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| Newsletter 8 November 2003 Download Archive |
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The first SAIL study tour was to the region of Baden Wurttemberg at the end of September 2002. The SAIL study tour took place over a 4-day period and involved 35 people from the SAIL network and the region of Baden Württemberg.
The Baden Wurttemberg region is considered to be one of the most innovative in Europe and is dominated by the engineering and automotive sectors. With a population of c.10 Million, the region has an excellent R&D infrastructure with 9 universities, 28 Universities of Applied Sciences (Fachhochschule), 2 Large Scale Research facilities, 14 basic research facilities (Max Planck Institutes) and 16 applied research institutes (Fraunhofer Institutes).
This strong Research and Development infrastructure is one of the cornerstones of the regions innovation policy. This is supported by a strong Technology Transfer infrastructure with the headquarters of the Steinbeis Foundation located in the region. But there is also enhanced by approaches to support biotech and New Media and IT Businesses.
In the area of pure/basic research the tour included Forscungszentrum Karlsruhe, one of the biggest science and engineering research institutes in Germany employing 3500 people. In the area of more applied research the tour included the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology.
A demand-led approach to technology transfer was visible throughout the visit and this was particularly evident in our meetings with staff of the Steinbeis Foundation and the “Applied System Analysis” (STASA) and “Biomedical Optic and Functional Test” Steinbeis Transfer Centres.
The culture of the region is driven by innovation. This is clear from the meetings that the SAIL members had with professors from the Universities of Applied Sciences and the discussion on the contractual arrangements for academic staff.
Elsewhere the region has a well-developed support infrastructure. An example of this is the Baden Wurttemberg Connected Programme supporting the development of IT and media businesses within the region.
A number of policy issues have been raised by the visit, the delegates were impressed by; the variety of institutions and level of support available in the region; the demand led approach of the Steinbeis Technology Transfer Centres (including the role of professors in Technology Transfer) and the start-up programmes available in the region (e.g. KEIM).
The delegates from the tour have taken a range of ideas away with them, including; ideas for Regional Innovation Strategies; Technology Transfer programmes linked to a cluster agenda, the development of start-up pilot programmes and more generally ideas on the promotion of programmes and dissemination of information at the regional level.
Baden-Wurttemberg (BW)is the third largest state of Germany by area with 35,752 square km and a population of about 10,4 million inhabitants. BW has common borders with the neighbouring countries of Austria, France & Switzerland. Transregional co-operation takes place with these countries as welll as with the neighbouring states in Germany, for example Rheinland-Pfalz. BW has traditionally strong relations with countries in middle and Eastern Europe.
The economic structure of BW today shows a close connection between big companies like Daimler Chrysler, Bosch, IBM, SAP, Porshe, etc, and many medium sized companies. 99.8% of the companies have less than 500 employees and provide 78% of the working places. The basis of the economic success of the region is its excellent research and development infrastructure: more than 70,000 personnel in R&D and more than 8,300 patent applications per year (24% of Germany), 89 universities, technical colleges and research institutes. In terms of industries, mechanical and electrical engineering and vehicle construction play a prominent role in the economy of BW as well as future-orientated industries such as environmental, micro systems, medical and biological technologies.
Still it is that clear innovation policies and structures are needed to support the economic growth and competitiveness in Europe. The regional ministries of state and of economic affairs have therefore laid down innovation policies and targets to promote innovation structures, having a specific focus on the SMEs.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB / Stuttgart-Vaihingen
The Fraunhofer institutes undertake contractual research on behalf of industry, the service sector and government institutions. Customers are provided with quick and cost-effective complete solutions to technical and organisational problems.
56 such institutions are located across Germany with a staff of approximately 11,000 the majority of whom are qualified scientists and engineers.
