Innovation is the key driver of our economy. For an industrial state like North Rhine-Westphalia—with such a critical focus on the field of new materials—it is especially important to use new products every day to maintain or, better yet, strengthen our current position in the international arena. As key enablers of innovation, new materials—as well as other cross-cutting technologies such as nanotechnology, microsystems technology, and photonics—make valuable contributions to addressing global challenges and developing new technologies and applications for innovative, commercially successful products.
Research and development infrastructures provide—especially for small and medium-sized enterprises as well as startups—crucial support for innovation by offering not only infrastructure but also services. This is intended, among other things, to reduce the financial risk for innovative companies and increase their innovation potential. For this reason, in this issue we present several exemplary institutions with different technological focuses.
Startups and new ventures in the field of key technologies, in particular, face unique challenges. Providing sustainable support for such projects requires a specialized understanding of technology and the industry—an understanding that is often lacking in many “general” support structures in this sector. That is why I am pleased to announce today that the NMWP.NRW cluster is currently preparing an accelerator program specifically aimed at founders in the high-tech sector. This is an important step for all NRW founders in the field of key technologies. We will publish further information on this at a later date.
In addition, this issue features a review of the 8th NRW Nano Conference, which—not least due to the expansion of its scope to include the field of new materials and their resulting applications—was once again a resounding success. Building on this success, we have already begun planning the 9th NRW Nano Conference, which will take place in Münster in 2020.
Last but not least, the official kickoff event for “ROCKET Reloaded” took place on June 18. With this Interreg VA project, we aim to build on the great success of the “ROCKET” project. To this end, there will be another open call this fall, during which you can submit your cross-border project idea—based on key technologies—in the fields of health, energy, and manufacturing.