Institute for Digital Ecosystem Development

Regions ranking

Report on the State of Limburg’s Digital Infrastructure

Regions Ranking

Report on the State of Middle Franconia's Digital Infrastructure

This report presents the findings from an evaluation of regional digital infrastructure and service providers headquartered in Middle Franconia in Germany. Our evaluation focused on reviewing digital policies and policies that may impact digital infrastructure development as well as performing market analysis. For the market analysis, we assessed economic performance and values-based performance (sustainability, transparency, and local impact). Our goal was to examine the state of digital infrastructure policies (vision, strategies, or objectives) as well as the regional market, assessing the local value creation and the environmental impact of IT infrastructure and service providers.

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Key Takeaways

Policy-infrastructure gap

Market transparency deficiency

Over-reliance on foreign providers

Local impact is under-communicated

Sustainability implementation gap

# of companies in digital ecosystem

# of which publish their local impact initiatives

# of which publish their procurement criteria

Balance Sheet Categories by European Classification

# of which have a public sustainability strategy

# of which publish their environmental impact

Size Classification by European Classification

About the Report

The evaluation revealed a lack of policies that shape the digital infrastructure market in the region. Such finding is mirrored in the market analysis section that demonstrates how providers in Middle Franconia:

do not operationalize the regional ambitions when it comes to climate change, circularity and regional economic development,
do not deliver their full potential when it comes sustainability and local impact.

About the Report

do not operationalize the regional ambitions when it comes to climate change, circularity and regional economic development,
do not deliver their full potential when it comes sustainability and local impact.

About the Report

do not operationalize the regional ambitions when it comes to climate change, circularity and regional economic development,
do not deliver their full potential when it comes sustainability and local impact.

Objectives

Review existing digital policies and adjacent policies (e.g. energy, climate, circularity, economic development).
Assess the current state of the digital infrastructure market in Middle Franconia.
Identify gaps between the region’s digital policy ambitions and the current state of region’s digital infrastructure market – particularly around sustainability, transparency, and regional value creation.
Highlight risks associated with the current trajectory of digitalization, especially if infrastructure remains imported, non-transparent, or unaccountable.
Establish a framework for ongoing monitoring and development.

By identifying where the region stands today, this report offers policymakers and stakeholders an objective view of the digital infrastructure market and creates a foundation for both shaping policies and monitoring future market development.

Objectives

Review existing digital policies and adjacent policies (e.g. energy, climate, circularity, economic development).
Assess the current state of the digital infrastructure market in Middle Franconia.
Identify gaps between the region’s digital policy ambitions and the current state of region’s digital infrastructure market – particularly around sustainability, transparency, and regional value creation.
Highlight risks associated with the current trajectory of digitalization, especially if infrastructure remains imported, non-transparent, or unaccountable.
Establish a framework for ongoing monitoring and development.

Objectives

Review existing digital policies and adjacent policies (e.g. energy, climate, circularity, economic development).
Assess the current state of the digital infrastructure market in Middle Franconia.
Identify gaps between the region’s digital policy ambitions and the current state of region’s digital infrastructure market – particularly around sustainability, transparency, and regional value creation.
Highlight risks associated with the current trajectory of digitalization, especially if infrastructure remains imported, non-transparent, or unaccountable.
Establish a framework for ongoing monitoring and development.

Middle Franconia and its Digital Transformation

The digitalization and sustainability landscape of Middle Franconia, a cultural and historical region in northern Bavaria, is shaped by both state and federal policies. The region's key cities – Nuremberg, and Erlangen – serve as major technological and scientific hubs. The region is home to global industry leaders such as Adidas, Puma, and Siemens that play a key role in driving innovation and digital transformation across Middle Franconia.

The region's digital infrastructure is well-developed, with cities like Nuremberg leading in technological advancement. Nearly 10% of Nuremberg’s workforce is employed in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector [1], making it one of Germany's top 20 tech hubs. With more than 100,000 employees across 7,000 companies and numerous internationally-present companies headquartered there, the Nuremberg metropolitan region stands as one of Europe's leading ICT locations. The region also excels in communications technology, embedded systems, open-source technologies, and specialized software solutions for automation and medical applications. Such technological prowess of the region is evident in Nuremberg's status of the third-highest city for ICT patent quotas in Europe.

Middle Franconia and its Digital Transformation

State-level influence: Bavaria’s role

Digital policies in Middle Franconia are primarily shaped by the Bavarian State Ministry for Digital Affairs, which has developed the Digital Plan Bavaria 2030 with the motto: "Living better in a digital world!". The Digital Plan [2] addresses urgent challenges for the state across several strategic areas, such as digital education and skills, infrastructure and data, as well as security and network administration. The plan includes continuous measurement of Bavaria's digital progress to enable strategy adaptation based on emerging technologies, societal needs, and challenges.

The main objective of the digital plan is to ensure that all citizens regardless of age, background, or education are able to participate in and benefit from the digital transformation. This includes fostering media competence in children and ensuring that they are not only digitally adept, but also protected in digital environments. A key ambition is to create digital public services that are as seamless and accessible, enhancing the efficiency and transparency of government interactions.

There is a strong focus on making rural areas just as attractive and livable as cities, mainly by investing in broadband access and supporting local digital innovation. The plan also encourages responsible data use and pushes for digital sovereignty by promoting open-source tools and secure systems. Collaboration across all sectors (government, academia, business, and civil society) is perceived as essential, with ongoing monitoring and evaluation built in to make sure the approach remains flexible and effective. However, despite these ambitions, foundational infrastructure remains under-addressed – particularly in terms of sustainability, transparency, and local value retention.

Federal framework: Germany’s digital strategy

Germany's Digital Strategy 2025 [3] sets the overarching goals for digital transformation nationwide. Key priorities include:

Creating a gigabit optical fibre network for Germany by 2025.
Assisting start-ups and encouraging cooperation between young companies and established companies.
Creating a regulatory framework for more investment and innovation.
Encouraging smart networks in key commercial infrastructure areas of economy.
Strengthening data security and developing informational autonomy.
Enabling new business models for SMEs, the skilled craft sector and services.
Utilizing Industry 4.0 to modernize Germany as a production location.
Creating excellence in digital technology research, development, and innovation.
Introducing digital education to all phases of life.
Creating a Digital Agency as a modern center of excellence.

These national objectives shape Bavaria’s policy landscape and are reflected in regional implementation across Middle Franconia.

Regional and local strengths

Nuremberg’s vision: Digital transformation with a purpose

In Middle Franconia with an administrative seat in Ansbach, Nuremberg plays a pivotal role by being the region’s technological and economic center. It is recognized as one of Germany’s most advanced ICT cities, second only to Munich. Nuremberg boasts a thriving startup ecosystem anchored by institutions like ZOLLHOF–Tech Incubator, which supports high-tech entrepreneurship. The city also hosts NUEDIGITAL, one of the largest regional digital festivals in Germany, attracting thousands of participants and hundreds of organizations each year. Public innovation spaces such as FabLab and tollwerkstatt provide platforms for collaboration among developers, creatives, and open-source communities. Additionally, digital public service portals like Mein.Nuernberg.de and the Integreat app enhance citizen participation and streamline administrative processes.

Nuremberg approaches digitalization not just as a technical upgrade, but as a fundamental transformation of urban society. Under its umbrella strategy “Digital Nuremberg” [4], the city has developed a long-term vision for how digital technologies can improve everyday life and support sustainable urban development. This strategy was created as part of an integrated urban development concept (INSEK), recognizing that digital change impacts all aspects of city life –from governance and mobility to education, social inclusion, and citizen engagement. The city aims to use digital transformation to strengthen transparency, participation, and co-creation; to boost and secure local prosperity; and to drive more sustainable, resource-efficient urban development [5].

At the core of Nuremberg’s approach is a clear stance: digitalization is not an end in itself. It should serve a broader purpose – making the city more livable, efficient, and inclusive. With this in mind, the city has launched "Digitales Nürnberg" [6], an umbrella strategy focused specifically on the digital transformation of city administration. This includes modernizing public services, making them more accessible and user-friendly, and embedding sustainability and transparency into the city's digital systems.

The INSEK Digitales Nürnberg strategy [5] provides a broader framework for the city’s digital transformation. It is guided by four strategic pillars:

Strengthening digital inclusion and sovereignty;
securing and expanding digital infrastructure (public Wi-Fi, municipal IT modernization, infrastructure for new technologies like 5G);
promoting innovation and digital skills;
embedding digital solutions into urban sustainability and planning.

The strategy was developed collaboratively with input from local businesses, academia, startups, and citizens. A dedicated stakeholder group continues to shape its implementation, and a follow-up roadmap outlines concrete steps and timelines. Overall, it reflects Nuremberg’s commitment to ensuring that digitalization enhances quality of life, supports the local economy, and promotes inclusive, sustainable urban development.

Nuremberg has also committed to becoming climate neutral by 2040 and to reduce CO2 emissions by 65% by 2030 [7]. As a member of the "Circular Cities Declaration" (CCD), Nuremberg is committed to local circular economy development [8].

Fürth’s digitalization strategy for city administration

The City of Fürth, though smaller, aligns closely with Bavaria’s digital strategy. It participates in state programs such as the Mittelstand-Digital Zentrum Franken, which offers tailored support to small and medium-sized enterprises undergoing digital transformation.

The City of Fürth has initiated a comprehensive digitalization strategy [9] aimed at transforming its administrative operations. The strategy focuses on enhancing communication with citizens and businesses by offering tailored digital services and streamlining internal processes to improve efficiency, quality, and cost-effectiveness.

Fürth's digitalization strategy focuses on five key areas:

improving public services through digital channels,
streamlining internal processes with document management systems,
increasing operational efficiency,
enhancing transparency, and
building internal digital governance capacity through dedicated roles and units.

Fürth has also implemented a digitalization strategy for its educational institutions [10]. Key components include the adoption of Microsoft 365 and IServ as standard platforms across schools. The city has also established a dedicated Task Force for School Digitalization to oversee the rollout and provide ongoing support. This initiative underscores Fürth's commitment to integrating digital technologies into education, preparing students for a digitally-driven future.

Fürth has also developed a sustainability strategy as part of its commitment to implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Key focus areas include:

Climate and energy – reducing emissions, promoting renewable energy, and improving energy efficiency in public infrastructure.
Education and participation – promoting sustainability education, increasing digital access, and encouraging citizen engagement.
Social inclusion – ensuring equal opportunities, supporting marginalized communities, and fostering intergenerational cooperation.
Sustainable economy and consumption – supporting circular economy practices, fair procurement, and responsible resource use.
Transparency and governance – enhancing public access to information through tools like the interactive sustainability budget and integrating sustainability into city planning and budgeting processes.

Erlangen: Smart innovation with a sustainable focus

Erlangen complements this landscape through its strong academic and research ecosystem, notably the NHR@FAU High-Performance Computing Center, which advances AI and scientific computing across northern Bavaria. The city pairs this technological strength with a forward-looking municipal strategy focused on sustainability, transparency, and citizen engagement. Erlangen has also established a Sustainability Council comprising 26 member institutions, associations, and organizations – all experts in the field of Sustainable Development Goals. The council advises the city administration and city council on sustainability issues based on the UN SDGs. They focus on topics such as energy conservation and efficiency, CO2-free heat supply, and other sustainability initiatives.

Smart city initiatives include AI-powered chatbots for digital services, moisture sensors to manage urban greenery more efficiently, and a digital file management system that aligns with Germany’s Online Access Act (OZG). These efforts not only modernize public administration but also promote resource efficiency and make everyday interactions with the city more accessible and transparent for residents.

Conclusion

Despite these strong local initiatives, a consistent challenge remains: regional strategies focus heavily on digitalization and digital services while overlooking the infrastructure needed to deliver them. Questions of who provides the infrastructure, how it aligns with local sustainability goals, and whether it supports regional value creation remain largely unaddressed. As a result, even the most forward-looking digital strategies risk relying on imported digital infrastructure – limiting their potential to deliver long-term, locally-rooted impact while aligning with sustainability goals of the region.

State-level influence: Bavaria’s role

Federal framework: Germany’s digital strategy

Germany's Digital Strategy 2025 [3] sets the overarching goals for digital transformation nationwide. Key priorities include:

Creating a gigabit optical fibre network for Germany by 2025.
Assisting start-ups and encouraging cooperation between young companies and established companies.
Creating a regulatory framework for more investment and innovation.
Encouraging smart networks in key commercial infrastructure areas of economy.
Strengthening data security and developing informational autonomy.
Enabling new business models for SMEs, the skilled craft sector and services.
Utilizing Industry 4.0 to modernize Germany as a production location.
Creating excellence in digital technology research, development, and innovation.
Introducing digital education to all phases of life.
Creating a Digital Agency as a modern center of excellence.

These national objectives shape Bavaria’s policy landscape and are reflected in regional implementation across Middle Franconia.

Regional and local strengths

Nuremberg’s vision: Digital transformation with a purpose

The INSEK Digitales Nürnberg strategy [5] provides a broader framework for the city’s digital transformation. It is guided by four strategic pillars:

Strengthening digital inclusion and sovereignty;
securing and expanding digital infrastructure (public Wi-Fi, municipal IT modernization, infrastructure for new technologies like 5G);
promoting innovation and digital skills;
embedding digital solutions into urban sustainability and planning.

Fürth’s digitalization strategy for city administration

Fürth's digitalization strategy focuses on five key areas:

improving public services through digital channels,
streamlining internal processes with document management systems,
increasing operational efficiency,
enhancing transparency, and
building internal digital governance capacity through dedicated roles and units.

Fürth has also developed a sustainability strategy as part of its commitment to implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Key focus areas include:

Climate and energy – reducing emissions, promoting renewable energy, and improving energy efficiency in public infrastructure.
Education and participation – promoting sustainability education, increasing digital access, and encouraging citizen engagement.
Social inclusion – ensuring equal opportunities, supporting marginalized communities, and fostering intergenerational cooperation.
Sustainable economy and consumption – supporting circular economy practices, fair procurement, and responsible resource use.
Transparency and governance – enhancing public access to information through tools like the interactive sustainability budget and integrating sustainability into city planning and budgeting processes.

Erlangen: Smart innovation with a sustainable focus

Conclusion

State-level influence: Bavaria’s role

Federal framework: Germany’s digital strategy

Germany's Digital Strategy 2025 [3] sets the overarching goals for digital transformation nationwide. Key priorities include:

Creating a gigabit optical fibre network for Germany by 2025.
Assisting start-ups and encouraging cooperation between young companies and established companies.
Creating a regulatory framework for more investment and innovation.
Encouraging smart networks in key commercial infrastructure areas of economy.
Strengthening data security and developing informational autonomy.
Enabling new business models for SMEs, the skilled craft sector and services.
Utilizing Industry 4.0 to modernize Germany as a production location.
Creating excellence in digital technology research, development, and innovation.
Introducing digital education to all phases of life.
Creating a Digital Agency as a modern center of excellence.

