Digitalwerk

What Digitalwerk does

Digitalwerk was a publicly funded regional digitalization center operated by ifii Institut für Innovations- und Informationsmanagement GmbH from 2018 until its conclusion on December 31, 2025. The project was headquartered in the historic Güterhalle (freight hall) at the Werder (Havel) train station in Brandenburg, Germany, and served small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the state of Brandenburg — spanning production, tourism, services, craft trades, and public administration — with a sector-open approach to digital transformation support. Services were delivered free of charge to end users, funded entirely by the Brandenburg Ministry of Economics, Labor, Energy and Climate Protection and the European Regional Development Fund (EFRE) as a regional economic development initiative.

The core technical offering centered on 31 interactive experience stations — including VR welding trainers, 3D printers, and AI robots — designed to make digitalization tangible through hands-on demonstration. These stations were deployed 793 times and reached over 4,500 visitors. The program also delivered 226 workshops, 461 events (network meetings, hackathons, and lighthouse formats such as Digitalnavigator and KI-Navigator), and engaged over 23,000 people over the seven-year project lifetime. AI applications included chatbot-based knowledge management for SMEs and AI agents for automated offer generation, positioned as practical generative AI use cases rather than proprietary model development.

The business model was non-commercial: a publicly funded Förderprojekt providing free workshops, training, individual consultations, strategy consulting, and prototype development. The project recorded no revenue and operated on grant disbursements. With the project's conclusion, the parent ifii institute continues to offer paid AI training (KI-Schulungen mit Zertifikat), workshops, strategy consulting, and prototyping services to the Brandenburg SME market, effectively pivoting from grant dependency toward commercial applied-AI services. The entity employs 11–50 staff and is privately held under German GmbH law.

Name

Digitalwerk

Legal name

ifii Institut für Innovations- und Informationsmanagement GmbH

Website

https://digital-werk.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Digitalwerk was a publicly funded Brandenburg SME digitalization center (2018–2025) operated by ifii GmbH, offering free workshops, hands-on experience stations, and AI training. The project concluded December 31, 2025; ifii continues paid AI and consulting services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Transformation Consulting

NAICS

Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)

SIC

Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAHAEAL

Emerging Tech (IoT, Blockchain, AR/VR, Edge) Consulting

Business & Public Services/Professional Services (Legal, Accounting, Consulting)/Technology & Digital Consulting

SECONDARYBPAEANAC

Technical Enablement & Adoption Services (Change Management, Adoption, Champions)

Business & Public Services/IT & Digital Services (Managed Services, Systems Integration)/IT Training & Technical Enablement Services

SECONDARYBPAEAIAN

Workplace Accessibility, Adoption & Change Management (Digital Adoption, training, comms)

Business & Public Services/IT & Digital Services (Managed Services, Systems Integration)/Digital Workplace & End-User Computing Services

Keywords

• SME digital transformation
• Digitalization workshops
• AI training services
• Innovation consulting
• Technology experience center

Headquarters

HQ city

Werder

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Core offering

Digitalwerk was a publicly funded digitalization center that supported small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the German state of Brandenburg with their digital transformation from 2018 to December 2025. It provided free workshops, training, individual consultations, strategy consulting, and prototype development, combined with hands-on access to 31 interactive experience stations featuring VR welding trainers, 3D printers, AI robots, and other emerging technologies. Operating from a historic Güterhalle in Werder (Havel), it served as a sector-open hub for production, tourism, services, public administration, and craft businesses.

Product overview

Digitalwerk was a unified digitalization center project that operated from 2018 to December 2025 as a platform for SME digital transformation support. The offering consisted of a central support program combined with multiple service modules including workshops (226 conducted), lighthouse events (Digitalnavigator and KI-Navigator formats), and 31 hands-on experience stations with VR, 3D printing, and AI robotics technology. The ifii continues to offer follow-up services including certified AI training, individual workshops, strategy consulting, and prototype development after the Digitalwerk project concluded.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Digitalwerk Digitalization Program A publicly funded digitalization support program for SMEs in Brandenburg, providing free workshops, training, individual consultations, strategy consulting, and hands-on access to 31 interactive technology experience stations. The program was sector-open, serving craft, production, tourism, services, and public administration businesses. The Digitalwerk project concluded on December 31, 2025, with the ifii institute continuing the AI and digitalization service offering.
• KI-Schulungen mit Zertifikat (Certified AI Training) Practical, understandable AI training with certification, tailored to teams and industries. Offered by ifii for organizations seeking to build AI literacy and apply AI in their operations, with inquiries handled via [email protected].
• KI Strategieentwicklung (AI Strategy Development) Strategy consulting service for organizations developing an AI strategy, offered by ifii as a continuation of the strategy consulting dimension of the Digitalwerk program.
• Prototyping & Testing Prototype development and testing service for digital and AI use cases, offered by ifii as a continuation of the prototype development dimension of the Digitalwerk program.
• KI Projektumsetzung (AI Project Implementation) End-to-end AI project implementation service offered by ifii, supporting organizations in operationalizing AI solutions.

Quantifiable outcome

• 23,000+ people reached and informed about digitalization
• +2 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature2 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Berlin Partner für Wirtschaft und Technologie GmbH: Public-sector economic development agency operating SME and innovation support programs in adjacent Berlin - the same public-agency-backed operating model as Digitalwerk, targeting closely overlapping SME customers in Berlin-Brandenburg.
• go-digital (BMWK authorized Beratungsstellen): BMWK-subsidized SME consulting program (50% public subsidy) that authorizes consulting firms to advise German SMEs on digital transformation - same customer segment, similar advisory envelope, and competing public funding source.
• Mittelstand-Digital (Zentren network, BMWK): BMWK-funded network of 30+ SME digitalization centers across Germany offering workshops, experience stations, and digital transformation consulting. The federal-level direct equivalent of Digitalwerk in scope, funding source (EFRE co-financing), and SME-targeting mission.

Regional players

• IHK Potsdam: Industry and Commerce Chamber serving the same Brandenburg SME base as Digitalwerk, offering innovation and digitalization advisory services to member companies across trade, services, and tourism.
• Handwerkskammer Potsdam: Regional chamber of crafts for Brandenburg - the exact SME segment Digitalwerk started with in 2018. Provides digital advisory and training for craft businesses across the same geography.

Broad incumbents

• Fraunhofer IAIS: Leading German applied-AI research institute that runs SME-facing programs (e.g. 'KI für den Mittelstand') delivering digital transformation and AI training nationally with materially larger resources and headcount than ifii/Digitalwerk.
• Bitkom Servicegesellschaft mbH: Service arm of Germany's largest digital industry association, operating SME digitalization initiatives, policy-driven consulting, and training programs that compete for the same SME digital advisory budgets as Digitalwerk.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/DigitalwerkWerder

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Digitalwerk