IT meets industry
The Stuttgart region is a leading IT location. Innovative software developments from the region are in demand in many industries around the world. With the strong industrial location, the scientific infrastructure and a lively scene behind it, a digital location has developed its own unique character.
The IT industry meets its most important customers in industry in the Stuttgart region. The need for intelligent IT solutions is constantly growing, especially in the mobility industry and mechanical engineering, the central regional industries. In close cooperation with specialized companies, global players such as Mercedes Benz, Porsche and Trumpf are developing new solutions for automated driving and Industry 4.0.
Information technology already has a long tradition in the Stuttgart region. The companies IBM and hp have had their German and European headquarters in the region for decades. Other companies that give the Stuttgart IT region international appeal include T-Systems, GFT, Team Viewer, AFI, Compart, Spirit/21, ELO Digital Office, RIB Software, Cenit, Diconium and Datagroup. In addition – and this is typical for the Stuttgart region – an extremely strong middle class provides the breeding ground for economic success. Well over 6.000 small and medium-sized IT companies have emerged in the Stuttgart IT region, which primarily offer industry-oriented services.
Research and Development
The research infrastructure in the Stuttgart region – Europe's No. 1 high-tech location – is at the highest international level. This also applies to the area of IT and communications technology. For example, at the beginning of 2021, Europe's first commercially usable quantum computer was put into operation in the Ehningen IBM data center, which is of course also used for research purposes. In the Stuttgart High Performance Computing Center (HLRS) Scientists from all over the world and experts from industry work together in an interdisciplinary manner to use simulations to find solutions to complex problems in a wide range of areas. The numerous research institutions such as: B. the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems as co-founder of the cluster for artificial intelligence in CyberValley, the Fraunhofer Institutes IAO and IPA with their own AI advancement center, and six institutes of the German Aerospace Center located here. The Stuttgart, Karlsruhe and Neckar-Alb region also want to bundle their competencies in an “AI Baden-Württemberg Innovation Park” and thereby jointly create an AI ecosystem and strengthen Baden-Württemberg as a location in this area.
The Stuttgart region has a variety of excellent educational institutions related to information technology. The University of Stuttgart and numerous other renowned universities such as the Stuttgart University of Technology, the Stuttgart Media University, the Esslingen University of Applied Sciences and the Herman Hollerith Center Böblingen ensure qualified young IT talent. There are also a number of state and private education providers that offer practical and application-oriented training courses and further qualifications alongside work.
Competence and innovation centers
Im Software center Böblingen/Sindelfingen More than 100 companies work on solutions and services for corporate customers on over 12.000 square meters. The software center supports its members in administrative and technical areas and offers them attractive rental conditions.
The competence center for virtual reality (VR) and virtual engineering Virtual Dimension Center (VDC) in Fellbach brings together the know-how around VR and is a contact point for companies and scientific institutions that are dealing with this future field.