These national objectives shape Bavaria’s policy landscape and are reflected in regional implementation across Middle Franconia.

Regional and local strengths

Nuremberg’s vision: Digital transformation with a purpose

The INSEK Digitales Nürnberg strategy [5] provides a broader framework for the city’s digital transformation. It is guided by four strategic pillars:

Strengthening digital inclusion and sovereignty;
securing and expanding digital infrastructure (public Wi-Fi, municipal IT modernization, infrastructure for new technologies like 5G);
promoting innovation and digital skills;
embedding digital solutions into urban sustainability and planning.

Fürth’s digitalization strategy for city administration

Fürth's digitalization strategy focuses on five key areas:

improving public services through digital channels,
streamlining internal processes with document management systems,
increasing operational efficiency,
enhancing transparency, and
building internal digital governance capacity through dedicated roles and units.

Fürth has also developed a sustainability strategy as part of its commitment to implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Key focus areas include:

Climate and energy – reducing emissions, promoting renewable energy, and improving energy efficiency in public infrastructure.
Education and participation – promoting sustainability education, increasing digital access, and encouraging citizen engagement.
Social inclusion – ensuring equal opportunities, supporting marginalized communities, and fostering intergenerational cooperation.
Sustainable economy and consumption – supporting circular economy practices, fair procurement, and responsible resource use.
Transparency and governance – enhancing public access to information through tools like the interactive sustainability budget and integrating sustainability into city planning and budgeting processes.

Erlangen: Smart innovation with a sustainable focus

Conclusion

The Hidden Gaps Undermining Regional Digital Resilience

Policy focused on accelerating digitalization without addressing the required digital infrastructure

While Bavaria’s Digital Plan 2030 and regional strategies across Middle Franconia actively support digitalization particularly in areas like public administration, education, healthcare, and startup development, limited attention is paid to the underlying digital infrastructure that makes all of this possible. Beyond general references to broadband and mobile coverage, there is little focus on the actual capacity needed to produce and deliver digital services like servers, data centers, as well as the energy systems that power them. There is also little attention given to whether this infrastructure is provided by local companies or imported from abroad, which raises important sovereignty considerations. The priority remains to accelerate digitalization – without specifying where the underlying infrastructure comes from, what kind of ecosystem it supports and whether it creates local economic value.

Such a lack of focus is not limited to the state level. The digital strategies of key cities like Nuremberg, Fürth, and Erlangen also fall short in addressing the need for transparent, and locally rooted and governed digital infrastructure – despite their leadership in smart city services and digital innovation.

As a result, a recurring and systemic gap emerges – while there is significant focus on digitalization across policies, the infrastructure that enables all of this is overlooked.

The Hidden Gaps Undermining Regional Digital Resilience

Policy focused on accelerating digitalization without addressing the required digital infrastructure

As a result, a recurring and systemic gap emerges – while there is significant focus on digitalization across policies, the infrastructure that enables all of this is overlooked.

The Hidden Gaps Undermining Regional Digital Resilience

Policy focused on accelerating digitalization without addressing the required digital infrastructure

As a result, a recurring and systemic gap emerges – while there is significant focus on digitalization across policies, the infrastructure that enables all of this is overlooked.

o approach this shortcoming by understanding the various layers within the digital ecosystem, we have developed a ’School of Thought’ to support policy making. By breaking it down into several particles, it illustrates how a digital society, economy or administration require digital services. To be present, digital services further require digital technologies (’machinery’) and digital resources (’fuel’).

With open-source, digital technology without IP-licensing is available in abundance. Digital resources can be acquired either through regional IT infrastructure providers or sourced from closed global market operators (Cloud Providers).

Moreover, digital resources are produced by data centers by combining ICT equipment and electricity. Data centers require significant cooling for the ICT equipment as well as water, land and materials.

The more of this system of value-creation (from digital services, technologies to resource production) is present in a region, the more sovereign that region is, and the larger the economic benefits. On the flip-side, when left unregulated, it can also increase the environmental burden for the region.

Each part of the value-chain can also be imported from outside the region, which can create dependence and a loss of value-creation for the region, while still avoiding resource use within the region. Regions like Middle Franconia and Bavaria should make strategic choices about the acceptable level of dependence, resource & land allocation and desired local value creation. This approach can result in digital infrastructure strategies that address this system as a whole, recognizing gaps and bottlenecks, and increasing the added-value for the region. Having more parts of the value-chain locally also delivers broader benefits: IT competence, job creation and resilience to fast-paced changes imposed by suppliers.

Based on our national study conducted on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Change [11], we revealed the conditions of jobs creation across the digital infrastructure value chain (illustration below). The following overview is based on the assumption of 1 Megawatt (1 MW) of power consumption for the digital infrastructure in a region:

The opportunity

Building a strong regional digital ecosystem is not just about rolling out more digital services. It requires acknowledging and addressing ‘digital’ as a singular system consisting from services, to market design and infrastructure. While Middle Franconia is actively digitalizing public services, education, and administration, it does so without a clear strategy for how (or by whom) the underlying digital infrastructure is provided. Without this foundation, Middle Franconia risks building its digital future on systems it does not control, losing both the ability to hold actors accountable in relation to regional priorities as well as local value creation.

However, this challenge is also an opportunity. Middle Franconia can shift from digital consumption to active digital value creation by actively developing and governing its own digital infrastructure and the digital ecosystem. Instead of relying on imported infrastructure and services, the region can build a locally anchored ecosystem that meets regional priorities and operationalizes shared values.

By doing so, Middle Franconia could:

Keep economic value in the region, supporting local businesses and generating high-skilled jobs across the digital value chain
Align infrastructure with regional sustainability and energy goals through the use of renewables, efficient cooling, and circular practices
Boost local resilience and reduce dependence, ensuring digital systems remain accessible, reliable, and governed by regional actors
Create a foundation for innovation, giving municipalities, SMEs, and startups the infrastructure needed to digitalize

This is not just a technical shift – it is a strategic opportunity to anchor digital transformation in local strengths, values, and long-term prosperity.

The risks

The following risks not only reflect potential future challenges, but are also already shaped by structural barriers – including market concentration, slow energy grid expansion, and a persistent disconnect between digitalization and infrastructure planning.

