WTI-Frankfurt eG

WTI-Frankfurt eG was a German provider of scientific and technical specialist information (wissenschaftlich-technische Fachinformationen). It was founded in November 2010 by employees of the former Fachinformationszentrum Technik (FIZ Technik) and began official operations on 1 January 2011 as a registered cooperative (eingetragene Genossenschaft, eG). Its target audiences were specialists and managers in industry, research and teaching, as well as students at technically oriented universities. The organisation worked across publishers and cooperated with various information suppliers. Its subject spectrum ranged from classic engineering disciplines such as mechanical and plant engineering, process, environmental and materials technology, and energy technology, through business management, organisation and management, to politically and economically relevant cross-cutting topics such as Industrie 4.0, electromobility and IT security. Content types included publisher publications, so-called "grey literature", research reports and other scientific works, trade journals and conference proceedings. WTI's core offering was built around specialist databases and its own search engine, TecFinder. Its flagship database was TEMA (Technik und Management), which the company described as providing fast access to knowledge and first-class specialist information in the fields of technology and management, with more than 10 million records that were regularly updated. Because WTI did not belong to a publishing group, it presented itself as fully independent. Records were manually entered and indexed by subject specialists, which the company highlighted as the source of its high data quality. Other products included the TEMA Thesaurus, TecScan journals, TecExpert custom information packages and dossiers, a knowledge base for small and medium-sized enterprises (KMU), and knowledge games (TecGames). Information was delivered through company portals and scientific libraries, supplemented by subscriptions, commissioned research, dossiers, and consulting and training services. WTI cooperated closely with the Technische Informationsbibliothek Hannover (TIB), and members of the Verein Deutscher Ingenieure (VDI) could access WTI offerings through the association's intranet. Its TEMA and CEABA databases were also available via other specialist information providers such as FIZ Karlsruhe and GBI-Genios. In April 2019 the cooperative was converted into a limited liability company (GmbH) and renamed WTI-Frankfurt-digital GmbH i. G. Management changed in November 2019, and the new managing director, Jan Halstenbach, filed for insolvency in 2021. In April 2021 the Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main declared the company dissolved. The WTI-Frankfurt eG brand therefore represents a defunct German information-services organisation whose roots lay in the state-initiated Fachinformationszentren of the late 1970s.

WTI-Frankfurt eG was founded in November 2010 by employees of the former Fachinformationszentrum Technik (FIZ Technik) and began official operations on 1 January 2011 as a registered cooperative. Its predecessor, FIZ Technik, was one of the state-initiated specialist information centres (Fachinformationszentren) based in Frankfurt am Main, alongside FIZ Chemie and FIZ Karlsruhe. FIZ Technik was the national centre for technical-scientific information and documentation and was founded in 1979 within the framework of the Information and Documentation (IuD) programme, which aimed to create a decentralised system of specialist agencies. Its predecessor institutions were the Zentralstelle der Dokumentation für Elektrotechnik (ZDE) and the Dokumentation Maschinenbau (DOMA). FIZ Technik consisted of two entities, FIZ Technik e. V. and FIZ-Technik-Inform GmbH, and was supported and funded in particular by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). Building on this heritage, WTI-Frankfurt eG continued to provide scientific and technical specialist information. It worked across publishers and cooperated with various information suppliers. Its subject coverage spanned classic engineering disciplines such as mechanical and plant engineering, process, environmental and materials technology, and energy technology, as well as business management, organisation and management, and cross-cutting topics such as Industrie 4.0, electromobility and IT security. Content included publisher publications, grey literature, research reports and other scientific works, trade journals and conference proceedings. The company's core offering was built around specialist databases and its own search engine, TecFinder. Its flagship database, TEMA (Technik und Management), was described as offering fast access to knowledge and first-class specialist information in technology and management, with more than 10 million records that were regularly updated. Because WTI did not belong to a publishing group, it emphasised its independence. Records were manually entered and indexed by subject specialists, which the company presented as the basis of its high data quality. Other products included the TEMA Thesaurus, TecScan journals, TecExpert custom information packages and dossiers, a knowledge base for small and medium-sized enterprises (KMU), and knowledge games (TecGames). Information was delivered through company portals and scientific libraries, supplemented by subscriptions, commissioned research, dossiers, and consulting and training services. WTI cooperated closely with the Technische Informationsbibliothek Hannover (TIB), and members of the Verein Deutscher Ingenieure (VDI) could access WTI offerings through the association's intranet. Its TEMA and CEABA databases were also available via other specialist information providers such as FIZ Karlsruhe and GBI-Genios. In April 2019 the cooperative was converted into a limited liability company (GmbH) and renamed WTI-Frankfurt-digital GmbH i. G. Management changed in November 2019, with Jan Halstenbach becoming the new managing director. In 2021 Halstenbach filed for insolvency, and in April 2021 the Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main declared the company dissolved. The WTI-Frankfurt eG brand thus represents a defunct German information-services organisation whose roots lay in the state-initiated Fachinformationszentren of the late 1970s.

• FIZ Technik, the predecessor organisation, is founded in Frankfurt am Main within the Information and Documentation (IuD) programme.

• WTI-Frankfurt eG is founded by employees of the former FIZ Technik.

• Official start of operations as a registered cooperative.

• Conversion into a GmbH and renaming to WTI-Frankfurt-digital GmbH i. G.

• Change of management; Jan Halstenbach becomes managing director.

• Insolvency filed by managing director Jan Halstenbach.

• Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main declares the company dissolved.

Independent, publisher-neutral provider of manually indexed, high-quality scientific and technical specialist information for industry, research and teaching.

• TEMA database (Technik und Management)

  Flagship specialist database with more than 10 million records, regularly updated, providing access to knowledge and specialist information in technology and management.

• TecFinder

  WTI's own powerful search engine.

• TEMA Thesaurus

  The most extensive structured collection of current specialist vocabulary for technology and production-oriented management in German and English.

• TecScan journals

  Regularly published journals containing worldwide specialist publications in technology and management from WTI databases.

• TecExpert

  Custom information packages and dossiers, as well as information research and analysis services.

• CEABA (Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology Abstracts)

  Database covering chemical engineering and biotechnology, available via WTI and other providers.

• Knowledge base for SMEs (KMU)

  Free knowledge base with materials and handouts from publicly funded projects on digitalisation and ICT use in companies.

• TecGames

  Knowledge games developed with the consulting firm Hoffmann&Reif.

• Electromobility knowledge platform

  Platform created within a BMWi-funded project.

1. 1WTI AG homepagewti-ag.com
2. 2Wikidata: WTI-Frankfurt eGwikidata.org
3. 3Wikipedia (German): WTI-Frankfurtde.wikipedia.org