Initiators and Coordinators - German Entrepreneurship Week 2013 (GEW)

The Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology was founded in 1949 as Federal Ministry of Economics. The Ministry is located in Berlin. The central priority of economic policy - and therefore of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology - is to lay the foundations for economic prosperity in Germany and to ensure that this prosperity is spread broadly throughout the population. In 2010, the Federal Ministry established the Initiative Gründerland Deutschland in order to develop entrepreneurial Spirit in Germany and to improve the situation of founders of new businesses.

The initiative is supported by the German Association of the Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) as well as by the German Confederation of Skilled Crafts (ZDH) and the German Association of professional workers and self-employed persons. The so-called Gründerwoche Deutschland (Startup Week Germany) is an important part of this initiative. It is coordinated by the RKW Competence Center.

The RKW Competence Center is part of a nationwide organization, the German Productivity and Innovation Centre which was founded in 1921. In 1950, the institution was reestablished after the Second World War. The task of the RKW is to strengthen the productivity and innovative ability of the German economy and thereby to secure Germany as a viable location for the future. The RKW places a strong focus on future developments of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The RKW engages in implementation-focused analysis and research. It transforms applied research outcomes into knowledge about productivity improvement. Enterprises and founders of new businesses can use simple, pragmatic instruments and publications like guidelines, reference books and online checklists, designed to help SMEs solving current and future problems. RKW Competence Center is supported by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, based on an enactment of the German Federal Parliament.

A special task within the German team consists in fostering cross border activities in order to underline the global impact of entrepreneurship. Wismar University is an entrepreneurial university. Collaborating with its roughly 6.000 students, it has been working on several projects, activities and measures on and off-campus in the field of entrepreneurial thinking and acting. The university has supported more than 120 start ups since 2000.

Wismar University is a state institution, established in 1908 as an engineering academy. WU stands on the three educational pillars of technology, business and design. It plays a key role as a regional competence centre in education, research and innovation with strong orientation on international collaborations and networking activities. Wismar University is the owner of three companies. One of them is dealing with further education on national and international level.