Government Plans to Realign Federal Competence Centre for CCI Sectors

The Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action has re-tendered the federal government's Competence Centre for the Cultural and Creative Industries. The intention is to continue the centre's operations after 2024 and to initiate a strategic realignment.

The plans for reorientation can be seen in the description of the call for tenders (German). It states that the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz; BMWK) and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien, BKM) intend to continue the work of the "Kompetenzzentrums Kultur- und Kreativwirtschaft des Bundes" (Federal Competence Centre for Culture and the Creative Industries) after 2024 and to realign its strategy.

However, the reorientation is unlikely to be fundamental. According to the call for tenders, the competence centre will remain the central federal agency in Berlin where economic and social issues concerning the future of the cultural and creative industries are discussed and solutions are developed. The core task of the centre will therefore remain unchanged. The range of tasks has also been continuously developed in the past without changing the contractor.

The call for tenders is also issued on a regular basis. The contract for the operation of the Federal Government's Competence Centre for the Cultural and Creative Industries is awarded for three years and can only be extended once for a maximum of two years before a new formal tender has to be issued. However, the centre has been run by u-institut GmbH since it was established in 2009 as part of the Federal Government's Cultural and Creative Industries Initiative.

The u-institut works closely with the various cultural and creative industries in Germany through an advisory board. For example, the advisory board is chaired by Dr Florian Drücke, Chairman of the Board of Bundesverband Musikindustrie (German Music Industry Association). Other members of the twelve-strong committee include Prof. Dr. Susanne Stürmer, President of the Babelsberg Film University Konrad Wolf, Inga Wellmann, Head of the Department for Art and Creative Industries at the Hamburg Ministry of Culture and Media, Olaf Zimmermann, Managing Director of Deutscher Kulturrat (German Cultural Council), and Felix Falk, Managing Director of game - Verband der deutschen Games-Branche (The German Games Industry Association).