Photo: Saxon State Chancellery / Matthias Rietschel

From left to right: Christoph Gommel (Contronix GmbH), Jan Böttger (Deutsche Bank), Dominik Gronarz, Konrad Herre, Jitka Barm (all Organic Electronics Saxony), Saxony’s Minister President Michael Kretschmer, Uwe Beier (Adenso GmbH)

Dresden, September 2018 – With its project “Looking East – Research and Entrepreneurial Collaboration with Japan”, Organic Electronics Saxony is one of the six innovative award-winners in the competition “Outstanding Locations in the Land of Ideas” in 2018 from Saxony. During a reception held in the State Chancellery in Dresden, Minister President Michael Kretschmer welcomed the award-winners and congratulated them on their exemplary commitment and achievements: “There are many doers in our presence, people who look to the future, who tackle the challenges they face head-on and show no end of creativity and courage in putting their ideas into practice. The award-winners from Saxony are perfect examples of the creative drive and richness of ideas in our country. My heartiest congratulations!”

A high-calibre jury selected “Looking East – Research and Entrepreneurial Collaboration with Japan” from almost 1,500 entries as one of 100 outstanding projects in Germany that best embodied this year’s motto “Connecting Worlds – Strengthening Cohesion”. The “Germany – Land of Ideas” initiative and Deutsche Bank have been organising the innovation competition for more than 13 years.

Cooperation not protectionism – this is the slogan of Organic Electronics Saxony. Adenso is one of the Saxony-based companies and research institutes affiliated to the network and works in the field of flexible, organic and printed electronics closely together with partner companies and institutes from the Japanese region of Yamagata. The goal is to collaborate in the development of innovative electronics such as bendable displays and printed batteries. This cooperation is backed up by visits, intercultural training and a range of symposiums. In this way, the network is building bridges with the Land of the Rising Sun – and promoting technical innovation and cultural exchange on both sides.

Project manager Jitka Barm is delighted with this special honour: “In addition to the technological aspects, we also enjoy cultural diversity and a diverse range of everyday experiences. Agreement on technical issues can be reached very quickly. But we quickly learned that cultural understanding is at least as important – and in some cases even takes precedence over everything else.

Mutual understanding requires self-understanding – and that’s something we’ve all been working on. Thanks to workshops in both Dresden and Tokyo, there was no shortage of revelatory insights on both sides.

Receiving this award is an honour for us and shows that understanding between different cultures is held in high regard by the jury.”