CITAH

The proposed EDIH “Cross-Industry Transformation in Agriculture and Health” (CITAH) implements the idea of regionally effective lead industries and activates agri-food and health as innovation domains in Northwest Germany (NUTS-2 region DE94, Weser-Ems) that drive the cross-industry development of innovative technologies as well as their adaptation and diffusion. CITAH institutionalizes a focal point, firstly for regional transfer between cutting-edge research and practice, secondly for cross-industry adaptation, through which “hidden champions” from different sectors benefit from active knowledge exchange, and thirdly for leveraging the potential of cross-border services through digitalization. CITAH positions itself as a centre for the regional innovation ecosystem by providing services in four fields: • Integration of prototypes and products into the innovation laboratories for agriculture and health, both for testing under almost real conditions and for demonstration to potential (cross-domain) customers. • Training and knowledge transfer on technological competencies (artificial intelligence, interoperability, cybersecurity) and their domain-specific implementations and regulations, • Advisory in financing digitization activities, • Networking of stakeholders from the two addressed industrial domains with information technology companies to form strategic alliances and ecosystems. CITAH builds upon the successful work of the Centre for Digital Innovation in Lower Saxony (ZDIN), founded in 2019 by the state of Lower Saxony, Germany, to institutionalize the process of digital transformation). Through its partnerships, CITAH addresses around 600 companies in the direct regional business environment as well as a multiple in the indirect environment through nationwide multipliers such as Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chamber of Crafts, German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association and Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety.