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MUNICH - ECONOMIC
NEWS
Munich - leading European
technology center
Contents:
¥ Munich - a top
location
¥ Munich - the
high-tech job market
¥ Munich - the
university city
¥ Non-university
research in Munich
¥ Technology
trade fairs in Munich and other infrastructure
benefits
¥ Munich - The
European patent center
¥ Networks for
innovation and new enterprise
¥ The Munich
Technology and New Enterprise Centers
¥ Munich - the
center for venture capital
¥ The concept
"Offensive Zukunft Bayern"
Link to:
Munich - a top
location
The Munich region with its 70,000-strong workforce is
Germany's leading information and communications location,
and is rated second behind London in the European rankings,
according to a study by management consultants McKinsey.
Over 4,000 companies in and around Munich are actively
involved in the technology innovation sector. Of these,
2,500 companies are focused on the key technologies of
microelectronics, software and hardware. Almost a third of
the 25 biggest software companies in Germany are located in
the Munich area, which explains why the region is now known
throughout the world as the "lsar Valley".
Many of the global players are located in and around Munich:
Apple, CompaqlDigital Equipment, CompuServe, DaimlerChrysler
Aerospace, Fairchild, IBM, Intel, Lotus, Microsoft,
Netscape, Oracle, Rohde & Schwarz, Siemens, Siemens
Nixdorf Texas Instruments, Sun Microsystems and Viag
Intercom are all represented here. And Munich is also a
prime location for fast-growing, innovative companies, such
as DITEC, iXos, Nemetschek, PeopleSoft and sd&m.;
Energy, measurement, testing and control technology,
information and communications technology, data processing,
new materials and both technology-related and
knowledge-intensive services are all further high-tech
fields that maintain a strong presence in and around
Munich.
Nationwide comparisons give Munich a clear lead in the field
of biotechnology. The area, populated by numerous major
corporations, boasting phenomenal research capacity and with
a workforce of over 5,000, is the No. 1 biotechnology
location in Germany, and now ranks seCond in Europe.
Munich - the
high-tech job market
At over 12%, the proportion of highly-qualified specialists
in Munich's working population is the highest amongst all
major cities in Germany. Every tenth person involved in the
computer and data processing industry works in the Munich
region, including over 24,000 salaried software specialists.
They are joined by a large number of freelance developers,
consultants and service providers.
Munich -
the university city
Over 100,000 students are enrolled at Munich's 10
universities and institutes of higher learning, with nearly
30°70 of this number studying for degrees in natural
sciences and technology The new Mechnanical Engineering
Faculty, built in 1997, provides the Technical University
with the most modern as well as one of the largest
mechanical engineering faculties in Europe. Relocation of
the Faculties of lnformation Technology
andMathematicstoGarching has resulted in the creation of a
Mathematics and Natural Science Research Center of
international repute. A Technology and New Enterprise Center
in the immediate vicinity on the university campus aims to
provide ideal conditions in which innovative, fast-growing
information and communications business startups can
prosper. To the north of Munich, Weihenstephan is becoming
an authority of global repute on what is known as "green"
biotechnology. Chairs in zoology, plant genetics, botany and
microbiology will supplement the existing disciplines of
agricultural, environmental and nutritional sciences
concentrated in this area.
Meanwhile, in 1999 the Ludwig Maximilian University is
scheduled to move into its new C hem istry IPharmacy Faculty
on the Life Sciences campus in GrosshadernMartinsried, which
has now established itself as an outstanding research and
applications center for "red" biotechnology. 10,000 people
will eventually teach, learn and work here. The Center for
NanoScience, founded in 1998, is intended as a focal point
for interdisciplinary collaboration between specialistS in
the fields of biology, medicine, chemistry and physics, with
the aim of developing miniature objects, machines and tools.
These projects and others conceived as part of the area's
high-tech offensive will provide an additional boost to this
center of learning.
Non-university research in
Munich
A total of around 6,000 people are employed in nonuniversity
research in Munich and the surrounding region:
· Administrative headquarters for the Max Planck
Gesellschaft, as well as the venue for 5 of its natural
science research institutes
· Headquarters of the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, in addition
to 2 of its natural science research institutes and the
Fraunhofer Management Gesellschaft
· GSF-Forschungszentrum Umwelt und Gesundheit GmbH (research
center for environment and health, member of the Helmholtz
Gesellschaft)
· DLR - Deutsches Zentrum fUr Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V.
(German aviation and aerospace research facility)
· Headquarters of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Bayerischen
Forschungsverbünde (Bavarian research associations'
working party), most of the 22 establishments of which are
located in the Munich area.
Munich is also a major center for R&D; undertaken by private
industry. Companies such as Siemens, BMW
DaimlerChryslerAerospace (DASA), Krauss-Maffei, IBM,
MAN-Technologie, Rohde & Schwarz
andKraft-Jakobs-Suchard,to namebut a few, have an extremely
high percentage of R&D; staff located in and around
Munich.
Technology trade fairs in
Munich and other infrastructure benefits
Munich is one of the leading international technology trade
fair venues in Europe. Some of the more widely known of
these trade fairs include SYSTEMS (now extended to include
the area of multimedia), SEMICON (a newcomer centered around
the manufacture of semiconductors, due to start up in April
1999), Produktronica, electronica, LASER and Analytica,
Ceramitec and IFAT, as well as Drinktec/nterbrau. Over
520,000 trade visitors, 10,000 convention participants and
over ll,000 exhibitors from more than 100 countries visit
these events each year.
