OpTecBB

OpTecBB — formally Optec-Berlin-Brandenburg e. V. — is the competence network for optical technologies in the German states of Berlin and Brandenburg. It was founded on 14 September 2000 by companies, research institutions, universities and associations, with support from the responsible Brandenburg state ministries and the Berlin Senate, and was entered in the register of associations at the Berlin-Charlottenburg local court (VR 20515 B) on 24 January 2001. It is a non-profit, member-based association rather than a manufacturing company: its purpose is to bundle and network the region's optical technology potential, promote knowledge and technology transfer from research to business, initiate R&D projects and cooperations, provide a platform for information and communication, organise joint marketing and trade-fair activities, represent optical technologies to policymakers and associations, and advise state governments and economic development agencies. OpTecBB emerged from the strategic process that began with the drafting of the "German Agenda Optical Technologies for the 21st Century", which identified the formation of competence networks for optical technologies as an important element. Its technological focus areas describe the specific profile of Berlin and Brandenburg in Germany's science and industry landscape: education and training ("Working in Photonics"), UV and X-ray technologies, biomedical optics and ophthalmology, innovative ophthalmic optics, laser technology, lighting technology, multisensorics, visualisation and signal processing, optical process metrology, photonics for communication and sensing, and terahertz technology. The network's technical work is oriented to the specific competences, strengths and needs of the region. As a regional innovation network, OpTecBB is part of the wider German photonics network landscape alongside peers such as bayern photonics, Photonics BW, OptecNet, PhotonicNet GmbH, Hanse Photonik, OptoNet, NMWP and the Wetzlar Network. It runs its own event and community formats — for example the PhD2CEO series, which it hosted in a special edition together with the xG-Incubator, Silicon Allee and Berlin Quantum — and it participates in regional and European projects and conferences, including the Quantum Industry Chat and the UpQuantVal Conference in Basel held in September by the European Interreg consortium. Its website publishes news from the regional innovation networks as well as from companies and research institutions in the optics sector, including member milestones such as Optocraft's 25th anniversary and new memberships such as that of Fluffy Systems GmbH from Karlsruhe. Among the highlights associated with the network is the Zukunftsfonds Berlin project "100 × 100 Optics", which pursued higher data rates for fibre-optic transmission systems and involved TU Berlin's Institute of Solid State Physics, the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications (Heinrich Hertz Institute) and the SME U2T Photonics AG, ensuring efficient know-how transfer into innovative products. Another highlight is the Potsdam Centre for Innovation Competence "innoFSPEC" — the Centre for Fibre-Optic Spectroscopy and Sensorics — an initiative from Brandenburg that succeeded in the BMBF "Centre for Innovation Competence" programme and received five years of federal funding; its initiators Martin Roth (Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam, AIP) and Hans-Gerd Löhmannsröben (University of Potsdam) established two junior research groups for internationally competitive top-level research in optics and photonics, marking the first time AIP, the University of Potsdam, OpTecBB and regional SMEs worked together on a project linking science and business.

OpTecBB — the Optec-Berlin-Brandenburg e. V. — was founded on 14 September 2000 by companies, research institutions, universities and associations, with support from the responsible Brandenburg state ministries and the Berlin Senate. It was entered in the register of associations at the Berlin-Charlottenburg local court under registration number VR 20515 B on 24 January 2001. The network is part of the strategic process that began with the drafting of the "German Agenda Optical Technologies for the 21st Century", which included the formation of competence networks for optical technologies as an important element. The association's purpose is to bundle and network the optical technology potential present in the Berlin-Brandenburg region, to promote knowledge and technology transfer from research to companies, to initiate R&D projects and enter into cooperations, to form a platform for information and communication, to organise joint marketing activities and trade-fair appearances to promote the companies and the region, to represent optical technologies vis-à-vis policymakers and associations, and to inform and advise state governments and economic development agencies. Its technological focus areas describe the specific competences and thus the profile of Berlin and Brandenburg in Germany's science and industry landscape: education and training and "Working in Photonics"; UV and X-ray technologies; biomedical optics and ophthalmology; innovative ophthalmic optics; laser technology; lighting technology; multisensorics, visualisation and signal processing; optical process metrology; photonics for communication and sensing; and terahertz technology. The technical work is oriented to the specific competences, strengths and requirements of the region. Among the network's documented highlights is the Zukunftsfonds Berlin project "100 × 100 Optics". Since 2005, demands for higher data rates in fibre-optic transmission systems of up to 100 gigabits per second per channel had been discussed and standardisation efforts advanced; against this background the research project 100 × 100 Optics was launched. Participants included TU Berlin's Institute of Solid State Physics, the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications (Heinrich Hertz Institute) and the SME U2T Photonics AG, ensuring efficient know-how transfer into innovative products. A second highlight is the Potsdam Centre for Innovation Competence "innoFSPEC". The Brandenburg initiative prevailed in the BMBF "Centre for Innovation Competence" programme; the Centre for Fibre-Optic Spectroscopy and Sensorics (innoFSPEC Potsdam) received five years of federal funding. Its initiators Martin Roth of the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) and Hans-Gerd Löhmannsröben of the University of Potsdam established two junior research groups for internationally competitive top-level research in optics and photonics. For the first time, AIP, the University of Potsdam, OpTecBB and regional SMEs worked together on a project linking science and business. In the present day, OpTecBB operates as one of the regional photonics innovation networks in Germany, appearing alongside bayern photonics, Photonics BW, OptecNet, PhotonicNet GmbH, Hanse Photonik, OptoNet, NMWP and the Wetzlar Network. It publishes news from the regional innovation networks and from companies and research institutions in the optics sector, and it runs community formats such as the PhD2CEO series — a special edition of which it hosted with the xG-Incubator, Silicon Allee and Berlin Quantum — while also taking part in European activities such as the Quantum Industry Chat and the UpQuantVal Conference of the European Interreg consortium in Basel.

• OpTecBB is founded by companies, research institutions, universities and associations with support from the Brandenburg state ministries and the Berlin Senate.

• OpTecBB is entered in the register of associations at the Berlin-Charlottenburg local court under registration number VR 20515 B.

• From 2005 onward, demands for higher data rates of up to 100 gigabits per second per channel in fibre-optic transmission systems are discussed and standardisation efforts advanced, providing the background for the 100 × 100 Optics project.

• The Quantum Industry Chat and UpQuantVal Conference of the European Interreg consortium take place in Basel on 10 and 11 September, reported by OpTecBB.

• OpTecBB hosts a special edition of its PhD2CEO series in collaboration with xG-Incubator, Silicon Allee and Berlin Quantum.

A non-profit regional competence network that bundles and connects the optical technologies sector in Berlin and Brandenburg, bridging research, industry and policy.

• PhD2CEO event series

  A community and career event format run by OpTecBB; a special edition was hosted with xG-Incubator, Silicon Allee and Berlin Quantum.

• 100 × 100 Optics research project

  A Zukunftsfonds Berlin project on higher data rates for fibre-optic transmission systems, involving TU Berlin, the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute and U2T Photonics AG.

• innoFSPEC Potsdam

  The Centre for Fibre-Optic Spectroscopy and Sensorics, a Brandenburg initiative funded for five years under the BMBF Centre for Innovation Competence programme, involving AIP, the University of Potsdam, OpTecBB and regional SMEs.

1. 1OpTecBB: OptecBBoptecbb.de
2. 2OpTecBBwikidata.org
3. 3OpTecBBde.wikipedia.org