IT cluster Rhein-Main-Neckar
The IT cluster Rhein-Main-Neckar , also known as Silicon Valley of Germany or Silicon Valley of Europe, is one of the most important locations for the ICT and high-tech industry worldwide. It is concentrated in the metropolitan regions Rhein-Main and Rhein-Neckar . The largest IT cluster in Europe has formed in the region. The region brings together 50 percent of the global sales of the hundred largest European software providers .
In addition to universities such as the Technical University of Darmstadt and the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main and research institutions such as the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence , software companies, including SAP , Software AG and T-Systems, are also based in the region.
The IT cluster Rhein-Main-Neckar is part of the top cluster software cluster, which also includes other regions. Since 2017, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research has been supporting the collaboration between the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence , the Saarland Computer Science Competence Center and Darmstadt Technical University with companies and research institutions from Silicon Valley , Singapore and Bahia in Brazil .
Role in the world
In 2010 the French venture capital company Truffle Capital published in its study “Truffle 100 European Clusters” that the Rhine-Main-Neckar region accounts for 50 percent of the global sales of the hundred largest European software providers . She compared the Rhine-Main-Neckar region as an IT cluster with Silicon Valley as “Europe's Silicon Valley”. According to this study, the Rhein-Main-Neckar-IT-Cluster brought together more than 12.5 billion euros in software-related sales in 2009. The next largest European IT cluster is Paris with 2.4 billion euros.
In a 2009 study, the region was compared with IT clusters such as Oulu (Finland), Bangalore (India) and Silicon Valley. In contrast to Silicon Valley, the main area of business for companies in the region is corporate software .
| Location | Main business area | size | Residents | Employees | Companies | sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rhine Main Neckar | Business software | 5,000 km² | 7.6 million | 80,000 | 8,000 | 42 billion |
| Silicon Valley (USA) | Software & hardware | 4,000 km² | 2.3 million | 500,000 | 7,000 | 180 billion |
| Bangalore (India) | software | 500 km² | 5.0 million | 80,000 | 1,500 | 2 billion |
| Oulu (Finland) | telecommunications | 400 km² | 0.13 million | 18,000 | 800 | 5 billion |
The region is also one of the world's most important locations for IT security research. The renowned Center for Research in Security and Privacy (CRISP), the largest research institute for IT security in Europe, is located in the region and is financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research . According to an analysis by the company Startup Genome, which specializes in the analysis of startup ecosystems, the Rhine-Main region also has one of the most important startup ecosystems in the fields of IT security and fintech.
According to a study by the European Commission in 2014, the Darmstadt region has the best cluster in the “emerging industries” of all EU regions. This is understood to mean future technologies to which the EU attaches particular importance for growth in Europe. Darmstadt therefore also has the best biopharmaceutical cluster in Europe . The Rhineland-Palatinate region is in second place among the biopharmaceutical clusters .
Role in Germany
In Darmstadt, a high proportion of the added value of the entire German ICT industry is generated. In 2006 Darmstadt accounted for almost 30 billion euros in sales.
According to a study by the auditing company Ernst & Young from 2018, 24% of all fintechs in Germany are located in the Rhine-Main-Neckar region, with Frankfurt am Main being the center. This makes the Rhine-Main-Neckar region one of the most important locations for the fintech industry in Germany.
According to a 2013 study, the Rhine-Main region has the best cluster in Germany in the financial and consulting industry .
According to the German Research Foundation (DFG) which belongs Technical University of Darmstadt (TU Darmstadt), based on the research of the best universities in Germany in the computer science and the University of Mainz at the best universities in Germany in the natural sciences . According to the 2018 Funding Atlas of the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Technical University of Darmstadt received the highest funding from the DFG in the field of computer science and the University of Mainz in the natural sciences in the period under review from 2014 to 2016. In a competitive selection process, the DFG selects the best research projects from researchers at universities and research institutions and finances them.
