Founded in 2006 as the Fraunhofer Center for Central and Eastern Europe MOEZ, the institute has been bundling its expertise and range of services for applied socio-economic research in the field of internationalization and knowledge economy at the Leipzig location under the name Fraunhofer Center for International Management and Knowledge Economy IMW since 2015. To ensure the long-term success of customers and partners from business, industry, research and society, Fraunhofer’s economists develop scientifically sound solutions to the challenges of globalization.
The scientists at the Fraunhofer IMW research and develop strategies, structures, processes and instruments:
- for the transfer of knowledge and technologies between organizations,
- turning knowledge into innovation and
- understanding and shaping the associated framework conditions.
RESEARCH FOCUS: HYDROGEN ECONOMY
In order to achieve the climate targets set in Germany, it makes sense to establish a functioning hydrogen economy and use green hydrogen technologies. In order to play a pioneering role in the development of a functioning hydrogen economy, not least internationally, the course must be set now. The Fraunhofer IMW supports this process with regional potential and stakeholder analyses, the modeling of future scenarios and the quantification of value creation effects, as well as with scientifically sound recommendations for action that take economic, ecological and regulatory framework conditions into account. The scientists are also developing data-driven business models for the hydrogen economy to ensure that the switch to green hydrogen is ecologically sensible and economically successful.
RANGE OF SERVICES:
- Regional potential and stakeholder analyses
- Modeling of future scenarios
- Quantification of value creation effects
- Scientifically sound recommendations for action with regard to economic, ecological and regulatory framework conditions
- Data-driven business models for the hydrogen economy
CENTER FOR ECONOMICS OF MATERIALS CEM
Since January 1, 2020, the Center for Economics of Materials CEM has been the branch office of the Fraunhofer IMW based in the SaltLabs in Halle (Saale) and is part of the “Technology Economics and Management” department. A particular focus of the department’s researchers is on analyzing the opportunities and risks of technology-based business models and evaluating technological innovations. The department aims to support companies and organizations in mastering transformation processes, improving their innovation processes and operating successfully in new fields of technology. The Center for Economics of Materials conducts research with a regional focus and concentrates primarily on the energy-intensive industry in Saxony-Anhalt, including close cooperation with chemical parks and the hydrogen economy in Central Germany.
RANGE OF SERVICES:
- Systematic support for technological transformation and innovation processes
- Techno-economic modeling and evaluation of future scenarios of industrial value creation processes
- Holistic sustainability assessments of transformation scenarios incl. the quantification of environmental, employment and value creation effects
- Quantitative analysis of sectoral and regional resilience and vulnerability of (international) value chains
- Development of concepts for the qualification of skilled workers for a sustainable industrial society
CIRCONOMY® HUB “MATERIAL CYCLES IN THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR”
Together with the Fraunhofer IBP in Holzkirchen, the Fraunhofer IMW has founded the CIRCONOMY® Hub “Material cycles in the construction sector”. The hub’s tasks are to expand a network of physical development centers for recycling building materials and to develop tools and methods for converting demolition waste into equivalent or higher-value recycling processes. The development and testing of appropriate processes for the construction industry is intended to create the basis for improved separation, processing and recycling of demolition waste in new recycling cycles and thus close gaps in the individual material cycles.
