At InnoTech 2026 in Beijing, our colleague Jan Peuckert presented the latest research findings from the Value Creation Radar project on AI-supported identification of strategic future signals. The conference also offered a wide range of international perspectives on innovation research, open innovation, and the role of AI in strategic foresight.
Experience circular design – How are products created that are designed to be circular from the outset? At the MAKER CHALLENGE 2026 meetup, experts from design for human nature, Indeed Innovation, and the Cradle to Cradle NGO Hamburg showed how physical prototyping, systemic thinking, and principle-based circular economy shape innovative product ideas.
In the new episode of Tech Affair – Industry for Future, Dr. Manuel Moritz from the New Production Institute and Dr. Susanne Vernim from the software company Tulip Interfaces talk about pop-up factories – how flexible, mobile production structures are becoming a reality, what opportunities they offer for industry and society, and why they could change the future of production.
The dtec.bw Annual Conference 2025 at Helmut Schmidt University focused on research with added value for all dimensions. Topics discussed included digitalization, future technologies, and local production concepts such as Fab City. Interactive exhibits and live demonstrations offered practical insights into the circular economy, resilience, and innovative production approaches.
Newly published: The Fab City Hamburg Playbook is here - a practice-oriented guide to local, digital and circular production in cities. The result of a four-year transdisciplinary research project shows how urban value creation can be designed sustainably.
At re:publica 25, experts from development cooperation, education funding and the tech scene discussed how digital skills can contribute to global transformation. Among other things, the panel discussed the potential of open source hardware and makerspaces, with a focus on the African continent.
Urban Digital Twins combine 3D city models with other urban data and enable realistic analyses (www.connectedurbantwins.de) and this is exactly where Fab City Hamburg comes in, how the city of Hamburg can be made more sustainable and resilient with the help of digital twins.
At InMachines in Schwarzenbek, the final version of the Open Lab Starter Kit (OLSK) was presented by Daniele Ingrassia and his team, marking the completion of phase one of the dtec.bw and EU-funded project "Fab City: Decentralised, Digital Production for Urban Value Creation."
The consortium meeting “Fab City - Decentralized Digital Production for Urban Value Creation” on 14 November 2024 provided an opportunity to celebrate four years of collaboration, share insights and reflect on what has been achieved.
From September 23-27, 2024, the “Let’s Innovate” Hackathon at OpenLab Neotex 4.0 turned Monastir into a hub of innovation. Teams developed solutions to industrial challenges using digital manufacturing tools, with a focus on sustainability in textile recycling. The event concluded with the inauguration of OpenLab Neotex 4.0 and continued with a CNC milling workshop in October, emphasizing skill development for Tunisia’s Industry 4.0 future.
Das New Production Institute ist aus der Forschungsgruppe Wertschöpfungssystematik des Laboratorium Fertigungstechnik an der Helmut-Schmidt-Universität hervorgegangen.
