Competence Centre Mittelstand 4.0 Berlin

Overview

The Competence Center Mittelstand 4.0 Berlin is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs. It aims at providing support to German SMEs to digitalise their businesses. For this purpose events, trainings, workshops and projects re funded by the ministry. The Competence Centre started in 2016 and since then has reached out to about 30.000 SMEs throughout Germany. It is run by the Federal Associationof SMEs, the Bundesverband mittelständische Wirtschaft, and supported by scientific experts, such as for example the Hasso Plattner Institute, the University of Potsdam and the University of Brandenburg. 

As the hub is funded, all costs are already covered. The approved budget for the work of our competence centre is  around 4.500.000 Euro for the period of Mai 2016 until Apirl 2019. No further investments are taken during the funding period. Because of this situation all information provided by the hub are not linked to any product and therefore totally neutral. The aim of totally neutral information to SMEs can therefore be granted.

The formalised end-time is 30th of April 2021 because funding ends at this time. As of Mai 2021 the hub could be continued provided that a the consortium is able to establish a business model. 

Following partners support the Bundesverband mittelständische Wirtschaft with their expertise: 

Hasso-Plattner-Institute (HPI) : The HPI oversees all trainings and workshops offered by the Competence Centre Berlin. It applies the design thinking method in all formats and helps SMEs to identify their potential of a digital business model. The workshops and trainings are taking place in Berlin and will be rolled out in the coming two years also in other regions in cooperation with other Competence Centres.

The University of Potsdam (UP) is responsible for the evaluation and the development of a digital maturity model for SMEs. This tool will help SMEs to find out which stage of digital maturity it has already reached. According to the result the SME can reach out to the Competence Centres and get help where needed.

The Technische Hochschule Brandenburg (THB) oversees the implementation of digital projects. The Competence Centre Berlin works on 60 digital projects. Five projects are fully implemented and present as a result a prototype solution. Other projects are short and present as a result a strategy that can be implemented. All solutions are based on a prototypic situation and are therefore applicable to a wide range of SMEs with comparable challenges.

The Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) is an important link to the start-up community in Berlin. The HIIG is networking actively to Start-ups and identify new trends that could be relevant for SMEs. It provide information to the consortium on innovative working methods and contributes to the matching between SMEs and Start-ups. The HIIG also implements digital projects.

The Bundesverband mittelständische Wirtschaft (BVMW) coordinates the consortium, establishes the network to SMEs in Germany, actively informs about all activities of the Centre and is networking with key players in the field of digitalisation and SMEs. Digital technologies.