On Tuesday 26 January 2016, the Berlin Senator for Economic Affairs, Technology and Research, Cornelia Yzer, and the Executive Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems, Prof. Dr. Manfred Hauswirth, signed the agreement for founding of the Digital Networking Centre of Excellence.

"We would like to thank the Senate Department for Economic Affairs, Technology and Research for the commitment and support in founding the Centre of Excellence. We are optimistic that the opening of the Centre of Excellence can be finalised in the near term", Manfred Hauswirth said at the signing ceremony at Fraunhofer FOKUS.

Not only did Senator Yzer pledge six million Euro in funding, she also promised her personal support in order to ensure the success of the Centre of Excellence: "The Centre of Excellence aims to and will provide solutions to enable digitalization for both industry and medium-sized companies. The newly established centre will provide Berlin with the ideal prerequisites to become an international beacon of digital networking."

The Fraunhofer Centre of Excellence "Digital Networking" is a partnership of the four Berlin Fraunhofer Institutes: FOKUS, HHI, IPK and IZM. The centre's work will focus on technologies and solutions which address the increasing digitalization and networking in all areas of life. Research will be performed on both basic and crossover technologies as well as solutions for the four specific areas of application:

• Health and Medicine
• Mobility and Cities of the Future
• Industry and Production
• Critical Infrastructure

The goal of the partners is to bundle their competencies in the areas of ICT, data processing, development and implementation of electronic systems as well as production and microelectronics. The primary objective is to utilize synergy effects between these fields and to cover the entire technology chain of digital networking.

With its portfolio of Fraunhofer Institutes, other renowned research institutes, universities, businesses and its exciting start-up scene, Berlin is an ideal location. The centre plans to leverage this to advance digital networking not only throughout Germany but also internationally, and to position Berlin as the leader for the next wave of digitalization.

Industry partners have the opportunity to cooperate with the involved Fraunhofer Institutes within the framework of research projects. The advantages include utilizing the existing technological infrastructure of the Institutes and the direct transfer of research findings into practical applications.

The Fraunhofer Centre of Excellence "Digital Networking" will work closely with the Technical University of Berlin, especially with the faculties II Mathematics and Natural Sciences, IV Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and V Mechanical Engineering and Transport Systems.

It will be funded by the Senate Department for Economic Affairs, Technology and Research