Partners

The Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO is an institution of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and is based in Stuttgart. Its work focuses on the development of strategies, business models and solutions for digital transformation. The focus is on the systematic optimisation of the interaction between people, organisation and technology.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering IESE is one of the leading institutions in the field of software and system development methods and develops innovative solutions for designing reliable digital ecosystems. IESE focuses on topics such as Autonomous Systems, Industry 4.0, or Smart Farming. In addition, the institute designs and develops digital solutions for rural and urban areas. 

The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE is an institution of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft with 1,200 employees and is located in Freiburg im Breisgau. The Institute's work ranges from research into the scientific and technical principles of solar energy use to the development of prototypes and the construction of demonstration systems.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML is an institution of the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft based in Dortmund. The institute's work focuses on material flow technology, business process modelling and the areas of transport systems and resource logistics.

The Fraunhofer Institute for International Management and Knowledge Economy IMW is a research institution of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and is based in Leipzig. Its focus is on researching and developing strategies, structures, processes and instruments for transferring knowledge and technologies between organisations, transforming knowledge into innovation and understanding and shaping the associated framework conditions.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems FOKUS is an institution of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft based in Berlin. The research focus is on digital networking in the areas of mobility, public safety, administration, e-health and media, which are complemented by technical know-how on system quality, network infrastructure and software-based systems.

The Fraunhofer Institute of Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation IOSB Industrial Automation Division IOSB-INA is an institution of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft located in Lemgo. It offers technical solutions for the automation and digitalisation of products and processes. Core competencies are sensor systems, IoT and industrial communication, platforms and interoperability, AI and machine learning as well as human-technology interaction.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI is an institution of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft based in Karlsruhe. The ISI conducts research in seven competence centres for practical applications and sees itself as an independent thought leader for society, politics and business. It investigates scientific, economic, ecological, social, organisational, legal and political conditions for the emergence of innovations and their effects.

Together with companies, the Fraunhofer Institute for Software and Systems Engineering ISST identifies the strategic value of their data and makes it usable. The ISST researches the competent handling of data for logistics or healthcare and develops solutions for data management and the development of data architectures. The institute focuses on the digitalisation of companies and the exchange of scientific findings.

The Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences is a network partner of Morgenstadt. The university addresses many different Morgenstadt topics through its range of courses. The courses offered by TH OWL include (landscape) architecture, civil engineering, life science technologies, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, environmental engineering and environmental planning.

The University of Stuttgart is a technically oriented university and has been a partner in the Morgenstadt network for some time. Thematically, the university deals primarily with technical intelligent systems, while interdisciplinary approaches from the natural sciences, humanities and social sciences are integrated into the research. This is already expressed in various collaborations within Morgenstadt projects.

The city of Mönchengladbach with its approx. 270,000 inhabitants is located on the left bank of the Lower Rhine in the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region in the administrative district of Düsseldorf. The cityscape is characterised by a combination of urban flair and rural charm. Greenery is a special quality of the city; more than half of the city area consists of green spaces, gardens and parks. In addition, the city writes over 1000 years of urban history and fascinates with its impressive castles.

The city of Soest has about 48,000 inhabitants and is located in the administrative district of Arnsberg in North Rhine-Westphalia. The townscape is characterised by a historic town centre with winding alleys and the St. Patrokli Cathedral, which dates back to the Middle Ages.

The city of Bielefeld in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia has a population of around 334,000. It is the economic centre of the East Westphalia-Lippe region. The historic city in the Teutoburg Forest impresses with its traditional buildings, such as the Sparrenburg, the Old Town Hall and the Linen Spinning Mill.

Solingen is the only city in the world protected as a brand by the cutlery industry. Over 600 years of blade and metal craftsmanship characterise the cityscape. This also has an influence on the lives of the approximately 160,000 inhabitants, more than 15,000 of whom pursue a manufacturing trade. Today, digitalisation is becoming increasingly important - with activities and projects for the smart city, an electric overhead bus system as a smart grid and many companies and start-ups in the digital economy.

The knowledge city of Lemgo with 41,000 inhabitants belongs to the administrative district of Detmold in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia. The 825-year-old Old Hanseatic Town of Lemgo is embedded in a particularly diverse forest and hilly landscape due to its location between the Teutoburg Forest and the Weser Hills. A special feature of the town is its ramparts with around 400 Gothic and Renaissance monuments.

With a population of around 100,000, Gütersloh is one of the three major cities in East Westphalia, a strong business location with global players such as the Miele and Bertelsmann companies. In addition, the city is also a cultural centre with a theatre of exceptional architecture and a city museum with a medical history focus. Many well-developed cycle paths such as the Ems Cycle Path or the BahnRadRoute lead through the city and thus also directly to the high trails of the teutoburg Forest.

