![[Translate to English:] Programmiererin und Programmierer aus dem Bereich IT Services im Ruhrgebiet](https://www.business.ruhr/fileadmin/_processed_/8/d/csm_zukunftsmarkt_IT_Services_im_Ruhrgebiet_sigmund-Im_cQ6hQo10-unsplash_99de825617.jpg)
In the Ruhr region, digital developments are driving structural change. The IT industry has great market potential and international steel power. It also offers the region potential solutions for key economic and social challenges such as climate protection, resource efficiency, mobility and logistics, collaborative production or smart health. It is therefore all the more important that the metropolitan region offers excellent location conditions for the development of companies in the IT service sector.
Making competencies visible
The Ruhr Metropolis has particular specializations and competencies and, in particular, a global leadership position in cyber security services. However, these strengths are not yet well known in Germany and Europe. Therefore, one target area of the Smart Specialization Strategy (S3): Increasing visibility as well as improving international marketing activities with regard to digital competencies within the Ruhr Metropolis, as well as developing the region into a flagship for cyber security and artificial intelligence. Finally, not only already internationally established companies, but also start-ups benefit from global networks and knowledge transfer.
The strategy of intelligent specialization (S3) is an important basis for obtaining European funding for regional development. The European Commission promotes the specialization of economic strengths - based on the strategy, the Ruhr Metropolis further develops its central competencies, unique selling points and lighthouse projects.
Cluster: Cybersecurity
The Ruhr Metropolis already has a developed cluster in the field of cyber security. The Horst Görtz Institute (HGI) for IT Security is a department of the Ruhr University Bochum as well as one of the world's leading institutes for IT security in Europe with 26 professors and more than 200 interdisciplinary scientists ranging from electrical engineering to social sciences. The HGI is also home to the Cluster of Excellence "CASA: Cyber Security in the Age of Large-Scale Attackers," funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). More than 20 private spin-offs have emerged from the institute based on the value creation potentials, making Bochum, Gelsenkirchen, Dortmund and Essen a hotspot for cyber security innovations.
Bochum
- Horst-Görtz-Institute (HGI) for IT-security
- CASA: Cybersecurity in the age of large scale attackers
- G Data Cyber-Defense AG
- Ruhr-Universität: Bachelor- and Master-Studies in IT-security
- International School of IT-Security
- Max-Planck-Institute for security and Privacy
- Bochum Institute for Technology
- Science Lab Cube 5
Cluster: Artificial Intelligence
The field of artificial intelligence (AI) is already present in important regional research institutes and influences the region's innovation and transfer landscape as well as higher education and training in this field. In Bochum and Dortmund, IT services are already the fastest growing sector of the economy. Important players with national and international excellence are located in the Ruhr Metropolis. The regional specialization competencies in the field of AI can contribute to supporting the development of many economic sectors.
Image credit: @sigmund auf unsplash.de