Lack of control and accountability
Middle Franconia currently lacks transparency on the state of its digital infrastructure. Regional strategies rarely address who provides underlying infrastructure, how it is governed, or whether it aligns with sustainability goals. Without this visibility, public authorities cannot hold providers accountable or ensure alignment with regional priorities.
Incompatibility with sustainability goals
There is currently no reliable way to assess the environmental performance of IT infrastructure providers in the region. Only one provider publishes a sustainability report, that only partially mentions environmental footprint. This makes it impossible to assess whether these companies are contributing to the region's climate and sustainability objectives. While Bavaria's Digital Plan 2030 emphasizes responsible data use and Nuremberg's strategy prioritizes sustainability and resource-efficiency, we cannot verify alignment without sufficient data from providers.
Reduced regional resilience
Digital infrastructure of Middle Franconia relies heavily on external actors (primarily hyperscalers with no local accountability) for the delivery of critical digital services. This dependency exposes the region to multiple vulnerabilities: price volatility, geopolitical risks, and policy changes outside regional control. Additionally, these hyperscalers' market dominance actively restricts the development of a competitive local ecosystem as local actors struggle to compete on pricing, scale, or visibility without proactive intervention.
These challenges are further compounded by the limitations of the regional energy grid. While Middle Franconia benefits from a relatively stable energy infrastructure, its pace of expansion is too slow to meet growing demand – particularly for supporting new digital infrastructure. Instead of relying solely on building new power plants, the region needs to explore innovative solutions that improve energy efficiency and demand-side flexibility, and contain better local system integration to support digital growth sustainably.
To address these interconnected vulnerabilities, regional governments should advocate for national and EU-level policies that foster fair competition, modernize grid infrastructure, and create space for local IT infrastructure & service providers to thrive.
Infrastructure disparities and digital divide
Middle Franconia faces a persistent gap between urban and rural digital infrastructure. While cities like Nuremberg and Fürth enjoy solid broadband coverage, many rural areas still lack access to high-speed internet. A 2024 report from vbw shows that only 16% of rural businesses in Bavaria have fiber-optic connections, compared to 41% in urban areas [12]. This fiber connectivity gap is particularly concerning as digital ecosystems rely on strong inter-regional connectivity – from town-to-town broadband coverage to fast, reliable access to internet exchanges. Without targeted investment in fiber deployment, these disparities may deepen and the region risks being disconnected from the global digital market. For businesses, this means those wanting to digitalize may not have the infrastructure they need, limiting their ability to export digital services and attract customers requiring high-speed infrastructure. For residents, this could lead to fewer local job opportunities, limited access to digital education, and a growing digital divide between urban and rural communities.
Stagnation in skills and local innovation capacity
Germany faces significant challenges due to the shortage of skilled and highly qualified labour, especially in the ICT-Sector. Without regional digital infrastructure, there are fewer opportunities for local labour to develop hands-on experience and competence. Without a diverse infrastructure market, there are fewer local companies that can invest in training or education opportunities. A thriving local digital ecosystem not only attracts talent into region – it also creates opportunities to develop new competences and skills in the region.
Disconnect between digital and energy transition policies
The 2024 study done by LBBW [13] underscores that Germany’s energy and digital infrastructure is crucial for its competitiveness as a business location. It reveals that weaknesses in these sectors are prompting companies to consider relocating capacities abroad, with 23% having already done so and an additional 38% contemplating such moves. A significant majority, 90% of companies surveyed, plan to invest in their own energy supply to reduce dependency. However, 78% believe that current economic policies are jeopardizing the energy transition's potential. The study emphasizes that the energy transformation cannot succeed without efficient digital infrastructure, highlighting the need for coordinated public and private sector initiatives to enhance Germany's infrastructure resilience.

The opportunity

By doing so, Middle Franconia could:

Keep economic value in the region, supporting local businesses and generating high-skilled jobs across the digital value chain
Align infrastructure with regional sustainability and energy goals through the use of renewables, efficient cooling, and circular practices
Boost local resilience and reduce dependence, ensuring digital systems remain accessible, reliable, and governed by regional actors
Create a foundation for innovation, giving municipalities, SMEs, and startups the infrastructure needed to digitalize

This is not just a technical shift – it is a strategic opportunity to anchor digital transformation in local strengths, values, and long-term prosperity.

The risks

Lack of control and accountability
Middle Franconia currently lacks transparency on the state of its digital infrastructure. Regional strategies rarely address who provides underlying infrastructure, how it is governed, or whether it aligns with sustainability goals. Without this visibility, public authorities cannot hold providers accountable or ensure alignment with regional priorities.
Incompatibility with sustainability goals
There is currently no reliable way to assess the environmental performance of IT infrastructure providers in the region. Only one provider publishes a sustainability report, that only partially mentions environmental footprint. This makes it impossible to assess whether these companies are contributing to the region's climate and sustainability objectives. While Bavaria's Digital Plan 2030 emphasizes responsible data use and Nuremberg's strategy prioritizes sustainability and resource-efficiency, we cannot verify alignment without sufficient data from providers.
Reduced regional resilience
Digital infrastructure of Middle Franconia relies heavily on external actors (primarily hyperscalers with no local accountability) for the delivery of critical digital services. This dependency exposes the region to multiple vulnerabilities: price volatility, geopolitical risks, and policy changes outside regional control. Additionally, these hyperscalers' market dominance actively restricts the development of a competitive local ecosystem as local actors struggle to compete on pricing, scale, or visibility without proactive intervention.
These challenges are further compounded by the limitations of the regional energy grid. While Middle Franconia benefits from a relatively stable energy infrastructure, its pace of expansion is too slow to meet growing demand – particularly for supporting new digital infrastructure. Instead of relying solely on building new power plants, the region needs to explore innovative solutions that improve energy efficiency and demand-side flexibility, and contain better local system integration to support digital growth sustainably.
To address these interconnected vulnerabilities, regional governments should advocate for national and EU-level policies that foster fair competition, modernize grid infrastructure, and create space for local IT infrastructure & service providers to thrive.
Infrastructure disparities and digital divide
Middle Franconia faces a persistent gap between urban and rural digital infrastructure. While cities like Nuremberg and Fürth enjoy solid broadband coverage, many rural areas still lack access to high-speed internet. A 2024 report from vbw shows that only 16% of rural businesses in Bavaria have fiber-optic connections, compared to 41% in urban areas [12]. This fiber connectivity gap is particularly concerning as digital ecosystems rely on strong inter-regional connectivity – from town-to-town broadband coverage to fast, reliable access to internet exchanges. Without targeted investment in fiber deployment, these disparities may deepen and the region risks being disconnected from the global digital market. For businesses, this means those wanting to digitalize may not have the infrastructure they need, limiting their ability to export digital services and attract customers requiring high-speed infrastructure. For residents, this could lead to fewer local job opportunities, limited access to digital education, and a growing digital divide between urban and rural communities.
Stagnation in skills and local innovation capacity
Germany faces significant challenges due to the shortage of skilled and highly qualified labour, especially in the ICT-Sector. Without regional digital infrastructure, there are fewer opportunities for local labour to develop hands-on experience and competence. Without a diverse infrastructure market, there are fewer local companies that can invest in training or education opportunities. A thriving local digital ecosystem not only attracts talent into region – it also creates opportunities to develop new competences and skills in the region.
Disconnect between digital and energy transition policies
The 2024 study done by LBBW [13] underscores that Germany’s energy and digital infrastructure is crucial for its competitiveness as a business location. It reveals that weaknesses in these sectors are prompting companies to consider relocating capacities abroad, with 23% having already done so and an additional 38% contemplating such moves. A significant majority, 90% of companies surveyed, plan to invest in their own energy supply to reduce dependency. However, 78% believe that current economic policies are jeopardizing the energy transition's potential. The study emphasizes that the energy transformation cannot succeed without efficient digital infrastructure, highlighting the need for coordinated public and private sector initiatives to enhance Germany's infrastructure resilience.

The opportunity

By doing so, Middle Franconia could:

Keep economic value in the region, supporting local businesses and generating high-skilled jobs across the digital value chain
Align infrastructure with regional sustainability and energy goals through the use of renewables, efficient cooling, and circular practices
Boost local resilience and reduce dependence, ensuring digital systems remain accessible, reliable, and governed by regional actors
Create a foundation for innovation, giving municipalities, SMEs, and startups the infrastructure needed to digitalize

This is not just a technical shift – it is a strategic opportunity to anchor digital transformation in local strengths, values, and long-term prosperity.

