Innovation

Leipzig has everything a modern city of innovation needs: two strong universities, a growing startup scene, industry in transition, and room for bold pilot projects. What's missing is city leadership that treats innovation as core city policy — not as a niche left to individual economic-development officers.

Bringing universities, business and the city together. I'll set up a cooperation platform between Leipzig University, HTWK Leipzig and the business community, with targeted municipal participation in joint research and transfer projects. Research results should turn into companies here in Leipzig — not migrate to Berlin or Munich.

A city that never tries anything never learns anything.

Smart city as a guiding principle. Leipzig becomes a testbed for intelligent traffic management, digital administration, energy efficiency and citizen participation. Pilot projects get room to run, failures are named honestly, and what works gets scaled up. Innovation isn't a marketing term — it's a learning process for the whole city.

Opening municipal contracts to startups. Today the city runs procurement processes so complex that small providers are structurally shut out. I'll simplify procedures for innovative services and treat startups and scale-ups as equal bidders. That way, local young companies benefit from the city's budget too — and the city benefits from their solutions.

Leipzig can become the next Estonia — if it wants to.

Innovation is the bridge between today's economy and tomorrow's. Anyone serious about developing Leipzig as a business location can't avoid an active innovation policy. My goal: by 2030, Leipzig is East Germany's innovation capital.