High-tech trade fairs in particular will also have gained
fresh momentum from the new exhibition center in Riemnot
least due to to an information and communications
infrastructure without equal among its European competitor
sites, and to the increased exhibition space available at
the new facility. The opening in October 1998 ofthe
International Congress Center Munich (ICM) in close
proximity to the new exhibition center has added the
finishing touches to the impressive surroundings with its
flexible accommodation for up to 6,500 convention
participants and its high-tech facilities.
A wide variety of trade publications.and specialist
publishers based in Munich, such as IDG, Magna Media, Vogel,
Weka, Ziff and others, provide an additional communications
platform for the high-tech sector that is unparalleled in
Germany.
With regard to the region's telecommunications
infrastructure and high-performance transmission paths, the
three municipal network operators Colt, DTAG and M"net ply
their trade in competition with the telecommunications
services of other carriers. The municipal operator M"net has
fast made a name for itself since starting up in July 1996,
and is now used by over 50 major companies, in particular
those with high bandwidth requirements.
Munich - The
European patent center
Serving as the headquarters of several important patent
institutions, complemented by a dense network of patent
lawyers, as well as patent information and service agencies,
Munich is indisputably the most important center for the
application and grant~ng of patent rights in Europe:
· the European Patent Office
· the German Patent Office
· the German Patent Court
· the Patent Center for German Research of the Fraunhofer
Gesellschaft
· the Garching Innovation, the patent organization of the
Max Planck Gesellschaft
· the Max Planck Institute for Fore~gn and International
Patent, Copyright and Competition Law
Networks
for innovation and new enterprise
No fewer than 15 centers of technology transfer at the
universities, the "Fachhochschule" (Polytechnic university)
and the chambers of commerce, all of which work together
within the Upper Bavarian technology transfer association,
serve to facilitate intensive cooperation between reasearch
and industry.
300 companies have now joined the FNT e.V. (group supporting
new technologies/forum for companies specializing in
innovative technologies). The FNT e.V. aims to act as a
contact and information platform to link up the existing
innovative technological potential in the Greater Munich
area, and thus provide support for innovative, high-tech
business startups as well as for companies already operating
in this sector.
The successful Munich business plan competition is being
held for its third successive year in 1998/1999. Business
startup teams are required to draw up operating plans for
fast-growing, innovative companies. They are supported in
their efforts by coaches with management experience, who
provide the necessary know-how and do-how in the course of
teaching and liaison sessions. The excellent starting
conditions are supplemented by cash prizes for the most
successful entrants. The two previous competitions have
resulted in 30 business startups, which are set to employ up
to 500 staff by the end of1999.
The GrUnderRegio M, an initiative established by
universities, trading associations and investors, is set to
achieve a sustained improvement in the new enterprise
culture at Munich's universities with its selective package
of activities, due to commence in the early summer of
1999.
The
Munich Technology and New Enterprise Centers
The Munich Technology Center (MTZ), occupying approximately
11,000 m2 of rental space, provides an ideal location for
new enterprises, companies and research groups involved in
original high-tech developments. The Fraunhofer Management
Gesellschaft offers MTZ companies full technical and
commercial services. 1998 saw the opening of the newly built
third wing of the Center for Innovation and New Enterprise
in Biotechnology (IZB) in Martinsried. As a result, 6,000 m2
of floor space in a perfectly tailored infrastructual
context is now available to young, innovative biotechnology
companies. Stage 4 of the building project, currently in the
construction phase, is also generating considerable
interest.
Munich - the
center for venture capital
Germany's venture capital center acts as a magnet to the
international venture capital community. In addition to a
large number of investment companies, four of the most
prominent privately owned providers of venture capital also
have a presence in Munich. It is notable that nine of the
venture capital companies located in the region have
specialized in biotechnology investments. Banks, large
corporations and global players from the chemicals industry
in particular constitute a further source of venture
capital, either by means of direct participation or through
venture capital funds. Some of the most prominent names in
this context include Allianz UBG, Apax Partners, Atlas
Venture, BayBG Bayerische Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH,
Techno Holding VC and TVM Techno Venture Management, to name
but a few.
Of the gross investment volume channeled into venture
capital in Germany in1997, 20% flowed into companies in
Bavaria alone in the long term - the lion's share of this
amount being concentrated in the Greater Munich area. Around
32°70 of the fledgling companies financed by venture
capital are Munich-based. Respected sources estimate that
around DM 1 billion in venture capital is awaiting
investment in promising innovative ideas and projects in and
around Munich.
The concept
"Offensive Zukunft Bayern"
("An Offensive forthe Future of Bavaria")
The Free State of Bavaria has invested DM 3.5 billion in
this project since 1994, with the aim of supporting ongoing
future-oriented development of the region's technological
and economic structures. The high-tech offensive, funded to
the tune of DM 2 billion, will be working towards linking up
the region's main scientific and economic assets during the
coming years to form a high-tech Bavarian network based on
the division of labour. The Greater Munich area will see
further expansion of the existing leading international
biotechnology/Life Sciences facilities, as well as of the
centers specializing in information and communications
technology with a large number of measures and projects in
the pipeline. As part of this high-tech offensive, several
projects will be implemented in the Munich region in what is
known as Bavaria's software offensive, involving
high-profile software companies located in and around
Munich.
Munich's outstanding resources with its universities and
research facilities, its high concentration of information
and communications skills, its professional network of
services and investors, its great media and multimedia
assets and its political backup all combine to provide ideal
conditions in which the area's multinational companies, as
well as highly innovative small and medium-sizedbusinesses
and startups, can continue to flourish - leading to greater
prosperity for the region as a whole.
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