The risks

Lack of control and accountability
Middle Franconia currently lacks transparency on the state of its digital infrastructure. Regional strategies rarely address who provides underlying infrastructure, how it is governed, or whether it aligns with sustainability goals. Without this visibility, public authorities cannot hold providers accountable or ensure alignment with regional priorities.
Incompatibility with sustainability goals
There is currently no reliable way to assess the environmental performance of IT infrastructure providers in the region. Only one provider publishes a sustainability report, that only partially mentions environmental footprint. This makes it impossible to assess whether these companies are contributing to the region's climate and sustainability objectives. While Bavaria's Digital Plan 2030 emphasizes responsible data use and Nuremberg's strategy prioritizes sustainability and resource-efficiency, we cannot verify alignment without sufficient data from providers.
Reduced regional resilience
Digital infrastructure of Middle Franconia relies heavily on external actors (primarily hyperscalers with no local accountability) for the delivery of critical digital services. This dependency exposes the region to multiple vulnerabilities: price volatility, geopolitical risks, and policy changes outside regional control. Additionally, these hyperscalers' market dominance actively restricts the development of a competitive local ecosystem as local actors struggle to compete on pricing, scale, or visibility without proactive intervention.
These challenges are further compounded by the limitations of the regional energy grid. While Middle Franconia benefits from a relatively stable energy infrastructure, its pace of expansion is too slow to meet growing demand – particularly for supporting new digital infrastructure. Instead of relying solely on building new power plants, the region needs to explore innovative solutions that improve energy efficiency and demand-side flexibility, and contain better local system integration to support digital growth sustainably.
To address these interconnected vulnerabilities, regional governments should advocate for national and EU-level policies that foster fair competition, modernize grid infrastructure, and create space for local IT infrastructure & service providers to thrive.
Infrastructure disparities and digital divide
Middle Franconia faces a persistent gap between urban and rural digital infrastructure. While cities like Nuremberg and Fürth enjoy solid broadband coverage, many rural areas still lack access to high-speed internet. A 2024 report from vbw shows that only 16% of rural businesses in Bavaria have fiber-optic connections, compared to 41% in urban areas [12]. This fiber connectivity gap is particularly concerning as digital ecosystems rely on strong inter-regional connectivity – from town-to-town broadband coverage to fast, reliable access to internet exchanges. Without targeted investment in fiber deployment, these disparities may deepen and the region risks being disconnected from the global digital market. For businesses, this means those wanting to digitalize may not have the infrastructure they need, limiting their ability to export digital services and attract customers requiring high-speed infrastructure. For residents, this could lead to fewer local job opportunities, limited access to digital education, and a growing digital divide between urban and rural communities.
Stagnation in skills and local innovation capacity
Germany faces significant challenges due to the shortage of skilled and highly qualified labour, especially in the ICT-Sector. Without regional digital infrastructure, there are fewer opportunities for local labour to develop hands-on experience and competence. Without a diverse infrastructure market, there are fewer local companies that can invest in training or education opportunities. A thriving local digital ecosystem not only attracts talent into region – it also creates opportunities to develop new competences and skills in the region.
Disconnect between digital and energy transition policies
The 2024 study done by LBBW [13] underscores that Germany’s energy and digital infrastructure is crucial for its competitiveness as a business location. It reveals that weaknesses in these sectors are prompting companies to consider relocating capacities abroad, with 23% having already done so and an additional 38% contemplating such moves. A significant majority, 90% of companies surveyed, plan to invest in their own energy supply to reduce dependency. However, 78% believe that current economic policies are jeopardizing the energy transition's potential. The study emphasizes that the energy transformation cannot succeed without efficient digital infrastructure, highlighting the need for coordinated public and private sector initiatives to enhance Germany's infrastructure resilience.

The connection between digital and energy infrastructure plays a key role in German companies' competitiveness.

Dependence on foreign providers and loss of value creation

Germany’s cloud market (like much of Europe's) is heavily dominated by a handful of American tech giants. In 2020, 75–90% of the EU cloud market share was held by Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform [14].

Dependence on foreign providers and loss of value creation

Source: ACM [15] Note: Due to lack of comprehensive German market data, the Netherlands is shown above as a representative example.

This growing reliance on a small number of non-European tech giants reduces regional control over critical infrastructure and leads to missed opportunities for local value creation. Businesses depend on digital infrastructure and services that, while available, are not tailored to their specific needs. On the other hand, regional providers embedded in local contexts speak the language and are able to offer more customized solutions – still, they struggle to compete due to market barriers and unfair practices by cloud providers such as egress fees, restrictions on interoperability, and committed spend discounts [16]. By relying on foreign companies to supply critical digital infrastructure, Middle Franconia misses the chance to develop its own regional digital ecosystem, with infrastructure, services and competences.

Local digital businesses and startups could step in and develop better digital services, however, they still have to rely on imported digital resources due to the absence of adequate infrastructure available. As more parts of digital value creation become outsourced, fewer incentives exist to build and strengthen digital skills and capabilities in the region. The region is reduced to a mere consumer of digital services and resources, unable to shape its digital future and enhance the competitiveness of the local economy through digital innovation.

The opportunity

Local IT infrastructure and service providers are often better suited to meet regional needs. They are closer, speak the local language, adapt better to local needs, and are more likely to contribute to Middle Franconia’s economy, skill development, workforce, and sustainability goals. Furthermore, they can be regulated and held accountable from within the region. Yet, these advantages alone do not seem to be enough for broad market adoption within Middle Franconia –creating a largely untapped value-creation opportunity.

By enabling a strong regional digital ecosystem, Middle Franconia could shift from digital dependency to regional self-reliance and positive local impact through job creation, skills development, and economic value retention.

As a result, Middle Franconia could:

keep more economic value in the region through local job creation and business growth stemming from the local production of digital products, resources & infrastructure
support local non-digital industry clusters with digital services that are tailored to their needs and enhance productivity and competitiveness
enable agility, greater trust, and more control – key factors to accclerating digitalization in the local economy and society – even more so in times of geopolitical tension
enable accountability – local companies in the digital ecosystem can be monitored and held accountable
create self-reliance by developing local digital capabilities and infrastructure, which strengthens Middle Franconia’s economic sovereignty while supporting sustainability goals

But to unlock the full potential of a thriving digital ecosystem, it all has to start with values. Without transparency, we can’t track progress and hold providers accountable. Without accountability, we can’t ensure sustainability. And without a regional strategy, Middle Franconia misses out on the opportunity to turn the digital ecosystem into something that benefits the people and local economy.

The risks

Increasing dependence on non-European providers and erosion of local value creation
Middle Franconia's growing reliance on foreign-owned cloud and infrastructure platforms undermines its digital sovereignty and weakens regional economic resilience. As digital services and resources are imported from closed ecosystems abroad, local infrastructure remains underdeveloped. This creates a downward spiral: limited investment in local infrastructure → weaker local providers → more reliance on foreign platforms → reduced regional control and value creation → fewer local jobs and skills development → even deeper dependence.
Suppressed growth of regional infrastructure providers
Local infrastructure and service providers often struggle to compete with dominant global players. Without political recognition or policy support, these regional companies are overlooked, underutilized, and unable to scale – even though they are better positioned to meet local needs, and often outperform hyperscalers on local impact or sustainability.
Reduced trust, visibility, and accountability
With infrastructure managed by non-European actors, it becomes difficult to assess the contribution to the local economy and to know where data is processed, how resources are used, whether operations meet local sustainability standards. This weakens public trust and reduces the ability of regional authorities to shape a market that delivers positive societal outcomes.
Shortage of IT specialists
In 2023, Middle Franconia’s workforce surpassed 1.04 million people, according to EURES [17]. Among them, 4.9% held a tertiary degree, 47.7% had completed secondary education, and 17.5% had only primary education. The region’s employment rate stood at 62%, marking an increase of 1.2 percentage points from 2022 and placing it 2.4 points above the national average in Germany. Despite this strong employment performance, employers across the region – particularly in IT and tech-driven sectors – face persistent challenges in finding qualified specialists. The shortage is not only a numbers issue but also one of specialization, since the market lacks professionals with up-to-date digital and technical expertise.
A thriving digital ecosystem can address this obstacle by creating attractive job opportunities for the next generation of local residents while also engaging the aging workforce in meaningful ways. Older professionals often hold deep sector knowledge that is crucial for developing digital solutions tailored to real industry needs. Meanwhile, younger digital entrepreneurs may bring technical skills but often lack this embedded expertise. Facilitating inter-generational collaboration can therefore lead to more focused innovation, practical implementation, and long-term success of the region’s digital transformation.
Limited leverage in shaping Middle Franconia’s digital future
By relying on foreign providers, Middle Franconia loses the ability to shape its own digital future. These external actors are not accountable to regional policy goals and often operate without regard for local climate targets, procurement criteria, or digital inclusion efforts. As a result, the region has limited leverage to influence how digital infrastructure evolves, making it harder to align digitalization with broader sustainability, transparency, and economic development strategies.

