Regional & urban innovation systems

We support you in the local implementation of innovative concepts for the sustainable development of regions, cities, and municipalities. By connecting local stakeholders, we initiate ecosystems of innovations and thus strengthen the effectiveness of your initiatives. 

Climate change, digitisation, and sustainability pose complex challenges for regions, cities, and municipalities. We focus on your needs. Together, we shape the transition towards resilient and smart living spaces that focus on the common good of the people.

Our services 

Process and strategy consulting & implementation

• Strategy consulting for smart cities and regions on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development, and Building (BMWSB) as part of the Coordination and Transfer Office Model Projects Smart Cities (KTS)

• Strengthening the effectiveness of smart city measures through innovative approaches to knowledge transfer and knowledge management

• With our urbanSPICE consulting approach, we support and empower municipal actors: We evaluate and analyse the status quo, develop recommendations for action, design roadmaps, and accompany implementation.

• Regional competition and innovation analyses

• We advise counties and use innovative tools, such as our “Foresight Navigator,” with which we design scenarios for transformation processes.Process support for the implementation of concepts, for example the development of digital twins in municipalities 

• We are committed to the national and international visibility of resilience research and are designing concepts for an “International Resilience Research Center @ Ahr Valley.” 

Our consulting tools help you move forward 

	innoSPICE – optimises the socio-economic value creation of your research infrastructures.
	urbanSPICE – promotes the development and implementation of your integrated smart city strategies.
	regioSPICE – supports you in the development and implementation of regional innovation strategies.

These tools are based on SPICE (Software Process Improvement and Capability Determination), the globally accepted standard for process analysis in organizations. 

Knowledge transfer and networking 

• We are the project office for Rhineland-Palatinate within the framework of the “Climate Adaptation, Flood, Resilience” (KAHR) project: In this project, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), we organise knowledge transfer and network stakeholders from science and practice. 

• As a subsidiary of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), we network local stakeholders in the regions affected by the 2021 flood disaster with DLR institutes in the fields of mobility and energy. 

• We use our own transfer formats to disseminate best practices: Transfer Radar, Transfer Toolbox, Transfer Navigator. 

• We connect municipalities on smart city topics and promote regional networks. 

Participation 

• Design and implementation of participatory formats 

Knowledge and information management 

• Development of knowledge and networking platforms for the implementation of complex knowledge management, transformation processes, and knowledge transfer 

• Qualification 

• Qualification program "Smart City Manager” for employees in municipalities that have embarked on the path to becoming a smart city or would like to do so on behalf of the BMWSB. The aim of the qualification program is to acquire basic skills for managing smart city projects and to expand existing experience. 

Networks 

We strengthen topics and connect stakeholders: 

• Global Network for Regional Resilience Foresight - This network brings together partners from the fields of research, innovation, education, and think tanks from various countries around the world. Its goal is to utilize and further develop the potential of strategic foresight and other methods of futurology to make regions resilient. To this end, it works closely with practitioners and various thematic experts. More Information
• Thematic group “Urban Diplomacy” in the international network “ENRICH Global” - “Urban Diplomacy” addresses local authorities as key players in the formulation and implementation of foreign policy. For the multilateral coordination of this topic, we have established the thematic group “Urban Diplomacy” embedded in the international network ENRICH Global. More Information

Our services are aimed at 

Ministries for urban and regional development, municipalities, cities, interest groups, smart city managers, climate protection managers, actors in European regional development, innovators in the context of regional development. 

Your contact at IQIB 

Dr.-Ing. Michael Boronowsky