The German Hub is an office community between nine German organizations in the heart of San Francisco’s Financial District. In this series, we want to introduce the organizations and their valuable services to our transatlantic community
Text by Esther Legant
Linking Innovation Ecosystems from South-Western Germany to the Bay Area and Boosting Transatlantic Collaboration
Since 2017, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), one out of four Universities of Excellence in Baden-Württemberg, has had active links to the Bay Area. Being “The Research University in the Helmholtz Association”, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for society and the environment. The objective is to make significant contributions to the global challenges in energy, mobility, and information. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application to benefit society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life.
KIT Link™ stands for the exchange of knowledge and communication between the San Francisco Bay Area and Baden-Württemberg. The mission of KIT Link™ is to build a bridge between both locations to promote and support partnerships. Therefore, the new single point of contact at the German Hub will allow KIT great access to an innovation ecosystem. Their transatlantic network aims to support the mission to create a community that champions cooperation and innovation through exchanging knowledge and ideas.
KIT Link‘s offer
- For Researchers
• Matching research partners.
• Binding with big players.
• Exclusive Alumni network.
…creating a German-American team of experts who will address global challenges.
- For Businesses
• Transatlantic cooperation.
• Access to top-class students.
• Exclusive Alumni network.
…establishing collaborations with a focus on innovative and transformative content.
- For Start-ups
• Connections to mentoring.
• Access to transatlantic start-ups.
• Exclusive Alumni network.
…facilitating and identifying trends and shaping the market
Today’s Challenges and Opportunities
KIT Link™ adds to the transatlantic community a network for innovative, high-quality research for future potential. At KIT Link, they enable top-notch future-oriented research entrepreneurship and drive and accelerate innovation. This environment is used to raise awareness of the importance of knowledge transfer for various topics, such as entrepreneurship and impact investment. KIT has organized multiple events in the Bay Area to achieve this, such as the Zeitgeist Events™.
Together, we share visions and empower their implementation. Together, we will create a trustworthy and powerful environment. Other than the alliances of the best and most committed people, what is needed is participation in the challenge of changing the world. The pandemic has created numerous challenges and enormous disruption. Thus, we seek advice, guidance, and leadership in a faster-changing world.
Going forward, the main challenge lies in mitigating disruption, managing change, and successfully transforming our world – people, industries, and regions – towards new opportunities that are building blocks of our future. Therefore, we engage with universities, colleges, scholars, and other research institutions as with industry, start-ups, and investors. We thrive on making a strong commitment to execution and excellence!
Joint Effort and Partnership
Given a successful transformation purpose and meaning, KIT Link™ is aware today that the dynamics of change will be difficult to predict. Looking at the outcome of changes, they wish to embrace failures they learn from and successes that carry them forward. According to KIT Link™, they need to reflect and define joint concepts on climate, new energy sources, business ecosystems, technology and its ethical use, entrepreneurship, biotechnology, machine learning, sustainability, open innovation, and common policies for the digital age we live in. In all aspects of this innovation economy and society, cooperation between all drivers and participants is a must in order to adopt and implement them with a long-term view.
All partners are welcome to join KIT Link™ at meetings regularly in the US as they did since 2017 over the years with their Zeitgeist Events™. Our interview series “Transatlantic Update of Future of Work” started parallel in 2021, where we reflect and define joint concepts together for innovative working environments in a transatlantic network.
At KIT Link™, we offer a comprehensive and collaborative membership. KIT Link™ is excited to address the issues of global concern and create a more sustainable world through science and entrepreneurship. We are established, have just started, and seek to grow constantly. Let’s think outside the box with a healthy perspective and shape the future together!
Esther Legant, Head of KIT Link™
With her determination to move forward and thrive, Esther Legant curiously explores the world. She has a proven track record in establishing high-profile transatlantic partnerships between the German South-West and California, including fundraising and event organization at a high international level, with the attendance of leaders and politicians. She is partnering with organizations like the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the German Consulate in San Francisco, the German Chamber of Commerce, the German American Business Association (GABA), the Schwarz Foundation’s entrepreneurial center CampusFounders, StrongHer, an alliance to see more gender equality and numerous others. Her engagement at the Heidelberg Club International allows her to reach key individuals that share her passion for transformation. Currently, she is responsible for Partner Management USA and serves as Head of KIT Link™ at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.
