About

Digital Innovation Hubs as a key priority in the Digitizing European Industry Initiative

Despite all efforts: compared to the global competition, the digitization and networking of the economy in Europe is currently not progressing fast enough. The digitization of European industry is therefore one of the central objectives of the European Union. Part of this is the initiative »Digital Innovation Hubs«, which was launched by the EU Commission in 2016. Every year, 100 million euros from the EU’s Horizon 2020 research framework program are being invested throughout Europe for regionally oriented Digital Innovation Hubs, i.e. facilities to promote digital innovation. In particular, the EU aims to support regional and cross-border cooperation in the field of digitization, Europe-wide thematic partnerships and the exchange of experience for the benefit of all stakeholders.

EU Policy – Pan-European Network of Digital Innovation Hubs

Digitization of the economy in
Saxony-Anhalt

The Elbfabrik of the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF in Magdeburg operates as a Digital Innovation Hub – a hub in Saxony-Anhalt for European networking in the field of digitazation and Industry 4.0 with the aim of:

promoting digital innovation and helping SMEs in Saxony-Anhalt to become more competitive with regard to their business and production processes, products or services while using digital technologies,
providing access to the latest knowledge, expertise and technology to support the customers with piloting, testing and experimenting with digital innovations,
serving as a central hub and first regional point of contact for companies in order to strengthen their innovation ecosystem.

The Elbfabrik of the Fraunhofer IFF offers a long-termed experience in digitization and serves therefore SMEs as a competent partner in their efforts to increase the use of digital tools and digital approaches to improve their competitive position.

The Elbfabrik of the
Fraunhofer IFF

The mission of the Elbfabrik is to explore and promote the role of human actors in an increasingly digitized and automated production and work environment. The Elbfabrik follows the »Digital Engineering and Operation« approach and relies on the consistent and consistent use of digital data throughout the entire life cycle of a production or work system. This approach radically changes the human-machine interaction, as digital data can be saved and used from every step of the lifecycle, from development through testing, documentation, factory planning, training, operations to demolition. The Elbfabrik offers solutions to embed human actors through the use of assistance systems in the digitized and automated world of work. These assistance systems benefit from the virtual knowledge base offered by the Digital Engineering and Operation approach. Within its mission, the Elbfabrik offers its services to businesses of all sizes, from SMEs to large companies and international corporations. The solutions developed at the Elbfabrik also offer customized approaches that are of interest to companies at various levels of innovation, from awareness-raising and maturity assessment for companies starting to digitize, to taking the first steps in this field, from custom and stand-alone solutions and business services to system solutions for advanced enterprises.

Explore more

Mission

To explore and promote the role of human operators in an ever-increasing digitized and automated production and work environment.

Approach

Digital Engineering and Operation – a consistent and consequent use of digital data throughout the life cycle of a production and/or work system.

Services

Customized concepts for companies at various levels of innovation – from maturity assessment for companies starting to digitize to system solutions for advanced enterprises.

Solutions

Embedding human operators in a digitized and automated environment by providing assistance systems.

Digitizing Industry

We are a one-stop-shop for SMEs, startups and mid-caps to get access to technology-testing, financing advice, market intelligence and networking opportunities.