Source: ACM [15] Note: Due to lack of comprehensive German market data, the Netherlands is shown above as a representative example.

The opportunity

As a result, Middle Franconia could:

keep more economic value in the region through local job creation and business growth stemming from the local production of digital products, resources & infrastructure
support local non-digital industry clusters with digital services that are tailored to their needs and enhance productivity and competitiveness
enable agility, greater trust, and more control – key factors to accclerating digitalization in the local economy and society – even more so in times of geopolitical tension
enable accountability – local companies in the digital ecosystem can be monitored and held accountable
create self-reliance by developing local digital capabilities and infrastructure, which strengthens Middle Franconia’s economic sovereignty while supporting sustainability goals

The risks

Increasing dependence on non-European providers and erosion of local value creation
Middle Franconia's growing reliance on foreign-owned cloud and infrastructure platforms undermines its digital sovereignty and weakens regional economic resilience. As digital services and resources are imported from closed ecosystems abroad, local infrastructure remains underdeveloped. This creates a downward spiral: limited investment in local infrastructure → weaker local providers → more reliance on foreign platforms → reduced regional control and value creation → fewer local jobs and skills development → even deeper dependence.
Suppressed growth of regional infrastructure providers
Local infrastructure and service providers often struggle to compete with dominant global players. Without political recognition or policy support, these regional companies are overlooked, underutilized, and unable to scale – even though they are better positioned to meet local needs, and often outperform hyperscalers on local impact or sustainability.
Reduced trust, visibility, and accountability
With infrastructure managed by non-European actors, it becomes difficult to assess the contribution to the local economy and to know where data is processed, how resources are used, whether operations meet local sustainability standards. This weakens public trust and reduces the ability of regional authorities to shape a market that delivers positive societal outcomes.
Shortage of IT specialists
In 2023, Middle Franconia’s workforce surpassed 1.04 million people, according to EURES [17]. Among them, 4.9% held a tertiary degree, 47.7% had completed secondary education, and 17.5% had only primary education. The region’s employment rate stood at 62%, marking an increase of 1.2 percentage points from 2022 and placing it 2.4 points above the national average in Germany. Despite this strong employment performance, employers across the region – particularly in IT and tech-driven sectors – face persistent challenges in finding qualified specialists. The shortage is not only a numbers issue but also one of specialization, since the market lacks professionals with up-to-date digital and technical expertise.
A thriving digital ecosystem can address this obstacle by creating attractive job opportunities for the next generation of local residents while also engaging the aging workforce in meaningful ways. Older professionals often hold deep sector knowledge that is crucial for developing digital solutions tailored to real industry needs. Meanwhile, younger digital entrepreneurs may bring technical skills but often lack this embedded expertise. Facilitating inter-generational collaboration can therefore lead to more focused innovation, practical implementation, and long-term success of the region’s digital transformation.
Limited leverage in shaping Middle Franconia’s digital future
By relying on foreign providers, Middle Franconia loses the ability to shape its own digital future. These external actors are not accountable to regional policy goals and often operate without regard for local climate targets, procurement criteria, or digital inclusion efforts. As a result, the region has limited leverage to influence how digital infrastructure evolves, making it harder to align digitalization with broader sustainability, transparency, and economic development strategies.

Source: ACM [15] Note: Due to lack of comprehensive German market data, the Netherlands is shown above as a representative example.

The opportunity

As a result, Middle Franconia could:

keep more economic value in the region through local job creation and business growth stemming from the local production of digital products, resources & infrastructure
support local non-digital industry clusters with digital services that are tailored to their needs and enhance productivity and competitiveness
enable agility, greater trust, and more control – key factors to accclerating digitalization in the local economy and society – even more so in times of geopolitical tension
enable accountability – local companies in the digital ecosystem can be monitored and held accountable
create self-reliance by developing local digital capabilities and infrastructure, which strengthens Middle Franconia’s economic sovereignty while supporting sustainability goals

The risks

Increasing dependence on non-European providers and erosion of local value creation
Middle Franconia's growing reliance on foreign-owned cloud and infrastructure platforms undermines its digital sovereignty and weakens regional economic resilience. As digital services and resources are imported from closed ecosystems abroad, local infrastructure remains underdeveloped. This creates a downward spiral: limited investment in local infrastructure → weaker local providers → more reliance on foreign platforms → reduced regional control and value creation → fewer local jobs and skills development → even deeper dependence.
Suppressed growth of regional infrastructure providers
Local infrastructure and service providers often struggle to compete with dominant global players. Without political recognition or policy support, these regional companies are overlooked, underutilized, and unable to scale – even though they are better positioned to meet local needs, and often outperform hyperscalers on local impact or sustainability.
Reduced trust, visibility, and accountability
With infrastructure managed by non-European actors, it becomes difficult to assess the contribution to the local economy and to know where data is processed, how resources are used, whether operations meet local sustainability standards. This weakens public trust and reduces the ability of regional authorities to shape a market that delivers positive societal outcomes.
Shortage of IT specialists
In 2023, Middle Franconia’s workforce surpassed 1.04 million people, according to EURES [17]. Among them, 4.9% held a tertiary degree, 47.7% had completed secondary education, and 17.5% had only primary education. The region’s employment rate stood at 62%, marking an increase of 1.2 percentage points from 2022 and placing it 2.4 points above the national average in Germany. Despite this strong employment performance, employers across the region – particularly in IT and tech-driven sectors – face persistent challenges in finding qualified specialists. The shortage is not only a numbers issue but also one of specialization, since the market lacks professionals with up-to-date digital and technical expertise.
A thriving digital ecosystem can address this obstacle by creating attractive job opportunities for the next generation of local residents while also engaging the aging workforce in meaningful ways. Older professionals often hold deep sector knowledge that is crucial for developing digital solutions tailored to real industry needs. Meanwhile, younger digital entrepreneurs may bring technical skills but often lack this embedded expertise. Facilitating inter-generational collaboration can therefore lead to more focused innovation, practical implementation, and long-term success of the region’s digital transformation.
Limited leverage in shaping Middle Franconia’s digital future
By relying on foreign providers, Middle Franconia loses the ability to shape its own digital future. These external actors are not accountable to regional policy goals and often operate without regard for local climate targets, procurement criteria, or digital inclusion efforts. As a result, the region has limited leverage to influence how digital infrastructure evolves, making it harder to align digitalization with broader sustainability, transparency, and economic development strategies.