Software cluster
In January 2010 the software cluster won the top cluster competition of the federal government of Germany. The set goal of the cluster is to enable the transformation of companies into digital companies. This cluster consists of the centers Darmstadt, Kaiserslautern, Karlsruhe, Saarbrücken and Walldorf. In summer 2012, the international jury of the top cluster competition recommended that the federal government approve the second funding phase. There was no further funding. The universities in the software cluster include the Technical University of Darmstadt , the Technical University of Kaiserslautern , the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the University of Saarland .
The software cluster is represented by a regional coordination office in each of the participating regions. In the Rhein-Main-Neckar region this function is taken over by IT for work eV, in the North Baden region by Cyberforum eV, in the Rheinhessen-Pfalz region by Software Technologie Initiative eV and in the Saarland region by the Saarland Computer Science Competence Center.
Resident universities
- Darmstadt University of Technology
- Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main
- University of Mannheim
- Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
- RheinMain University of Applied Sciences
- Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences
- Darmstadt College
The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology is one of the universities that are not located directly in the Rhein-Main-Neckar IT cluster, but rather adjoin it, but have nevertheless contributed to the development .
Resident companies (selection)
- 1 and 1
- DE-CIX
- Accenture
- Computer Sciences Corporation
- Crytek
- Euromicron
- Financial informatics
- Fujitsu Semiconductor Europe
- Isra vision
- Merck
- Kalypso Media
- Keen Games
- MAXON
- Microsoft Germany
- Oracle Germany
- Rakuten Kobo Germany
- Professional engineering systems
- P&I Personal & IT
- SAP
- Schott AG
- Singulus Technologies
- Software AG
- T-Online
- T-Systems
- TrekStor
Resident research institutions (selection)
- German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence
- Center for Research in Security and Privacy (CRISP)
- Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology
- Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics
- GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research (GSI)
- Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR)
- Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability (LBF)
- European Space Control Center (ESOC)
- European Organization for the Use of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT)
Web links
- IT for work is a project aimed at better networking the IT companies in the region and presenting it worldwide.
- The software cluster deals with the research and development of software solutions for the extensive digitization of companies
Individual evidence
- ↑ SCIKE | Software cluster. Retrieved October 6, 2019 (German).
- ↑ Press release Truffle Capital: The Rhein-Main-Neckar region continues to be one step ahead in the European software industry. ( Memento from January 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 175 kB)
- ↑ a b Elbert, Ralf & Müller, Fabian & Persch, D .. (2009). Cluster potential in the South Hesse / Rhine Main Neckar region for the development of an information and communication technology cluster.
- ↑ Competence in IT security. Retrieved October 6, 2019 (German).
- ↑ Start. Retrieved October 6, 2019 .
- ^ Startup Genome. (2019). Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2019.
- ↑ Ketels, Christian & Protsiv, Sergiy. (2014). European Cluster Panorama 2014.
- ^ Schmitz, Christopher & Behrens, Jan-Erik & Shevchenko, Dmytro. (2018). Germany FinTech Landscape.
- ↑ Ebner, Alexander & Raschke, Falk Werner. (2013). FrankfurtRheinMain cluster study.
- ↑ Funding Atlas 2018 . In: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Hrsg.): Research reports . 1st edition. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim 2018, ISBN 978-3-527-34520-5 , pp. 127 ff .
- ^ Tasks of the German Research Foundation (DFG). Retrieved on October 14, 2019 (German).
- ↑ Fraunhofer IESE (Institute for Experimental Software Engineering), top cluster jury gives the green light for the next phase ( http://www.iese.fraunhofer.de/de/presse/softwarecluster/PM_2012_16_280812_sc-foerderphase.html )
- ^ Rainer Hein, Darmstadt: IT industry in Darmstadt: In the Silicon Valley of southern Hesse . ISSN 0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed October 5, 2019]).
- ↑ Software cluster | Europe's most powerful network of companies, training and research institutions in the field of software development. Accessed October 7, 2019 (German).
- ↑ Software cluster - contact person. (No longer available online.) In: software-cluster.com. Archived from the original on July 27, 2014 ; Retrieved July 21, 2014 .