Steinbeis injects innovation into regional management

Economic development and fostering innovation in the Neckar-Fils region

The district of Göppingen has become increasingly active in economic development over the past 20 years, mainly thanks to a successful partnership with Steinbeis, which puts structures into place for companies to share know-how and technology developments quickly, efficiently, and without red tape. In 1995, a limited company (Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft für den Landkreis Göppingen GmbH) was set up in collaboration with district authorities, the regional savings bank Kreissparkasse, local authorities, small communities and Steinbeis. This year, the company started focusing on fostering innovation and providing innovation consulting to individual companies. This represented a shift of emphasis now reflected by its new name, Wirtschafts- und Innovationsförderungsgesellschaft für den Landkreis Göppingen mbH (or WIF, The Economic And Innovation Development Society).

The WIF works closely with economic development specialists at the district office, whose remit is to take care of classic economic development activities such as issues relating to industrial areas, or overseeing management and approval processes. The district of Göppingen is a leader in the region in terms of the breadth of economic development services it offers. There are regular meetings with all parties to ensure information flows as smoothly as possible and collaboration functions properly.

Combined with shifts in the economic infrastructure, the pressure of international competition now bearing down on companies made it necessary to reinvent local and regional economic development strategies. So now, thanks to the WIF, companies and organizations in the district have been given access to the full spectrum of Steinbeis Network services. Steinbeis experts throughout the organization can jump in to deliver services. The Steinbeis Transfer Center of Technology and Innovation Management, which is also based in Göppingen, works as a catalyst and moderator on behalf of the Steinbeis Network, drawing on its own pool of techniques and methods.

Economic development will only be successful in the future if it fo- cuses more on observing current trends in the economy and the employment market. Also, it will have to be geared more to local and regional collaboration, and respond directly to the individual requirements of businesses. By proactively approaching and advising firms, technology assignments can be brought on board, analyzed and worked on as projects.

This field is not just about analyzing issues, but also solving problems individually with companies. There is a huge variety of often complex issues involved, from helping clients give structure to the problem at hand to innovation planning, applying for funding, forging contacts at research and development establishments, and joint ventures. Experts’ work on innovation and technology consultation projects involves issues from the entire field of technology, relating to business processes, manufacturing organization and even technical feasibility.

An increasingly important role is now played by education and advice to sector-specific and regional networks of companies. This is because firms can be helped to solve their problems through interdisciplinary, multi-company collaboration and by integrating open source insights. The WIF is a member of a business development cluster called Kompetenznetzwerk Mechatronik Baden-Württemberg, which, like Albtrauf healthcare park, is typical of the facilitator role played by regional collaboration – in the Neckar-Fils region and beyond.

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