F r a u n h o F e r I n s t I t u t e F o r I n d u s t r I a l e n g I n e e r I n g I a o

IAO NewsDecember 2015/January 2016

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Fraunhofer IAOThe basis for all work undertaken at the Fraunhofer IAO is

a deep conviction that business success in a globalized

arena is contingent on an ability to profitably leverage new

high-tech potentials. In order to optimally exploit these op-

portunities, companies must be capable of developing and

implementing customer and employee-oriented

technologies faster than their competitors. Work organi-

zation concepts must be simultaneously innovative and

anthropocentric. A systematic design, in other words, is the

outcome of pooled management and technical expertise.

This holistic perspective when it comes to project processing

ensures that equal consideration is given to commercial suc-

cess, employees‘ interests and social consequences.

Through its close cooperation with the Institute for Human

Factors and Technology Management (IAT) of the University

of Stuttgart, Fraunhofer IAO unites basic university research

with applied science and business practice.

More than 14 200 m2 of offices, laboratories and technical

installations are available to carry out contracted research.

Our customer-focused range of services is based on the

following areas of business:

• Corporate Development and Work Design

• Service and Human Resources Management

• Engineering Systems

• Information and Communication Technology

• Technology and Innovation Management

• Mobility and Urban Systems Engineering

InnovatIve, SuStaInable anD lIvable cItIeS oF tomorrow

Fraunhofer’s Urban Futures Conference, which took place in Berlin on November 25 and 26, 2015, offered participants a glimpse

of the urban future. Scientists, engineers, politicians and economists presented new concepts for intelligent and sustainable urban

innovation. The aim is to help transform our cities into clean and vibrant places to live and work.

top InnovatIve IDeaS For the cIty oF tomorrow

As part of the Fraunhofer “Urban Futures” conference, ten selected young entrepreneurs and start-ups took to the stage to dazzle

the jury and the audience with their innovative ideas. The finalists presented their concepts for the city of the future at an “idea

pitch” event on November 25, 2015 to about 250 prominent representatives from municipalities, politics, business and research.

The top three received a membership in Fraunhofer’s Morgenstadt innovation network, each of which is worth 25,000 euros.

r&D manaGement For malaySIan SmeS

Fraunhofer IAO has been supporting SIRIM, a Malaysian research organization, with the development and implementation of

measures for increasing the innovative capabilities and productivity of Malaysian SMEs since March 2015. Now the joint project

is entering the final phase, which includes conducting innovation workshops and establishing industrial centers of innovation.

automateD DrIvInG IS a huGe opportunIty

Highly automated driving will have achieved technical maturity before 2020. That is the result of a study carried out by Fraunho-

fer IAO and other partners on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. The authors also anticipa-

te value creation in Germany amounting to 8.8 billion euros for the year 2025. Creating the legal framework and developing in-

frastructure represent major challenges.

OvervIew Of tOpIcs

INNOvAtIve, sustAINAble ANd lIvAble cItIes Of tOmOrrOw

Over half the world’s population lives in cities, and this propor-

tion is set to rise. According to projections by the Organization

for Economic Cooperation OECD, some 70 percent of the

world’s population – more than seven billion people – will live

in major conurbations by 2050. This growth poses a tremen-

dous challenge for planners of urban areas and transport sys-

tems, logisticians, suppliers, and waste management com-

panies. Plus there are climate targets to factor in, too. Global

CO2 emissions must be reduced, with the EU aiming to cut

emissions figures by 20 percent by 2020 and by 80 to 95 per-

cent by the year 2050. “Achieving sustainable and CO2-neu-

tral urban development is vital for meeting these targets. But

we’ll only succeed by combining innovation management and

urban planning to create hybrid solutions – everything from

energy-efficient construction methods, electrically powered

means of transportation and intelligent control systems to

emissions-free production centers and wastewater purification

schemes,” explains Steffen Braun, head of the Competence

Center Urban Systems Engineering at the Fraunhofer Institute

for Industrial Engineering IAO. Braun also coordinates the

“Morgenstadt – City of the future” initiative, which was

launched in 2012 as a joint project by Fraunhofer and several

scientific and industrial partners.

Smart city – an urban paradise

Taking the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF’s)

vision for the city of tomorrow (Morgenstadt) as their starting

point, the expert network has been developing strategies for

sustainable and intelligent urban development. Their objective

is to create the “smart social city”, a central living space and

economic environment for the 21st century. The underlying

idea sounds sublime: Inhabitants of the city of the future will

go to school, work, and enjoy their leisure time without these

activities having any detrimental impact on the environment.

And with access to clean water, healthy food, environmentally

friendly energy, efficient transportation concepts, and good air

quality, these modern smart citizens will have everything they

need to live comfortably and shape their own urban habitat.

