Active co-operation projects in the electrical industry which cross company and institution boundaries stimulate innovation, strengthen synergies and create new market potential for businesses based here.

• The electronics sector with its interface technologies is one of the most important generators of ideas in product and process innovation in German industry. This assumes a high degree of co-operation and close inter-business collaboration between businesses and research facilities.

• Businesses within the electrical industry find a first-class environment of co-operation in Baden-Württemberg, as well as highly productive networks and cluster organisations in customer sectors which are important for the industry. In German‟s south-west there are therefore strong and innovative networks for the automotive industry, medical technology, renewable energy, mechanical engineering and plant construction which support an exchange across sectors and promote interdisciplinary collaboration.

• One of the innovative electronics clusters in Baden- Württemberg, the cluster in the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan area “Forum Organic Electronics”, was one of five winners of the top cluster competition organised by the German Ministry of Education and Research. In the work of the cluster, science and commerce are integrated along the whole value-added chain of organic electronics, starting with research and development of new materials, through the design of structural elements and the creation of systems to new types of marketing applications.

• A total of seven active cluster initiatives and sector networks for the electrical industry make a valuable contribution to expanding the leading position of Baden-Württemberg.