The city of Detmold is a cultural city on the Teutoburg Forest and, with the University of Music and the OWL University of Applied Sciences, also a university city. With a population of 76,000, it is the largest city in the district of Lippe and the seat of the Detmold district government and the district of Lippe. The city is characterised by a historic old town and 27 districts with a lively local culture. In addition to the universities, the open-air museum, the regional theatre and the Hermann Monument make the city known both nationally and internationally.

The city of Ludwigsburg has about 540,000 inhabitants and is located in the European metropolitan region of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg. The three magnificent palaces distinguish the baroque city. The Ludwigsburg Residence Palace is one of the largest baroque palaces in Europe and is also called the "German Versailles".

Menden is a town in the northern Sauerland region with a population of around 54,000. In addition to cultural events, Menden has several theatres, two museums and an attractive town centre. But the numerous districts and neighbourhoods also offer a wide range of activities with a lively club life, lively neighbourhoods and, above all, proximity to nature. Not far from the metropolises of the Ruhr area, Menden offers numerous commercial sites for partly global medium-sized companies.

The city of Halle, home to around 240,000 people, is located in the south of Saxony-Anhalt. Halle is an important business, technology and science location. Together with Leipzig, 38 kilometres away, Halle forms the centre of the urban economic region of Central Germany.

With 220,000 inhabitants, the university city of Mainz is the largest city in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate and also its state capital. Together with the neighbouring Hessian capital Wiesbaden, it forms a transnational double centre, and at the same time represents the western centre of the dynamic Rhine-Main economic region. Mainz impresses with its historical buildings and monuments. In the middle of the city, the Staatstheater Mainz is a lively venue for artistic and social events.

With 3.7 million inhabitants, Berlin is the most populous city and capital of Germany. Berlin is considered a world city of culture, politics, media and science. The metropolis holds the UNESCO title of "City of Design". Numerous forests, lakes, watercourses and rivers make the city a place close to nature. In addition, the traces of history can be followed in countless places in the city.

About 231,000 people live in the city of Eindhoven and another 315,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located in the south of the Netherlands and is known as a centre for technology, design and knowledge. It is the centre of high-tech and industry in the Netherlands and the birthplace of several multinational companies such as Philips and ASML. The special design is also reflected in the city's architecture through futuristic buildings like the Evoluon or The Blob in the city centre.

The city of Chemnitz, with a population of approximately 250,000, is located in the southwest of the Free State of Saxony. It takes its name from the river that flows through the city, which lies on the northern edge of the Erzgebirge mountains in the Erzgebirge basin. The four large parks make the city one of the greenest in Germany. At the same time, architecturally fascinating buildings from the Wilhelminian period, industrial monuments and futuristic buildings from modern times are reflected in the cityscape.

The city of Kochi has a population of about 677,381 and is located in the state of Kerala in the southwest of the country of India. The diverse city consists of a collection of several small villages on the southwest coast of India. It extends over both the mainland and several islands and peninsulas off the coast. The historic cityscape is characterised by a 16th century European influence through buildings of forts and churches.

The city of Eilat, with a population of about 52,000, is a port city on the Red Sea in southern Israel. The city developed from a modern urban foundation and is strongly influenced by seaside tourism. At the same time, the city is one of the pioneers in the use of solar energy. Nearby is the Coral Beach Nature Reserve, as well as the Timna National Park.

With one million inhabitants, the city of Köln is the fourth largest city in Germany and surrounded by a total of 17 million people within a radius of 100 kilometres. From 2015 to 2019, Köln was one of the three lighthouse cities in the Horizon 2020 project GrowSmarter. In 2019, Köln became the first city in Germany to declare a climate emergency and set the goal of becoming climate neutral. SmartCityCologne will test technologies and services that will shape environmentally conscious urban life.

The city of Leipzig has about 600,000 inhabitants and is the largest city in the Free State of Saxony. Leipzig is a dynamic economic and cultural metropolis in central Germany. It is a historical centre of trade and transport, administration, culture and education and has a long, valuable history of over 1,000 years.

The city of Piura has about 473,000 inhabitants and is located in the northern region of the same name in the South American state of Peru. Founded in 1532, it was the first Spanish city in what is now Peru. Piura, known as "The City of Eternal Heat", has an impressive mestizo culture and is characterised by the course of the Piura River. The birthplace of the national hero Miguel Grau Seminario is adorned with historic colonial buildings and one of the oldest squares in Peru.

The city of Saltillo has a population of about 725,000, making it the largest city and capital of the Mexican state of Coahuila. The city is the centre of intensive industrial and business activities and has a rich historical and cultural past. The cityscape and culture were shaped by the Spanish colonisers, nomads and indigenous Tlaxcalans.

With a population of approximately 308,000, Karlsruhe is the third largest city in the state of Baden-Württemberg and the seat of the Federal Court of Justice, the Federal Attorney General and the Federal Constitutional Court. As one of the most important locations for information and communication technology in Europe, the city is also home to the renowned Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT among its nine universities.