To make this vision a reality, interdisciplinary research teams

are developing new concepts and testing the use of innovative

technologies. Dutch scientists in Eindhoven, for instance, are

working on strategies for emissions-free traffic, with plans to

allow only electric vehicles (buses and cars) into the city center

in the future. In the German cities of Chemnitz and Reutlingen,

experts are investigating ways to capture visitor flows and road

traffic data using an intelligent sensor network. Their system,

which works a bit like a fitness tracker for cities, is intended to

be used in the future to help urban planners avoid congestion

and create shopping areas tailored to residents’ needs. In the

Norwegian city of Stavanger, another interdisciplinary team ex-

amined the extent to which energy could be saved and medi-

cal care improved by enhancing links between companies,

inhabitants and doctors. “Fraunhofer researchers are heavily

involved in projects on both the German and European sides,”

says Braun.

© XXX, XXX© jovannig - Fotolia.com/Panimoni - shutterstock.com

urban Futures in berlin

Results of this work were showcased at the Morgenstadt:

Urban Futures Conference in Berlin, where leading interna-

tional experts presented their visions, solutions, and recom-

mendations for action. Representatives from the worlds of

politics, business and research discussed urban transforma-

tion guidelines and evaluated the technical, economic, and

social impacts such changes could have. Also on the agenda

was a “Call for Ideas” innovation competition and a “Morgen-

stadt marketplace” where conference participants were able

to exchange ideas and discuss new projects. “Here in Germany,

we’ve largely completed the process of defining our strategy,

but we still have a long way to go before we can make the city

of the future a reality,” says Braun. Over the course of the

next five years, he plans to work with numerous “Morgen-

stadt – City of the future” innovation partners to implement

new concepts.

contact

Fraunhofer IAO, Steffen Braun

Phone +49 711 970-2022

steffen.braun@iao.fraunhofer.de

Further information

www.urban-futures.de/en.html

www.morgenstadt.de/en.html

tOp INNOvAtIve IdeAs fOr the cIty Of tOmOrrOwthree winners of the “call for Ideas” competition at Fraunhofer’s “urban Futures” conference

“We were surprised and delighted by the variety of ideas pitch-

ed from Germany and around the world. All of the entries are

excellent examples of young and forward-thinking entrepre-

neurs – the next generation of urban dwellers,” said Steffen

Braun, who heads the Urban Systems Engineering competence

team at Fraunhofer IAO.

First place went to Green City Solutions, a start-up that offers

intelligent solutions in environmental services, clean tech and

sustainable urban development. With their “CityTree,” Zheng-

liang Wu and his colleagues aim to better equip cities for the

future and make them more appealing places to live. CityTree

is the world’s first vertical, ecologically active communication

space. It combines the latest Internet of Things technology

with the natural ability of specially cultivated moss to filter

particulate matter and nitrogen oxides out of the air, thereby

ridding it of large quantities of CO2 equivalents. What’s more,

relevant information can be displayed as text or images on

CityTree’s green surface, and implementing an iBeacon QR

code or an NFC makes it possible to transfer digital data.

Second place went to Sasan Amini and the team at ParkHere

in Munich. ParkHere is a spin-off of the Technische Universität

München and has developed the world’s first self-powered

sensor system for parking solutions. The system plays an active

role in reducing traffic, since it means drivers don’t need to

endlessly circle the streets looking for a parking space. Towns

and cities can also benefit from this solution as they think about

how to manage their parking availability in the future. ParkHere

allows them to efficiently design parking areas and manage all

of them effectively. In spring of 2016, the start-up will face its

first major test as the sensors are embedded in the streets for

the first time, initially on charge spots for electric vehicles.

A business idea by Breeze in Hamburg won third place. Robert

Heinecke’s team has set itself the goal of shaping the future

of air quality monitoring, in order to help cities and companies

create an environment worth living in. Founded in February

2015, this start-up develops smart sensor networks that moni-

tor their surroundings. The environmental data they collect is

then evaluated on a cloud-based analytics platform. One sen-

sor for measuring air quality has already been made and is

currently being used by a customer. Based on the data, users

can derive recommendations for how to improve the environ-

ment. Compared to other solutions, Breeze costs less, takes

up less space and is easier to use and integrate.

The ideas competition was sponsored by Fraunhofer’s Morgen-

stadt innovation network. “Entrepreneurs are our future,”

emphasized jury member Alanus von Radecki, Fraunhofer IAO.

“As a research institution, we’re happy to help new ideas

get off the ground. Innovative concepts that connect the latest

research with new approaches offer an ideal combination,

especially for the cities of the future.”

contact

Fraunhofer IAO, Steffen Braun

Phone +49 711 970-2022

steffen.braun@iao.fraunhofer.de

Further information

www.urban-futures.de/en

Photo: Ulf Büschleb, © Fraunhofer

From left to right:

1st place: Green City Solutions –

Zhengliang Wu, 2nd place: Park

Here – Sasan Amini, 3rd place:

Breeze – Robert Heinecke

r&d mANAGemeNt fOr mAlAysIAN smes

Joint research project between Fraunhofer IAO and SIRIM reaches final milestones

In recent years, Malaysia has developed from a supplier of

raw materials into an industrial nation and aspires to create an

economy with high average incomes. Malaysian small and

medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face the challenge of con-

ducting research and development with comparatively few

resources in order to meet current and future customer require-

ments and to compete in the market. Together with SIRIM,

Fraunhofer IAO is working on a joint project to support the

innovative capabilities and productivity of Malaysian SMEs.