Assessing the State of Digital Infrastructure in Middle Franconia

The Sustainable Digital Infrastructure Alliance (SDIA) initiative aims to address the challenges mentioned above by promoting the development of values-based, thriving digital ecosystems based on sustainability, transparency, and local impact. In the following part we present our findings from our preliminary assessment. We highlight key performance indicators (KPIs) for determining the state of the regional digital ecosystem.

For many KPIs, data is missing or incomplete in which case we use estimations and our own economic models to fill those gaps. Whenever we use estimations, we clearly indicate this in the footnotes of each metric.

Detailed Analysis of Digital Infrastructure Market

Data Center Providers (DCP):

Among the DCPs assessed in Middle Franconia, none publicly shared information on environmental impact, a public sustainability strategy, or procurement criteria. Additionally, no provider explicitly communicated local impact initiatives. One partial exception is noris network, which highlights its cooperation with the City of Nuremberg to modernize digital infrastructure. While this points to some regional engagement, the company does not frame this within a structured local impact strategy. This is a missed opportunity because regional providers could differentiate themselves from global tech giants by clearly showcasing their contribution to the region.

Internet Service Providers (ISP):

None of the ISPs assessed published environmental data, procurement policies, or sustainability strategies. Furthermore, no companies mentioned any community engagement or local contribution on their websites.

IT Infrastructure Providers (IaaS):

None of the IaaS providers assessed published environmental data, procurement policies, or sustainability strategies. Furthermore, no companies mention any community engagement or local contribution on their websites. One partial exception is noris network, which highlights its cooperation with the City of Nuremberg to modernize digital infrastructure. While this points to some regional engagement, the company does not frame this within a structured local impact strategy.

Cloud Infrastructure Providers (CIP):

None of the CIPs published sustainability strategies or shared environmental impact data on their websites. Additionally, none made their procurement criteria publicly available and did not publish any local impact initiatives.

Managed Service Providers (MSPs):

Several providers demonstrate partial local engagement:

ProMX sponsors local sports teams and the Nuremberg Zoo (penguin feeding program), and is a member of Bavaria’s LBV conservation society.

Noris network highlights its cooperation with the City of Nuremberg to modernize digital infrastructure.

Xeomueller partners with diverse local organizations including non-profits, small businesses, and educational institutions, supporting regional digital transformation.

Intellity organizes user groups across cities including Nuremberg and Munich, promoting knowledge exchange and IT up-skilling.

OnIT highlights multiple digitalization projects for local municipalities (e.g., cities and communities), which supports digital transformation at the local level.

However, none of the assessed MSPs published sustainability strategies, procurement criteria, or their environmental impact data.

Cloud Service Providers (CSP):

None of the CSPs evaluated published procurement criteria, sustainability strategies, or environmental impact data. They also did not report any local community impact.

Hosting Providers (HP):

No assessed hosting providers published sustainability strategies or environmental data. Public procurement policies were also absent. However, two providers demonstrated partial local impact:

Xeomueller partners with diverse local organizations including non-profits, small businesses, and educational institutions, supporting regional digital transformation.

OnIT highlights multiple digitalization projects for local municipalities (e.g., cities and communities), which support digital transformation at the local level.

Software as a Service Providers (SaaS):

DATEV stands out as the only SaaS company publishing a sustainability report. Their 2023 report covered key environmental metrics including CO₂e emissions, resource consumption, and waste management. While they showcased ISO 50001 certification and green IT initiatives, the report would benefit from clearer targets and more detailed data center performance metrics. No other companies published their sustainability reports or environmental impact data.

DATEV was also the only company that published its procurement criteria, although in a limited scope.

Two SaaS companies demonstrated commitment to local impact. ProMX actively supports the community through sports team sponsorships and conservation efforts, including the Nuremberg Zoo and Bavaria's LBV conservation society. DATEV contributes through various initiatives including education support, hardware recycling programs, and the Nuremberg World Farm project, which promotes sustainable agriculture and biodiversity. In July 2023, DATEV also installed six bee colonies at their site to support local biodiversity.

Assessment summary and implications for Middle Franconia’s digital future

Lack of transparency hinders effective market monitoring & policy development

The overwhelming majority of providers do not publish environmental performance data, sustainability strategies, or procurement criteria. Most operate without clear public documentation of their environmental impact or sourcing practices. This lack of transparency makes it difficult for stakeholders (particularly public institutions and sustainability-driven customers) to make informed, responsible decisions.

This represents a missed opportunity to align digitalization with circular economy principles and local economic development, which is particularly concerning given that Nuremberg has committed as a member of the "Circular Cities Declaration" to achieving a more sustainable local circular economy. With Germany's new National Circular Economy Strategy aiming to keep raw materials in circulation for as long as possible and reduce primary resource consumption (BMUKN: The National Circular Economy Strategy (NCES) [18]), digital infrastructure providers in Middle Franconia are falling short of supporting regional policy objectives that could leverage their procurement power to strengthen local circular economy ecosystems and advance the region's sustainability goals.

Sustainability strategies are rare and misaligned with regional goals

Only DATEV has published a sustainability report, which remains largely qualitative, lacking clear KPIs, measurable reduction targets, or concrete timelines. This stands in stark contrast to the ambitious sustainability commitments of cities within Middle Franconia. Nuremberg, as a signatory of the "Circular Cities Declaration," has committed to building a sustainable local circular economy, while Fürth has established clear carbon neutrality targets for 2035. Erlangen's climate action plan includes specific digital sustainability requirements.

The absence of robust, actionable sustainability frameworks from digital infrastructure providers not only suggests that environmental impact is not yet a core strategic concern, but also reveals a significant misalignment with the region's established sustainability priorities.

Procurement practices are largely invisible

Across all categories, only one company (DATEV) has made procurement criteria publicly available. No other providers indicate how they choose suppliers, whether they prioritize sustainable sourcing, or how they consider transparency or regional value creation in their procurement. This represents a missed opportunity to align digitalization with Bavaria’s recognized need for “circular material” and “sustainable bzw. zirkuläre Vorhaben” [19] (sustainable and circular projects), which are increasingly supported through state investment and research programs.

Given Bavaria's focus on supporting companies with circular product design, optimized product utilization, and recovery of materials at the end of product life through initiatives like CIRCULAR4.0 [20], transparent procurement practices could serve as a key mechanism for Middle Franconian digitalization providers to demonstrate alignment with regional circular economy goals and strengthen local value chains.

Local impact is present – but inconsistent and under-communicated

Some providers do engage in regional activities – from partnerships with local institutions (e.g. Noris network and the City of Nuremberg) to sponsorships of community events or educational programs (e.g. ProMX, Intellity, Xeomueller). However, these efforts are often ad hoc and not well communicated or visible. Most companies do not explicitly communicate how they contribute to regional development, community well-being, or local employment. As a result, valuable contributions often remain invisible, weakening the perceived relevance of these providers in supporting Middle Franconia’s long-term goals for sustainability, innovation, and resilience.

Assessing the State of Digital Infrastructure in Middle Franconia

Detailed Analysis of Digital Infrastructure Market

Data Center Providers (DCP):

Internet Service Providers (ISP):

IT Infrastructure Providers (IaaS):

Cloud Infrastructure Providers (CIP):

Managed Service Providers (MSPs):

Several providers demonstrate partial local engagement:

ProMX sponsors local sports teams and the Nuremberg Zoo (penguin feeding program), and is a member of Bavaria’s LBV conservation society.

Noris network highlights its cooperation with the City of Nuremberg to modernize digital infrastructure.

Xeomueller partners with diverse local organizations including non-profits, small businesses, and educational institutions, supporting regional digital transformation.

Intellity organizes user groups across cities including Nuremberg and Munich, promoting knowledge exchange and IT up-skilling.

