Baden-Württemberg: Connected (bwcon)

Baden-Württemberg: Connected e.V. (bwcon) is the leading business initiative for the promotion of the high-tech sectors in the South-West of Germany with over 700 members among SMEs and research institutions. bwcon GmbH is an integrated innovation service provider and supports companies in their digital transformation process by managing ideas, designing new business models and making innovation processes more flexible. bwcon has extensive expertise in the organisation of open innovation format and hackathons.

In recent years, bwcon has launched a number of activities in the field of artificial intelligence. bwcon coordinated the DT2Invest Launchpad Initiative promoted by DG GROW to empower the AI and blockchain sectors and European startups. It has furthermore developed the AI Business Development Manager training programme to enable managers to make targeted use of the potential of AI in their own companies. Through the partnership with SCET at UC Berkeley in California, bwcon has also gained access to worldwide state-of-the-art knowledge for the application-oriented implementation of AI-based business models.

In the framework of DT4REGIONS, bwcon will launch an award initiative to select the “best AI and Big Data initiatives” adopted at the EU level by public authorities. Furthermore, it will organise two online International Hackathons for stimulating the development of innovation solutions based on AI and Big Data answering challenges identified by European regions.