TransferLotse Mittelsachsen brings business and academia closer together in a more targeted way

The Mittelsachsen district and Mittweida University of Applied Sciences are jointly launching the research project ‘TransferLotse Mittelsachsen’. The official launch took place on 23 September with the signing of a cooperation agreement. The aim is to develop and test a digital assistance system designed to help businesses find suitable academic expertise, contacts, knowledge transfer opportunities and potential collaboration partners more quickly in future. 

In Central Saxony, we have highly specialised companies and strong academic partners. Nevertheless, it is not always immediately obvious to businesses who can help with a specific issue. This is precisely where we want to step in. Artificial intelligence should not be an end in itself, but should help to bring the right people together more quickly.

District Administrator Sven Krüger

Mittweida University of Applied Sciences is a key player in Saxony’s growing AI landscape. We act as a bridge between forward-looking research, professional development and practical application. We bring business and academia together through a wide range of partnerships, particularly within the region. With the TransferLotsen initiative, we aim to provide faster and more effective research-based answers to specific practical questions.

Professor Volker Tolkmitt, Rector of Mittweida University of Applied Sciences

The scientific project leadership will be undertaken by Professor Christian Roschke, Professor of Digital Transformation and Applied Media Informatics, and Professor Matthias Baumgart, Professor of Digital Integrated Process Management. Roschke’s research focuses, amongst other things, on artificial intelligence, intelligent data processing and the translation of technical processes into application-oriented systems. Baumgart combines computer science and machine learning with process management and has many years’ experience in research, knowledge and technology transfer. 

“Right from the start, our development of TransferLotsen has focused on businesses and their needs. To achieve this, different types of information must be structured and analysed intelligently so that the resulting recommendations are genuinely helpful to businesses. The key here is not to use as much AI as possible, but to provide a solution that is transparent and geared towards real-world applications,” explains Professor Christian Roschke. 

Professor Baumgart adds: “Technology alone is not enough. We need to understand how companies today go about seeking knowledge and suitable partners, where obstacles arise in the process, and what information is truly relevant to their processes. That is precisely why the project begins with direct dialogue with the companies.” 

In the first phase of the project, we are therefore seeking 15 companies from Central Saxony to take part in interviews. The interviews will take place on-site at the companies’ premises. Among other things, we will be looking at how companies have gone about seeking knowledge and partners to date, where difficulties arise, and what a digital assistance system would need to be able to do in order to be genuinely helpful in day-to-day business operations. Involving the regional business community is a key component of the project. 

“We don’t want to develop the TransferLotsen first and then ask whether companies need it. We want their experiences and requirements to be taken into account right from the start. That is why we are deliberately seeking out companies from a range of sectors and of different sizes. Prior experience with AI applications or previous collaboration with a university is not required,” says Katrin Haußmann, project manager in the Economic Development and District Development Department of the Mittelsachsen District.”

For companies wishing to find out more about the project first, an online information session will take place on 7 October 2026 at 1.00 pm. The project concept, the next steps and opportunities for participation will be presented at the session. Interested companies can register for both the interviews and the online information session directly with Katrin Haußmann at regionalmanagement@landkreis-mittelsachsen.de.