Hamburg Aviation Recognised as “Landmark in the Land of Ideas 2016”

Hamburg Aviation has been recognised for its successful networking in the aviation community and promotion of innovation receiving a prize as one of 100 “Landmarks in the Land of Ideas 2016” in the “Germany – Land of Ideas” initiative.

The “Germany – Land of Ideas” initiative and Deutsche Bank honour ideas that promote a sense of community, cooperation and networking with an emphasis on collaboration, helping to solve present and future challenges.

Hamburg Aviation, the aviation cluster of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, is a network of 40,000 highly qualified specialists working in the industry. The work of all members together covers the entire life cycle of an aircraft.

Members of Hamburg Aviation include: Airbus, Lufthansa Technik, Hamburg Airport, dozens of small and medium-sized enterprises, universities, institutions and research facilities such as the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), the Hamburg Business Development Corporation (HWF), and the Department of Economic Affairs, Transport and Innovation (BWVI).

One example of the benefit of the collaboration between these aviation stakeholders is the recent opening of the ZAL Centre of Applied Aeronautical Research (ZAL)—a co-working and research facility dedicated to the research and testing of future technologies which can improve aircraft design and manufacturing.

The Hamburg Aviation community has also been responsible for the Hamburg Centre of Aviation Training (HCAT), a qualification and training facility for the next generation of aviation specialists.

Hamburg Aviation is one of the 100 prize winners in the “Landmarks in the Land of Ideas” competition for 2016.

The motto for this year’s competition is “CommUnityInnovation”, and Hamburg Aviation was recognised for its successful network-building efforts in the Hamburg aviation sector. The 130 members of Hamburg Aviation work to strengthen Hamburg as a leading aviation city.

“This award is an acknowledgment of the high level of commitment of Hamburg Aviation, with all its members, to strengthen Hamburg as a centre of aviation and to maintain its world-leading position. The cluster’s successful networking projects bring small and large actors within the aviation sector in Hamburg together at one table, making it clear that ‘together’ is better than ‘alone.’ We are therefore delighted by a prize that encourages this dynamic cooperation. We see it as an incentive to stick to our flight path,” says the President of the cluster, Prof. Dr Joachim Szodruch.

This is the third prize Hamburg Aviation has received as testament to the quality of its collaboration initiatives.

The Hamburg Aviation cluster received a prize in the Federal Leading-Edge Cluster competition in 2008 from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), one of only 15 such “Leading-Edge” clusters recognised by BMBF.

In 2014, Hamburg Aviation received Gold Label honours from the European Commission’s ECEI Initiative for excellent cluster management.

The “Landmark in the Land of Ideas 2016” award will be officially presented to Hamburg Aviation on 13 October, 2016 as part of the 47th Hamburg Aviation Forum.