Last year, the NanoMikroWerkstoffePhotonik.NRW cluster celebrated its tenth anniversary. Recognizing the critical importance of innovation for the competitiveness and future viability of North Rhine-Westphalia’s economy, we recognized early on the significant catalytic effect of key technologies in this context. Therefore, from day one, our goal has been to create a favorable environment for high-tech innovations and to translate them into commercially successful products.
To this day, we have succeeded in identifying key trends and developments at an early stage and supporting emerging new technologies and their further development from the very beginning. As part of the NMWP.NRW cluster, the Quantentechnologien.NRW (QT.NMWP.NRW) coordination office was launched in early 2019 to strengthen and consolidate all of North Rhine-Westphalia’s activities in the field of quantum technologies. This is an important milestone in our work, as quantum technologies represent an equally important and logical addition to our technology portfolio, and North Rhine-Westphalia is one of Europe’s most important quantum technology hubs. To give you an insight into the excellent expertise already available today in North Rhine-Westphalia’s business and scientific communities in these areas—and, not least, to offer inspiration for your own use of quantum technologies—we have dedicated the current issue of NMWP Magazine entirely to this exciting field.
One of the highlights of this year’s events will be the 9th NRW Nano Conference, taking place on October 29 and 30 in Münster. Once again this year, numerous international experts will discuss current developments and the potential of nanotechnologies and new materials, as well as their fields of application. More detailed information will be available shortly.
n the area of key technology applications, we placed a strong emphasis on “lightweight construction” in 2019, for example for automotive applications. With the goal of reducing CO2 emissions, automobiles must become lighter, and production processes must become more efficient and resource-conserving. To assess the current situation and analyze industry needs, we held a strategy workshop with key industry representatives from various sectors amid vintage race cars at the Meilenwerk in Düsseldorf. These findings and requirements were also forwarded to Berlin, where the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWI) is currently developing the future funding instrument known as the “Lightweight Construction Technology Transfer Program.” Here, too, NMWP.NRW played an active role in the development of this nearly 300 million euro funding program. The fact that not only the automotive sector but also the aviation industry is undergoing transformation was demonstrated by the great interest in our second application-oriented impulse workshop, “Innovations and Technologies for the Aviation Industry.” In December 2019, over a hundred experts from industry and academia discussed the potential, risks, and future opportunities for North Rhine-Westphalia in the aviation sector. Here, too, it became clear that many exciting developments are already underway, which we will continue to monitor this year as well.
2020 promises to be an exciting and innovative year, as the issue of structural change in the Rhineland mining region continues to take shape. By 2038, approximately 15 billion euros are to be invested to secure the electricity supply on the one hand and to replace jobs that will be lost in the future with new ones on the other. The good news is that key technologies will make an important contribution to this effort. For example, the NMWP.NRW cluster became involved early on in the development process of the “Economic and Structural Program 1.0” and highlighted the economic opportunities and potential of key technologies. Thanks in no small part to feedback from many stakeholders in our network, we were able to provide a wealth of ideas that are now reflected in the Economic and Structural Program 1.0. Join us in shaping the future of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Rhineland mining region.