Salzgitter and Gifhorn. The project is part of the regional development programme Zukunftsregion Südostniedersachsen (SON) and is initially scheduled to run for three years.
Photo credit: EU/State of Lower Saxony/Regional Association of Greater Braunschweig