digitalHUB
Aachen e.V.:
The Bottom-Up
Digitalisation Movement
Association
The digitalHUB Aachen e. V. is committed to the digitalisation of the economy and the public sector in the Aachen region. Members are SMEs, industry, start-ups and institutions that support the goals of the association. The digitalHUB Aachen brings together start-ups and IT SMEs (digital “enablers”) with traditional SMEs and industry as users (digital “users”) in the digitalCHURCH to jointly develop and realise new digital business models. This is supported by the region and science (“supporters”). In this way, an euregional “Aachen Area” is being created as a digital innovation land. The digitalisation centre of the digitalHUB Aachen is part of the initiative “Digitale Wirtschaft [Digital Economy] NRW (DWNRW)” and one of six funded centres for the digital economy in NRW.
Focus groups
With the instrument of the focus groups, all members have the opportunity to help shape the content of the work of our association. Here, on the one hand, stakeholder-specific questions, requirements and ideas and, on the other hand, overarching, strategic questions are initially discussed. The results of these discussions are then translated by the Executive Board into guidelines for the content-related design of the entire range of services and the purpose of the association. These are then used by the Management Board and the management team as a guideline for the operative business.
Thus, the focus groups within the digitalHUB Aachen e.V. cover different topics and are a central part of our association’s work.
Here we give a short overview of the already existing and active groups of the digitalHUB Aachen e.V.:
DWNRW partners
Cooperation Partners
Association committees
General Meeting
The highest body of the association is the General Meeting. Each full member has one vote. The General Meeting elects the Management Board and the members of the Executive Committee and can also dismiss them. Furthermore, it is responsible, among other things, for the approval of the budget and the discharge of the Executive Committee and the Management Board and decides on amendments to the Statutes. It meets at least once a year.
Executive Committee
The Executive Committee of the digitalHUB Aachen defines the direction of the association’s work and integrates the results of the focus groups. It also decides on spin-offs, for example industry incubators. The Executive Committee works on an honorary basis and consists of all board representatives, one representative of each initiator of the digitalHUB Aachen e. V. Furthermore, the spokespersons of the focus groups and – upon proposal of the Management Board – selected personalities are members of the Executive Committee:
Management Board
The honorary Management Board of the digitalHUB consists of Dr. Oliver Grün (Managing Director of GRÜN Software AG), Michael F. Bayer (Managing Director of the CCI Aachen) and Prof. Dr. Malte Brettel (Prorector of RWTH Aachen University). It is chaired by Dr Oliver Grün. He is also responsible for personnel policy and appoints the management. The current Managing Director is Iris Wilhelmi (MBA).
Among other things, the Management Board carries out the resolutions of the General Assembly, decides on partnerships and the admission and exclusion of members as well as the formation of new focus groups.
Members
Our members are players in digitalisation and users of their solutions. We show the success stories of
• users from SMEs and industry, who are tackling the challenges of their own digital transformation with strong partners from our portfolio,
• IT SMEs, who are driving digitalisation in the Aachen Area with their solutions and
• digital start-ups with innovative and disruptive business models.
Furthermore, our support members and many other supporters make a decisive contribution to the Aachen Area becoming a digital innovation land through their diverse commitment.