35 companies from Thuringia were represented on Germany’s stand at the world’s largest trade fair for optics and photonics – more than from any other German state. “Our very visible presence there shows how strong our state is in the photonics sector,” says Thuringia’s Minister for Economic Affairs, Science and Digital Society, Wolfgang Tiefensee, who believes that the close links between industry and science are a key reason behind Thuringia’s success.
The 40-member delegation of business people and scientists accompanied by the Minister had similarly good results. The trip to California was a good opportunity for both established businesses and start-ups from Thuringia to make contacts. There has been pitches with potential investors, visits at companies like facebook, Hewlett Packard and BMW Technology in Silicon Valley and a meeting with the German American Business Association (GABA). Besides establishing new and valuable business relations, some of the participants even formalized arrangements to cooperate more closely; amongst this was Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, which is to cooperate with the University of California Berkeley. (gro)
