Exciting, open, virtual: Around 60 interested parties discussed innovation and digitalisation in SMEs at enablingcamp Münsterland

An open conference that is co-developed and designed by the participants themselves - and all that online too? It works! The enablingcamp Münsterland proved that on Friday. Around 60 interested people met online on the topic of "Innovation and digitalisation in SMEs" and dedicated themselves to different facets of this topic in 14 sessions and various virtual rooms.

The organiser of the bar camp was the Mittelstand 4.0 Competence Centre Lingen together with Münsterland e.V. and the Digital Hub münsterLAND. Other partners were the projects Enabling Networks Münsterland, NRW.Innovationspartner, start.connect and the Digi-Up! Network. "We are delighted that so many from Münsterland dared to take part in this digital experiment with us and even more delighted that the barcamp went so smoothly," emphasises Bernd Büdding, head of the Enabling Networks Münsterland project at Münsterland e.V. "The barcamp proved that online meetings can be held very effectively and that virtual networking is also possible."

Sebastian Köffer, Business Manager of the Digital Hub münsterLAND, sees the trend towards digital events confirmed: "We all hope that the enablingcamp 2021 can take place offline again. But we will certainly also keep successful digital elements of the barcamp."

The participants and contributors came from SMEs, academia and start-ups and together brought very different perspectives to the barcamp. In a joint round with all participants, moderated by Barcamp veteran Kai Heddergott, they agreed on possible presentations and discussion rounds and thus drafted the plan for the day. Afterwards, they exchanged ideas in the virtual sessions on topics such as digital platforms, innovation with virtual teams, applied science and digital production. The sessions on artificial intelligence and automation, for example, which the participants themselves contributed, also made for exciting discussions.

Meanwhile, people were busy networking in the digital café or in the chats in the virtual rooms. The hashtag #enablingMSL20 was also used to continuously tweet, comment and share in social media.

The "enablingcamp Münsterland" series first took place in 2017 at the initiative of the Enabling Innovation Münsterland project of Münsterland e.V. and has now entered its fourth round with the follow-up project Enabling Networks Münsterland and the Mittelstand 4.0 Competence Centre Lingen.

More about Enabling Networks Münsterland

The Enabling Networks Münsterland project is funded by the European Union and the NRW Ministry of Economics as part of the ERDF call "Regio.NRW". As a regional network initiative and successor project to Enabling Innovation Münsterland, Enabling Networks Münsterland has been supporting companies and universities in Münsterland to develop innovations, implement them and find the right partners for the project since the project launch in September 2019. The project network consists of the economic development agencies of the Münsterland districts and the Münster Technology Promotion Agency, as well as the transfer offices of the regional universities and five specialist institutions that drive innovation in their industries.

More about the SME 4.0 Competence Centre Lingen

The Mittelstand 4.0 Competence Centre Lingen is part of the funding initiative "Mittelstand 4.0" of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), which unites a total of 26 competence centres throughout Germany. münsterLAND.digital e.V. is the deputy consortium leader of the Mittelstand 4.0 Competence Centre Lingen and disseminates and organises the offers in the Münsterland region. As a companion for digitalisation topics, the Lingen Competence Centre offers a diverse range of support services free of charge. Personal orientation talks enable an entry into a digitisation project. Existing knowledge is expanded through workshops and specialist seminars. The planning and support of the previously developed digitisation project are also part of the scope of the offer. This enables SMEs to understand new data-driven business models, recognise potential and identify valuable data.