The AI Village is the innovation campus for artificial intelligence and robotics in NRW and one of the anchor projects for structural change in the Rhenish mining area.

As a physical hub, we see ourselves as a place for real encounters and as the center of a constantly growing AI ecosystem in the Rhenish mining area and beyond. The AI Village aims to establish AI applications and disruptive innovations in the field of artificial intelligence in companies. To this end, we can draw on a unique network of experts from research and AI companies throughout Germany. We create perspectives for staff affected by structural change through our training and further education offers and offer the opportunity to experience and touch artificial intelligence firsthand on our demonstration area. We translate artificial intelligence from abstract theory into practice, with the aim of educating and reducing anxieties.

We support companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, in using artificial intelligence effectively, humanely, and sustainably. As a competence network, we connect work science, technology, and practice to jointly develop, test, evaluate, and successfully integrate AI solutions into work systems.

The Blockchain Real Lab started in 2020 with the goal of promoting the use of blockchain technology in the Rhenish mining area. It is a funded project by the Fraunhofer Institute for Information Technology for innovative blockchain solutions by the Ministry for Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalization and Energy (MWIKE). It aims to reshape the digital transformation in various industries. The focus is particularly on Web3, in the application and implementation of blockchain technologies, to ensure secure and transparent processes and to create new business models. The Blockchain Real Lab focuses on both research and industrial development. This includes consulting, workshops, and development to support companies and organizations in integrating blockchain solutions.

The project involves players from science, business, startups, and associations from all over North Rhine-Westphalia to clarify important research questions and demonstrate promising blockchain applications in the emerging real lab. The Blockchain Real Lab aims to explore blockchain technology and develop innovative solutions that drive digital transformation in the region and beyond.

To secure an international top position for German industry in the future, excellence in production technology must be combined in the best sense with digital innovation capability (see USA) and a high speed of change in digitalization (see China). Within the scope of this digital transformation, innovative digital production and teaching concepts and methods must be developed for companies and individuals in the working world in digitized production environments in order to strengthen the Rhenish mining area as an economic and production location in the long term.

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With education, founding and growth towards sustainable digital transformation

Developing and implementing the digital transformation of the Rhenish mining area, that is the goal of the New Business Factory. That sounds very theoretical, but the concept of the project is based on three concrete pillars: training and further education of skilled workers, support for start-ups in the success-critical founding and start-up phase, and support for established companies in the sustainable and systematic development of new business models.

A special feature is the constant exchange between these three areas, through which a “digital factory for the Rhenish mining area” is to be created. Project partners are the digitalHUB Aachen, the Aachen University of Applied Sciences and the Institute for Technology and Innovation Management at RWTH Aachen University.

Within three to six years, according to the objective of the project participants, the New Business Factory should establish a vibrant ecosystem that will have an impact on the entire Rhenish mining area. Education and further training play an important role here, as job profiles have changed due to digitalization and will continue to evolve in the future.



Participatory Center for Digital Additive Production for the sustainable integration of production and digital value creation in NRW

"NRW Digital AM Start" is a joint initiative for the digitalization and widespread introduction of Industry 4.0 and artificial intelligence as sustainable basic technologies of the future. Digital 3D printing benefits from these developments and at the same time serves as a central enabler for change, playing a central role as a bridge between the digital and real world. To this end, the Digital Production Center to be established is intended to serve as a central point of contact for companies in the Ruhr region.

Erforschung der Nieder­temperatur­epitaxie als Basis für eine ressourcen­schonende Halbleiter­produktion und Wegbereiter energie­effizienter Konsum­güter

Halbleiter werden mit einem Verfahren namens Epitaxie hergestellt. Dabei werden winzige Atome Schicht für Schicht gleichmäßig auf einem glatten, flachen Kristall angeordnet, der beispielsweise aus Silizium besteht. Bisher gängige Verfahren der Epitaxie benötigen eine Prozesstemperatur von 1000 Grad Celsius und sind somit sehr energieintensiv. Die Element 3-5 GmbH aus Baesweiler erarbeitet und etabliert deshalb eine energie-, ressourcen- und zeitsparende Weiterentwicklung. Dafür nutzt sie unter anderem das Verfahren der Niedertemperaturepitaxie. Mit dieser lässt sich die Prozesstemperatur auf weniger als 300 Grad und damit der gesamte Energieverbrauch deutlich reduzieren.

Das ist nicht nur kosteneffizient, sondern ermöglicht auch eine Kombination von Halbleitern mit Materialien, die bisher nicht verarbeitet werden konnten. Außerdem verzichtet die Element 3-5 GmbH auf den Einsatz toxischer Gase, die bisher oft benutzt werden, um die winzigen Strukturen auf den Chips herzustellen. Stattdessen verwendet das Unternehmen intelligentes Plasma – ein elektrisch aufgeladenes Gas, das sehr präzise und effizient zur Bearbeitung von Materialien eingesetzt werden kann.

Ein weiterer positiver Aspekt des umweltfreundlicheren Verfahrens: Es spart Zeit. Laut Unternehmen wird die Herstellung der Halbleiter um 700 Prozent beschleunigt. Davon profitieren auch die weiterverarbeitenden Unternehmen. Durch die effizientere Herstellung können sie hocheffiziente Bauteile in Bereichen einsetzen, in denen das bisher aus Kostengründen nicht möglich war. So trägt das Projekt dazu bei, ganze Industriezweige ressourcen- und energieeffizienter zu machen.