Ströer is a leading German outdoor advertiser and offers advertising customers individualised, fully integrated complete solutions along the entire marketing and sales value chain. With consolidated revenue of EUR 1.6 billion for the full year 2019, Ströer SE & Co. KGaA is one of the largest marketers of outdoor and online advertising in terms of revenue.

axxessio GmbH is an independent, internationally active IT and management consultancy that carries out forward-looking, strategic software projects. The company, based in Bonn and Darmstadt, supports private and public clients in the conceptual design and successful implementation of digital transformation processes and large IT systems and focuses on the area of artificial intelligence / voice recognition.

Bable provides services that facilitate the implementation of smart and sustainable solutions in cities across Europe. It advises cities and businesses and provides information to facilitate urban transformation.

Deutsche Telekom AG is Europe's largest telecommunications company and has its headquarters in Bonn. The company offers products and services in the areas of fixed network/broadband, mobile communications, Internet and Internet TV for private customers as well as information and communication technology solutions for large and business customers.

GEWOBA is a German housing company with its headquarters in the Hanseatic City of Bremen and further branches in Bremen, Bremerhaven, Hamburg and Oldenburg. It is a real estate service provider as well as a redevelopment and development agency. GEWOBA promotes sustainable urban and neighbourhood development in Bremen and Bremerhaven.

UPSmarting is a company based in Traastrup, Denmark. The company offers energy balancing products that identify sources of energy consumption in order to efficiently reduce costs.  

swb AG, headquartered in Bremen, supplies Bremen, Bremerhaven and the region with natural gas, district heating, drinking water, electricity, telecommunications and offers waste disposal services. In addition, other areas of expertise include lighting, plant and power plant services, renewable energies and IT solutions.

The [ui!] group of companies is active worldwide and advises municipalities, cities and metropolitan regions in their strategic planning for digitalisation, implementation of ambitious climate targets, more sustainable mobility concepts and new energy concepts in urban areas. The data-driven innovation fields are in the areas of sustainable mobility, integrated traffic flow analysis, energy management for neighbourhoods and integrated urban infrastructures.

ViNotion is a company based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, which generates software solutions using innovative techniques such as machine and deep learning. One of ViNotion's specialities is intelligent image interpretation in videos. Products are able to learn and model specific objects based on photo and video examples.

The Berlin-based company virtualcitySYSTEMS works in the development and provision of system solutions for 3D geodata based on the OGC standard CityGML. The system solutions developed by virtualcitySYSTEMS serve the acquisition, management, distribution and use of 3D geodata.

The German Association of Towns and Municipalities (Deutscher Städte- und Gemeindebund, DStGB), based in Berlin, represents the interests of municipal self-government as the leading municipal association in Germany and Europe. Through its 17 member associations, around 11,000 large, medium and small municipalities are organised and networked within it. The DStGB is politically independent and works without state subsidies.

Open & Agile Smart Cities (OASC) is a network that connects cities and communities around the world to learn from each other and share digital, data-driven solutions based on Minimal Interoperability Mechanisms. It represents its members to international institutions, forums and standards developing organisations to ensure that their voice is heard in the emergence of new standards.

The Stadt.Land.Digital initiative works on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) to promote smart networking in Germany. It sees itself as a competence centre, contact partner, multiplier for all relevant actors and topics on the way to a "smart" city or region and supports the design and implementation of digital strategies.

LSECities is an international centre based in London, England, which undertakes research, education, consultancy and outreach work in London and abroad. LSE Cities conducts research into how complex urban systems respond to the pressures of growth, change and globalisation and is one of the leading institutions in the field.  

BLOXHUB is a sustainable urbanisation company based in Copenhagen, Denmark. With its 8 focus areas Circular Economy, Design DNA, Digitalization, Governance, Livability, Buildings, Mobility, Resilience, BLOXHUB drives sustainable urbanisation processes. BLOXHUB brings together partners from Europe, North America and Asia to promote a lively transfer of knowledge and to jointly implement innovation projects.

ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability is a global network of more than 1,750 local and regional governments working for sustainable urban development. They are active in over 100 countries, influencing sustainability policies and advocating at the local level for low-emission, nature-based, equitable, resilient and circular development.

The German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) is Europe's largest network for sustainable building with around 1,200 member organisations. The aim of the non-profit association is to promote sustainability in the construction and real estate industry. The DGNB certification system is a central planning and optimisation tool for assessing sustainable buildings, interiors and neighbourhoods.

The German Corporation for International Cooperation GmbH (GIZ), based in Bonn and Eschborn, is a non-governmental development cooperation organisation that works internationally on behalf of various ministries of the Federal Republic of Germany. The international organisation has particular experience in the fields of economic and employment promotion, energy and environmental issues and the promotion of peace and security.