The Mittelstand 4.0 Competence Center Cottbus belongs to Mittelstand-Digital and is one of 26 centers with over 150 locations in Germany. With the Mittelstand-Digital funding programme, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) supports digitisation in small and medium-sized enterprises and the craft sector. Overarching goal of medium-sized businesses 4.0-Kompetenzzentrum Cottbus is the increase in digital competence in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Brandenburg in order to promote innovative digitisation and networking in the Brandenburg economy. This should not only enable SMEs, and in particular micro-enterprises, to maintain their existing market positions, but alsoin addition to opening up other business areas and markets.

Starting from a physical centre at the Cottbus location, the competence centre consists of the locations of the network partners in Wildau, Eberswalde, Frankfurt (Oder) and at the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Cottbus. Together, the storylines of information/sensitization, unlocking, qualifyingand implementation projects as well as the complementary fields of action of public relations/marketing and transfer. Over a project period of five years (11/2017 to 10/2022), a network will be established between science and practice to support the transformation of digitisation in Brandenburg.

As part of the extension, the Wildau site will expand from 11.2021, its portfolio includes the topics of "Artificial Intelligence" and "Blockchain". This also includes the Wildau site as a contact point for the "KI Mittelstand" funding programme. From 08.2021, in addition to the local demonstrators, we will also be aiming for the use of a roadshow in the individual model factories. Participants learn a wide variety of themes on the basis of 10 stationsdigitalisation, blockchain and artificial intelligence.