What will the future of the work look like? How can the digital transformation process of economy and in the everyday life be pushed forward? How do local companies benefit from digitalization? Questions that interested the North-Rhine Westphalian Minister for Economics, Innovation, Digitalization and Energy with a special emphasis set on the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe (OWL). Answers were provides by representatives of Lemgo’s two research institutes. At the SmartFactoryOWL of the Fraunhofer IOSB-INA and OWL University of Applied Sciences the Minister could experience how leading-edge technologies are applied at the digital factory of the future and how concrete solutions for SMEs look like.
Professor Volker Lohweg, Director of the Institute Industrial IT (inIT) of OWL University of Applied Sciences and Board CIIT e.V. explained the characteristics of CIIT and emphasized its “fundamental importance for the industry region Ostwestfalen-Lippe”. The Industry 4.0 competence center CIIT is firmly located and Lemgo is well-known in the field of competence “Production of the future”. “Under one roof research institutes and companies are working together for Germany’s competitiveness”, explains Lohweg and underlines that cooperation works at CIIT. For years a research focus is set on the question how Industry 4.0 will change human work, also Industry 4.0 is put into practice together with strong partners.
For Pinkwart particulary fascinating were the possibilities for people who are interested in setting up their own business at KnowledgeCube of the OWL University of Applied Sciences under the roof of CIIT. He exchanged views with young entrepreneurs who develop industrial drones. He emphaszised that “OWL is very dynamic and develops creative entrepreneurial approaches” and that there is a “strong entrepreneurial commitment”.
Professor Stefan Witte, Vice President for Research and Transfer of OWL University and Board of CIIT e.V. explained to Minister Pinkwart the special infrastructure at Innovation Campus Lemgo and stressed the “strong research competencies on site” and the “international network of SmartFactoryOWL”.
In the frame of the BMBF-funded program FH-Impuls a special focus is set on the merging of Industry 4.0 and food technology, like e.g. the partnership SmartFoodTechnologyOWL. “With the funding OWL University will set important innovative impulses in the region, so that SMEs will benefit”, explains Witte.
With a guided tour at CIIT and SmartFactoryOWL Pinkwart could gain insights in the various research activities. Jens Otto, group leader “Cyber Security in Production” of Fraunhofer, introduced the recently inaugurated learning lab, where approaches and techniques for IT-security in production and components and techniques for IT security in production are developed. A simulated hacker attack was demonstrated to Pinkwart. He also exchanged views with researchers about the requirement of IT security in Industry. Subsequently Pedro Rodriques (SmartFaytoryOWL) presented intelligent technical systems and technology demonstrators.
From autumn 2017 onwards researchers of Fraunhofer IOSB-INA and inIT will work on the project “Lemgo Digital”: Together with the Stadt Lemgo and its citizens digital solutions for daily problems will be tested and developed. The approach for making Lemgo a lab for IoT and citizens to researchers is a further “expression of the great innovation power of the location”, so Witte. Pinkwart was especially interested in the location development with regard to infrastructure, economic recovery and supporting founding on the campus. “The players from science, industry and society collaborate. This is the future”, resumes Pinkwart.
The Minister was also impressed by the interdisciplinary research approaches and ideas for digitalization. His conclusion: “It is exemplary what was created at Campus Lemgo – with the collaboration of science and industry together with the Stadt Lemgo. It can act as a model. The makers can be proud. The whole region is in my good favor.
Not just the development of new industrial production standards is important for the technology region OWL, but also the development of intelligent technical systems for supporting humans in production environment. The research activities and collaborations of partners from economy, science and research at Innovation Campus do play an important role in the profiling of Lemgo in the topic area of Intelligent Automation and Industry 4.0.