About Project Future

Projekt Zukunft (Project Future) — a Berlin Senate Initiative

Projekt Zukunft is an initiative for structural change in Berlin as an information and knowledge society. The goal is to develop the city into an internationally recognized, competitve and attractive location. Projekt Zukunft supports the up-and-coming branches of the media, IT and creative industries, interlinking them with scientific, political and management structures. Through strategies, initiatives and projects, public-private-partnerships, events, information campaigns and publications, Projekt Zukunft supports technological, economic and societal innovations, and enhances the general conditions of the city’s growth areas.

Projekt Zukunft is an initiative of the Berlin Senate for Economics, Technology and Research. The communication, media, and creative industries cluster of Projekt Zukunft oversees one of the most successful fields of Berlin’s economic policy. Numerous institutions, organisations and individuals from finance, politics, administration, science and culture have committed to this Berlin state initiative.

Projekt Zukunft’s broad service portfolio makes it the city’s largest communications and support network.The initiative is financed through funding from the state of Berlin and the EC (European Regional Development Fund) as well as from contributions from the network partners, such as other administrative departments, institutions and enterprises.

Themes and initiatives

Berlin – City of the creative industries

With the cultural industries initiative, Projekt Zukunft’s aim is to enhance the conditions for setting up business, to support existing enterprises in the creative industries with web portals, B2B events and networks, to promote the international marketing of products and to provide infrastructure projects with a view to stimulating and accompanying cooperation between cultural institutions, organisations and the creative industries.The creative industries report  provides facts and figures about the potentials of the creative industries in Berlin.

Music Industry

Thanks to the settlement of large enterprises, not to mention its midsize creative music scene, club culture and events, Berlin has established itself as a music capital. Networks of small labels and globally operative enterprises benefit from one another. Projekt Zukunft in particular supports small- and medium-sized enterprises with offers of advice and infrastructure schemes for networks, professionalisation and marketing activities.

Games and Web 2.0

The city’s serious games network has helped the games industry develop into an even stronger sector in Berlin. Projekt Zukunft provides help for financing and marketing, above all in new markets, as well as for networking and qualifications. Projekt Zukunft has initiated a network called Games & Web 2.0 Forum through which the state of Berlin aims to support the interactive entertainment software and web 2.0 industry.

Design

Projekt Zukunft supports Berlin designers with, among other things, its design roundtable project, the co-financing of the International Design Conference, industry-related information portals, a young designers fair, shared-exhibition stands and presentations abroad.

Urban screens – Visual displays in public space

The urban screens project marks a new phase in the development of media and telecommunications. Aside from advertising and art, the city space offers new settings for the use of traditional media content and new interactive and internet-supported forms of communication. A network supported by Projekt Zukunft will accompany the development of public interactive media in Berlin in the coming years.

Berlin Art Market – The Place for Contemporary Art

The art market has developed into a driving force within the creative industries in Berlin. Projekt Zukunft has initiated and is supporting numerous projects for the art market: financial support for Berlin galleries at international fairs, conferral of prize money for the best stands at the Art Forum and international publications for the art market (BERLIN CALLING).

Print Media and Publishing

Berlin’s creative and scientific setting, boasting a high density of authors and literary agents, makes it an attractive location for the publishing industry. The Berlin print-media market has one of the highest concentrations among media markets in Germany. Many editorial offices and news agencies are based here. Projekt Zukunft supports the publishing industry, in cooperation with the Landesverband der Verlage und Buchhandlungen Berlin-Brandenburg (the Berlin-Brandenburg State Association of Publishers and Booksellers), through the promotion of trade-fair appearances, book festivals and information events on financing options.

Technology Initiatives

Mobile Broadband Communication – a Reference Market and Future Market for Mobile and Terrestrial Broadband Applications

Berlin has set itself the goal of expanding its telecommunications infrastructure. Under the technology initiative called "Mobile Breitbandanwendungen" (broadband mobile applications) Berlin enterprises and research institutions are working on the further technological development and deployment of high-quality content for the terminals of the third and fourth mobile communications generation.

Security with Information Technology

As the base of many embassies, federal authorities and constitutional bodies, Berlin has to be a secure capital city, and major events are to be safeguarded. Information technology provides the methods and technology to do this. Enterprises and research institutions are working together under Projekt Zukunft’s  technology initiative "Sicherheit mit IT" (security with information technology) to develop innovative security solutions in the following fields of application: biometrics, building security, document security, security in production and the security management of major events.

E-Government in Berlin – Management comes to the citizens

Projekt Zukunft’s e-government initiative brings developers, providers and users together to realize common concept solutions for a secure and cost-effective development of management organs between the economy, management and citizens. Under the aegis of Projekt Zukunft, the Berlin economics portal has succeeded in providing enterprises with multiple services, documents and types of information via the city portal Berlin.de—no like solution is to be found in any other german city.