With “Innopreneur” the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW) Lörrach is dedicated to the successful innovation culture in companies. As part of the KTUR pilot measures “Starting a Business” DHBW Lörrach is further developing this talent promotion and networking offer to include a cross-border, trinational component and is opening up to companies on both sides of the Rhine. At the kick-off event of the KTUR measure “Starting a Business” on April 21/22, 2021, DHBW Lörrach will contribute its expertise on this topic with a workshop led by Dr.-Ing. Hans-Jürgen Lesser.
Dr.-Ing. Hans-Jürgen Lesser, Chief Innovation Officer of ARaymond and former Chairman of the University Council of DHBW Lörrach.
What are the needs of companies in terms of their innovation culture, what skills do university graduates need in order to be involved in the implementation of a corporate start-up culture in companies, and what are the success factors of a corporate culture for preparing fertile ground for new product and business ideas? With the “Innopreneur” project, DHBW Lörrach is addressing these questions together with decision-makers and students from the dual partner companies and experts from the regional start-up scene. The focus is on what methods the DHBW can give its students to promote such a culture in their training companies and to be involved in innovation projects. This goes along with the intention to initiate a change of perspective in companies: A culture of innovation and new business ideas do not have to be supported by externally purchased consultants or specially recruited specialists, but can be realized with the help of the company’s own junior staff, who are specially prepared for this in the dual study program.
Dr.-Ing. Hans-Jürgen Lesser, Chief Innovation Officer of the partner company ARaymond and former Chairman of the University Council of DHBW Lörrach, has been involved in “Innopreneur” from the very beginning. Together with Prof. Dr. Jörg Thietke, Prorector of DHBW Lörrach, who launched Innopreneur in 2019 / 2020, Dr.-Ing. Lesser will lead a workshop on the occasion of the “KTUR Startup & Innovation Nights” on April 21 / 22, 2021 and contribute his many years of expertise in innovation projects. The first step will be to listen to the participating company representatives and find out what specific needs they have in terms of innovation culture and innovation know-how, and what individual country- and culture-specific features there are that should be taken into account when establishing the right start-up culture and start-up idea.
This illustrates the core of the Innopreneur project, namely the flexibility with regard to the concrete needs of the participating companies, coupled with the perspective of involving young talents of these companies in the innovation process and equipping them with the necessary know-how and the appropriate methodology. This is one of the ways in which DHBW Lörrach does justice to its orientation of bilateral knowledge and technology transfer from the company to the university and back again.
Interested companies are cordially invited to participate in the workshop. The program and further details of the “KTUR Startup & Innovation Nights” can be found at: https://ktur.eu/en/ktur-startup-innovation-nights/. You can get to know the DHBW at https://dhbw-loerrach.de.
Author: Carolin Salfner, Copyright Picture: DHBW Lörrach.