On 29 July 2026, we had the opportunity to present our EU project Drive2Transform at the Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy. Managing Director Alexander Rupprecht and Project Manager Steve Schumann attended the event on behalf of TechBase Regensburg GmbH and the Cluster Mobility & Logistics.
The Ministry had invited Bavarian lead and project partners from Interreg B projects in the ‘Innovation and Competitiveness’ thematic area to Munich. The aim of the exchange of experiences was to highlight the importance of transnational cooperation in the regions and to identify areas for further collaboration. The session was opened by State Secretary Tobias Gotthardt, accompanied by the Ministry’s specialist departments.
During the exchange, State Secretary Tobias Gotthardt emphasised: “We need to bring innovations from research into the Bavarian economy more quickly – Interreg can act as a catalyst for this.”
Four outcomes from Drive2Transform
Steve Schumann presented the Drive2Transform project. Since June 2024, nine partners from eight countries have been working to support small and medium-sized enterprises in the automotive value chain through their transformation. TechBase Regensburg GmbH leads the consortium as lead partner. The focus was on four key findings:
- Transformation Readiness Index — assesses where regions and companies stand in terms of transformation across ten categories. Collected uniformly across all nine project regions; on the Bavarian side, this was underpinned by around 30 interviews and site visits.
- International expert group — over 50 experts from nine regions, more than half of whom are from the business sector.
- Established conference format — the Automotive Transformation Conference, most recently held in South Tyrol, and due to take place in Linz in September 2026.
- Policy Forum series — a three-part series involving the European Commission (DG GROW) and all nine project regions. State Secretary Gotthardt opened the first session.
The most important outcome, however, is neither a website nor a document. The transformation platform is a well-established international network from which small and medium-sized enterprises in particular will benefit in the long term – well beyond the end of the project.
The presentation in Munich therefore concluded with the statement: “Transformation can only succeed if we work together.”
Discussions with the Ministry
CapTTict was also presented by Deggendorf University of Applied Sciences, and RTIT>> by Bayern Innovativ GmbH. Three very different projects – and a common theme in the discussion with State Secretary Gotthardt and the specialist departments: how project results can be disseminated sustainably and strategically embedded for the long term.
For Drive2Transform, the answer lies in the network itself: the expert groups and conference format will continue beyond the project’s duration, and the Transformation Readiness Index will remain freely accessible. The meeting brought together project contacts and specialist departments from the Ministry and provided concrete starting points for further collaboration.
We would like to thank the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs for the invitation, the open dialogue and the reliable support for Drive2Transform throughout the entire project – from the initial stages right through to the Policy Forum.
Project conclusion: 19 and 20 November 2026 in Regensburg
To mark the conclusion of the project, we will present the results of Drive2Transform together with the consortium in Regensburg.
More on the exchange of experiences