Bremen's Senator for Economic Affairs, Labor and Ports, the industrial company Lenze and the University of Bremen are working together to develop this new, forward-looking infrastructure. The Digital Hub Industry is an innovation ecosystem for the transfer of knowledge and technology between companies and research departments in the immediate vicinity of the university. Hamelin-based automation specialist Lenze will bundle its digital expertise in the new building. "We are delighted about the start of the project in several respects. This will be the new home of our Lenze.Digital and encoway teams, which are currently spread across the city, but above all we are also sending out an important signal of our digital awakening. We will become even more attractive to our customers as a partner for comprehensive automation and digitalization solutions along the entire value chain," says Frank Maier, Chief Technology Officer Lenze.

"Without the right infrastructure and strong partnerships, the digital transformation will not succeed. Lenze recognized this early on and, together with our subsidiary encoway, created the basis for successful technology and knowledge transfer in Bremen 20 years ago. With the construction of the new building and the Digital Hub Industry integrated into it, we are now opening the next chapter in this success story and bundling our digital activities at the Bremen site in future. We have found the perfect location for this here in the technology park on the university campus, which also gives us access to new digital talent and experts to further expand our digital business," explained Maier.

In the hub, the growing encoway as well as a new office of the subsidiary logicline and the digital laboratory DOCK.ONE will find a new, larger home under the umbrella of Lenze.Digital.

Christoph Ranze, founder of encoway and head of Lenze's digital business, added: "As the driving force behind this dream project, we at encoway are of course particularly looking forward to the new building. With the enlarged DOCK.ONE and its integration into the Digital Hub, we will create an extremely attractive melting pot for innovation and collaboration in the field of digital transformation. The best thing about it is that we are inviting our customers to become part of this innovation ecosystem. Whether CPQ, IIOT or artificial intelligence - the expertise of our hub network is already impressive. I am certain that this new form of future-oriented cooperation will have an impact far beyond national borders."

"We are delighted that Lenze SE and its Bremen subsidiary encoway have decided to further expand the Bremen site. I am particularly pleased that we will be jointly developing the Digital Hub Industry, a key project of Bremen's digital strategy Bremen Digital, at this location. The Digital Hub Industry will bring business and science closer together in the field of digitalization. Bremen is at the forefront of application-oriented research, and the Digital Hub will enable us to anchor knowledge and technologies in companies even more than before. This transfer to companies is ultimately crucial for Bremen as a business location and this is precisely what our efforts to date have been based on. That is why the laying of the foundation stone today is a very good signal for Bremen," explains Kristina Vogt, Senator for Economic Affairs.

As a space for ideas, experimentation and collaboration with an industrial focus, the Digital Hub Industry is geared towards development and transfer: The basic idea is to create a place for exchange between

companies and research departments at universities and colleges. On the one hand, the cooperating companies such as Lenze provide their industrial expertise and contribute their digital challenges and current problems as concrete objects of investigation for research projects. On the other hand, the companies benefit from the research results and can transform them into new digital products, services or business models.

Mayor Bovenschulte: "The Digital Hub Industry will become a showcase project with international appeal and another good reason for companies to relocate to the location in the future. The young, creative environment of the University of Bremen with its numerous research facilities and well-trained specialists is extremely attractive for many companies. I am delighted that the activities of recent years and the joint work on the Digital Hub concept are now bearing fruit and becoming a reality."

The Digital Hub will give start-ups the opportunity to find each other, found and develop further. In addition to pure office space, the hub's offerings therefore include an event center, innovation labs, co-working and maker spaces where new project ideas can be developed and implemented together with a network of supporters.

In her welcoming address, Senator for Science and Ports Dr. Claudia Schilling expressed the importance of the new building for the state of Bremen: "The Digital Hub Industry will provide important impetus for knowledge and technology transfer for our science location. I am proud that the University of Bremen and non-university institutes in particular will be involved in the Digital Hub Industry in a variety of ways. This will provide our students - who could potentially become founders themselves - with valuable insights into the entrepreneurial practice of companies."

The Digital Hub Industry will be located in a new building called NEOS. This seven-storey building offers more than 12,000 m² of modern co-working and conference rooms, innovative lab facilities as well as office and technical space. The project company "Konrad-Zuse-Straße GmbH" has been secured as the developer for the new building. The project development company Powerhouse is responsible for the planning and implementation of the construction project. The building was designed by Bremen architects GMD according to the wishes of encoway and Lenze.