various support activities for malaysian Smes

The project helps Malaysian SMEs to identify relevant trends

and business opportunities, develop new technologies and

implement successful solutions. “Together with SIRIM, we’ve

organized numerous activities and so far we’ve received pos-

itive feedback from industry,” says Liza Wohlfart, project lead-

er at Fraunhofer IAO. Specifically, the project includes four

areas of support:

�� A study about innovation management in Malaysian SMEs

�� Carry out technology audits

�� Organize innovation workshops

�� Establish industrial centers of innovation

A written survey about the state of innovation management in

Malaysian SMEs has already been completed. The Fraunhofer

and SIRIM researchers are currently evaluating the results and

will complement these with SME success stories compiled on

the basis of interviews. As part of the project, some 70 SIRIM

employees were trained as technology auditors. Several audits

designed to help companies better identify and develop their

position in the market and individual possibilities for improve-

ment have been carried out. By the end of the year, around

150 SMEs are expected to have participated. Other activities

have been received positively as well: A seminar for improving

the productivity and growth of SMEs was attended by more

than 180 participants from industry and research. The focus

was on facilitating an exchange of interna-tional experience

based on success stories from innovative SMEs, underscored

by presentations by speakers from Germany and Australia.

upcoming workshops and industrial centers of innovation

In the final project phase, innovation workshops will take place

at the end of the year. As part of the practical training, SMEs

learn simple methods related to technology and ideas manage-

ment, supported by case studies from European companies.

As part of the cooperation, industrial centers of innovation –

based on the model of Fraunhofer Institutes – are to be estab-

lished, which will support SMEs through pooled competencies

in selected technologies. The German-Malaysian research part-

nership has developed the conceptual cornerstones and is

now focused on selecting suitable topics and teams. The des-

ignation of the first pilot centers is set for spring 2016.

contact

Fraunhofer IAO, Liza Wohlfart

Phone +49 711 970-5310

liza.wohlfart@iao.fraunhofer.de

Further information

www.rdm.iao.fraunhofer.de

www.sirim.my

© offfstock – fotolia.com, Fraunhofer IAO

AUTOMATED DRIVING Is A HUGE OPPORTUNITY Study investigates the potential for highly automated driving in Germany

Highly automated driving on Germany‘s autobahns will be tech-

nically possible by 2020 and offers great opportunities for value

and job creation. This is the key result of the “Highly automa-

ted driving on Germany’s autobahns – industrial policy conclu-

sions” expert report carried out on behalf of the German Fede-

ral Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy BMWi by Fraun-

hofer IAO and its partners, the Fraunhofer Institute for Open

Communications Systems FOKUS, mm1 consultancy, and the

Institute for Climate Protection, Energy and Mobility IKEM.

considerable potential to create value and jobs

The expert report indicates that implementing highly automa-

ted driving functions on German autobahns will be possible by

2020 at the latest. Driverless vehicles, however, are not to be

expected on public roads until well after that time. If German

automakers and suppliers maintain their current levels of mar-

ket share and locations, the experts forecast value creation

amounting to nearly 2.3 billion euros in 2020 and around 8.8

billion euros in 2025. This is equivalent to 16 times the current

value of some 546 million euros and would generate around

120,000 jobs. Roughly half of the value and job creation

would be in the area of software (development of functions

and algorithms, validation and data analysis). What’s more,

automated driving holds out great potential for optimizing the

transportation system and reducing the external costs of road

transportation.

Germany is in a very good starting position – massive

competitive pressure expected

Germany’s automotive industry is currently the world’s leading

provider of driver assistance systems and related technologies,

the results of the expert report indicate. Given their high mar-

ket share in the area of premium and luxury vehicles, German

manufacturers are set to be the leading provider for highly

automated vehicles in the future as well. The high number of

relevant patent registrations and publications from Germany

also speak for the country’s innovative strength. At the same

time, German automakers can expect massive competitive

pressure from new competitors and as a result of active indus-

trial policy in competitor countries.

Industry and policymakers must coordinate their actions

According to the study, the biggest obstacles to the general

adoption and operation of highly automated vehicles are the

unresolved legal issues they face. The expert report addresses

this problem with specific recommendations. For highly auto-

mated driving to function properly, it is equally important to

establish a powerful mobile data network covering the entire

autobahn network and to build up smart transportation infra-

structure. Another fundamental step is to test the functional

safety of higher degrees of automation in trials and tackle the

major technical development challenges (including testing and

release functions and human-machine interface optimization)

as soon as possible.

contact

Fraunhofer IAO, Andrej Cacilo

Phone +49 711 970-2307

andrej.cacilo@iao.fraunhofer.de

Download the study

http://s.fhg.de/8y4

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Natalie Bongartz, Lena Bühler

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