Senator Cornelia Yzer at the 2013 TEP Conference
During her recent visit for the TEP conference to New York City Cornelia Yzer, the Berlin Senator for Economic Development and Research, focused on the next industrial revolution and urban hubs. Berlin is indeed an interesting case and similar to New York City. For Germany’s strong industrial base the technological developments are an opportunity and a challenge at the same time. For Berlin, the center of German design and technology, it is only a tremendous opportunity. For historic reasons, the city has not had an industrial base and the traditional manufacturing is unlikely to come back. However, Berlin has an abundance of technology, creativity, design and even talent and is at the forefront of connected devices, IoT, 3D printing and new manufacturing in Europe.
If done right, Berlin is a city that is likely to benefit from the current developments – just like New York City. The TEP conference identified a few success factors in the 21st century for urban hubs:
1. Quality of living attracts people and talent
2. Modern education at all levels and ages
3. Cross-disciplinary collaboration to get ideas off the ground
4. Functioning ecosystem with industry leaders or pioneers, talents, investors, professional services, media & knowledge sharing as well as the right political priorities
5. Smart policies and communication is more important than budget
The next TEP Conference is scheduled for fall 2014.