The Fraunhofer institutes have in total an annual research budget of 900 million Euro. 800 Million Euro of this amount is from contract research. 2/3 of this 800 Million Euro is funded through contracts for industrial customers and publicly financed research projects, The remaining 1/3 is funded by the German Federal and Lander Governments, as a means to undertake preparatory research in areas that are likely to become relevant to industry and society in 5 or 10 years time.
KEIM E.V./KARLSRUHE
The KEIM (Karlsruhe Start-Up Impulse) network is one of 5 “EXIST – University based start-up” programmes operated through the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The exist programme was started in 1998 with the aim of increasing the number of innovative start-up companies and of establishing a culture of entrepreneurship in higher education institutions.
Within the context of exist 5 regional networks have received funding to a value of approximately 25 million euro. The KEIM network is active in the Karlsruhe technology region and includes higher education establishments and research institutions.
The KEIM network operates through a series of initiatives linked together through a common process.
The budget for KEIM is approximately 6 million euro over 3-years, with 100% financing in the first year to 45% financing from the ministry in subsequent years. To date KEIM has supported 142 companies, on average 50% of these are in Information Technology and 20% in engineering.
Building on the success of KEIM the programme managers are active participants in other networks (e.g. KREO Network & Gate2Growth Incubator Forum) to identify and spread best practice in this and supporting areas.
FORSCHUNGSZENTRUM KARLSRUHE
The Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe is a research institution funded jointly by its two partners, namely, the federal republic of Germany and the State of Baden-Wurttemberg. The Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe is one of the biggest science and engineering research institutions in Germany.
Its research and development programs extend over areas of industrial pre-commercialisation phase research, product and process development, provident research and fundamental scientific research. The research institution employs 3550 people, of these approximately 1250 scientists and engineers, 60 professors about 130 guest scientists and foreign scholarship holders, 140 pre-doctoral students and approximately 300 trainees.
STEINBEIS FOUNDATION, STUTTGART
The Steinbeis foundation was established in 1971 to provide trade and industry with scientific information in the areas of research and development, materials and product testing. Since then a network of field-specific ntwork of transfer centres has been established and new disciplines including new technology and management have been added to the portfolio of activity delivered by Steinbeis.
The foundation is organised as a private company operating without state subsidies and strictly geared to the requirements of the market and its customers. Flat Hierarchies and a decentralized structure guarantee efficient project handling.
University professors are in charge of many of the transfer centres. As important experts they accelerate the implementation of results of research in competitive products, techniques and processes. But it is the holistic view of each task that ensures successful technology transfer and knowledge transfer, where market opportunities, financing, personnel development, marketing and new enterprise structures are considered.
STEINBEIS TRANSFER CENTRE – APPLIED SYSTEM ANALYSIS (STASA)
The STASA Steinbeis Transfer Centre is managed by its Director Professor Haag. The centre opened in 1995 and now has 4 permanent employees (several are former students from the university).
The areas of work covered by the transfer centre include Social Sciences, Neural Networks and Technical Systems. An example of this is the STASA Transport Model, developed in a study for the German Ministry of Transport with the subject of induced mobility, is able to describe interactions between regional structures and transportation systems. The model can also be applied to describe commuter flows and their relation to regional/city development.
Much of the meeting with Prof. Haag discussed the management of a Steinbeis Transfer centre, in particular the following issues emerged:-
· 10% of the Turnover for each transfer centre must go to the Steinbeis Foundation
· The Steinbeis Foundation manages some of the administrative tasks of the centre; administration activity is less than 10% of the work of the centre
· The Steinbeis Transfer Centre does not receive start-up funds and operates on a commercial basis
· Prof. Haag although paid directly by his work for Steinbeis is a lecturer 1/day per week in the University without payment. The contracts for his staff of the Steinbeis centre are directly with the Steinbeis Foundation rather than the individual transfer centre.
ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITIES AND HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS
The members of the SAIL network were privileged to meet Prof. Dr Norbert Hoptner, (Commissioner for Europe, Ministry of Economic Affairs for Baden Wurttemberg, Director of the Steinbeis Europe Centre and Rector Elect of the Pforzheim University of Applied Sciences) and Prof. Dr Hoyningen Huene, Representative of the Universities of Applied Sciences and Vice Chancellor of the University of Applied Sciences in Manheim.
The professors explained in detailed the structure of the German education system in particular the distinction between the classical universities and the universities of applied sciences, commonly reffered to as Fachhochschule. The education system is funded at the Lander or Regional level with no support from the federal government.
The role of the classic university is to educate students for the purpose of research, whereas the duty of the Fachhochschule is to educate students to work in industry, both will deliver theory and application orientated courses. The Fachhochschule were developed in the 1960s and there are 24 of these institutions located in the region of Baden Wurttemberg.
The culture of staff employment is a key driver in linking these higher education institutions with industry. The professors must be PhD holders and must have spent 5 years working in industry. It is emphasised that professors must take part in research and technology transfer projects - the professors receive a reduction in their teaching allocation while they are involved in such projects.
BADEN-WURTTEMBERG CONNECTED E.V, STUTTGART
Baden Wurttemberg: Connected (bwcon) is the leading business initiative for information technology, software applications and digital content in Germany’s Southwest and plays an active role in the promotion of the federal state as one of the leading IT bases in Europe.
Over 360 committed high tech and industrial companies as well as service providers have joined forces to form bwcon. About 2000 experts from the internet and IT industries are connected through the bwcon initiative creating one of the largest regional networks in Europe.
STEINBEIS TRANSFER CENTRE – BIOMEDICAL OPTIC AND FUNCTIONAL TEST, TUBINGEN
The Steinbeis Transfer Centre in Tubingen is responsible for the development of “Powerref” and optical measuring device for the measurement of full binocular or monocular dynamic refraction, the measurement of inter-pupilllary distance and dynamic distance size. In addition the Powerref offers detection of visual problems, dynamic measurement and measurement of pupil size and angle of fixation.
This transfer centre is a sharp contrast to the STASA centre that was visited earlier in the tour. While the staff of the STASA centre were employed on a full-time basis the professors involved in the Tubingen centre spend only 10% of their time involved with Steinbeis activity with their remaining time involved with lecturing and research. The technology and Intellectual property involved in the powerref has been sold commercially to a German company, Plusoptix
This SAIL study tour highlights a number of key important issues in the development of innovation within a region and the importance of academia – industry relationships as part of this development.
The culture within academia in Baden Wurttemberg (universities and universities of applied science) in particular requires professors to have worked for a significant period of time in industry.
Similarly students are expected to undertake industrial placements as part of their education. As a result students are more inclined to develop start-up companies (as can be seen from the outputs of KEIM).
Professors are more inclined to undertake, and in fact are encouraged to undertake applied research, technology transfer and consultancy work as part of there activities. This is supported by an infrastructure of Steinbeis Transfer Centres and Fraunhofer institutes. In the background is a large infrastructure of regional and national funding of pure research activity (e.g. Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe).
At the end of the SAIL Study Tour the delegates were asked for their opinions on the strength of the Baden Wurttemberg regional approach to innovation. In summary a number of policy issues have been raised by the visit, the delegates were impressed by; the variety of institutions and level of support available in the region; the demand led approach of the Steinbeis Technology Transfer Centres (including the role of professors in Technology Transfer) and the start-up programmes available in the region (e.g. KEIM)
The delegates from the tour have taken a range of ideas away with them, including; ideas for Regional Innovation Strategies; Technology Transfer programmes linked to a cluster agenda, the development of start-up pilot programmes and more generally ideas on the promotion of programmes and dissemination of information at the regional level.
The Study Tour could not have happened without the work of the staff of Steinbeis-Europa-Zentrum and in particular Dr Petra Peuchner and Charlotte Schlicke. The Study Tour programme was very demanding and we would like to thank all the people involved in informing us about the programmes and initiatives operating within the region.