OnIT highlights multiple digitalization projects for local municipalities (e.g., cities and communities), which supports digital transformation at the local level.

However, none of the assessed MSPs published sustainability strategies, procurement criteria, or their environmental impact data.

Cloud Service Providers (CSP):

None of the CSPs evaluated published procurement criteria, sustainability strategies, or environmental impact data. They also did not report any local community impact.

Hosting Providers (HP):

No assessed hosting providers published sustainability strategies or environmental data. Public procurement policies were also absent. However, two providers demonstrated partial local impact:

Xeomueller partners with diverse local organizations including non-profits, small businesses, and educational institutions, supporting regional digital transformation.

OnIT highlights multiple digitalization projects for local municipalities (e.g., cities and communities), which support digital transformation at the local level.

Software as a Service Providers (SaaS):

DATEV was also the only company that published its procurement criteria, although in a limited scope.

Assessment summary and implications for Middle Franconia’s digital future

Lack of transparency hinders effective market monitoring & policy development

Sustainability strategies are rare and misaligned with regional goals

Procurement practices are largely invisible

Local impact is present – but inconsistent and under-communicated

Assessing the State of Digital Infrastructure in Middle Franconia

Detailed Analysis of Digital Infrastructure Market

Data Center Providers (DCP):

Internet Service Providers (ISP):

IT Infrastructure Providers (IaaS):

Cloud Infrastructure Providers (CIP):

Managed Service Providers (MSPs):

Several providers demonstrate partial local engagement:

ProMX sponsors local sports teams and the Nuremberg Zoo (penguin feeding program), and is a member of Bavaria’s LBV conservation society.

Noris network highlights its cooperation with the City of Nuremberg to modernize digital infrastructure.

Xeomueller partners with diverse local organizations including non-profits, small businesses, and educational institutions, supporting regional digital transformation.

Intellity organizes user groups across cities including Nuremberg and Munich, promoting knowledge exchange and IT up-skilling.

OnIT highlights multiple digitalization projects for local municipalities (e.g., cities and communities), which supports digital transformation at the local level.

However, none of the assessed MSPs published sustainability strategies, procurement criteria, or their environmental impact data.

Cloud Service Providers (CSP):

None of the CSPs evaluated published procurement criteria, sustainability strategies, or environmental impact data. They also did not report any local community impact.

Hosting Providers (HP):

No assessed hosting providers published sustainability strategies or environmental data. Public procurement policies were also absent. However, two providers demonstrated partial local impact:

Xeomueller partners with diverse local organizations including non-profits, small businesses, and educational institutions, supporting regional digital transformation.

OnIT highlights multiple digitalization projects for local municipalities (e.g., cities and communities), which support digital transformation at the local level.

Software as a Service Providers (SaaS):

DATEV was also the only company that published its procurement criteria, although in a limited scope.

Assessment summary and implications for Middle Franconia’s digital future

Lack of transparency hinders effective market monitoring & policy development

Sustainability strategies are rare and misaligned with regional goals

Procurement practices are largely invisible

Local impact is present – but inconsistent and under-communicated

Conclusion

Middle Franconia’s digital infrastructure market has a solid technical foundation and a strong base of regional providers. However, to build a thriving digital ecosystem, the region must go beyond digitalization for its own sake. That means:

Recognizing digital infrastructure as a strategic layer – not just as an enabler, but as a domain that must itself be sustainable, transparent, and locally rooted
Encouraging providers to publish environmental data, procurement criteria, and local engagement efforts
Creating incentives and support mechanisms (e.g. public procurement rules, funding programs) that reward sustainable and transparent practices

Only by doing so can Middle Franconia transition from a region that uses digital infrastructure to one that builds and governs it – ensuring that the value created by digitalization stays within the region and supports its long-term goals.

Conclusion

Recognizing digital infrastructure as a strategic layer – not just as an enabler, but as a domain that must itself be sustainable, transparent, and locally rooted
Encouraging providers to publish environmental data, procurement criteria, and local engagement efforts
Creating incentives and support mechanisms (e.g. public procurement rules, funding programs) that reward sustainable and transparent practices

Conclusion

Recognizing digital infrastructure as a strategic layer – not just as an enabler, but as a domain that must itself be sustainable, transparent, and locally rooted
Encouraging providers to publish environmental data, procurement criteria, and local engagement efforts
Creating incentives and support mechanisms (e.g. public procurement rules, funding programs) that reward sustainable and transparent practices

Appendix

Methodology

This report evaluates both the IT infrastructure provider landscape and the policy environment that shape Middle Franconia’s digital infrastructure ecosystem. The geographic focus of this report corresponds to the NUTS-2 classification for the Region of Middle Franconia (DE25), as defined by Eurostat for regional statistical and policy analysis.

Classification System for Digital Infrastructure

Companies can operate across multiple business categories listed below. While companies vary in size, "hyperscale" refers to their level of integration. The key differentiator is their output product and pricing model.

Provider Types

Data Center Provider (DCP)

Provides rack space or white space, electricity and redundancy. Bundles electrical power, cooling and space.

Examples:

Shared/dedicated white-space provider (retail/wholesale co-location)
Corporate IT department white-space provider
Internal building entity of IT/Cloud Infrastructure provider
Telco entity providing connectivity-related white-space

Internet Service Provider (ISP)

Provides network connectivity to internet or point-to-point connections.

Examples:

Internet Exchange connectivity providers (e.g. Eurofiber, Global Connect)
Telcos offering dedicated dark fiber or private connectivity
IT/Cloud providers with direct connectivity solutions

IT Infrastructure Provider (IaaS)

Offers computing, storage and network capacity as a service with monthly/annual fees. Can be virtualized/shared or dedicated.

Examples:

Virtual machine providers using rented DCP space
Dedicated server providers using own DCP facilities

Cloud Infrastructure Provider (IaaS)

Similar to IT Infrastructure Provider but with minute-by-minute purchasing options.

Examples:

Pay-per-minute virtual machine providers
Network-as-a-service with minute-by-minute billing.

Managed Service Provider (MSP)

Operates specific services (e.g. databases, inventory systems) for customers, often including IT capacity. Fixed monthly/annual fee model.

Cloud Service Provider (CSP)

Offers managed IT services with hourly pricing, similar to MSP but more flexible.

Hosting Provider

Bundles IT capacity with common internet services like WordPress CMS or Drupal.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Combines Cloud Infrastructure and Services into software products, typically using pay-per-use pricing enabled by cloud flexibility.

Provider Assessment

We reviewed 104 digital infrastructure providers headquartered in Middle Franconia, across eight business categories.

Our assessment focused on four critical dimensions that reflect the maturity and sustainability of Limburg's digital ecosystem:

Environmental Impact Reporting: Do providers publish comprehensive and regular environmental performance data? (transparency & sustainability)
Value-Based Procurement: Do they maintain and publicly share procurement criteria that prioritize sustainable, transparent, or local sourcing? (transparency & sustainability)
Sustainability Strategy: Have they established and published comprehensive sustainability strategies with measurable goals and defined timelines? (sustainability)
Local Impact Creation: Do they actively contribute to the regional economy through employment, skills development, and community engagement? (local impact)

Research was conducted through public sources only - primarily company websites and published reports (CSR/ESG).

Note: Assessment is based on publicly available information. "Yes" indicates clear evidence, "Partial" indicates some evidence, "No" indicates no public evidence.

Policy Analysis

We conducted a comprehensive review of regional and local policies, strategies, and visions related to digitalization, digital infrastructure, sustainability, circularity, the energy transition, and regional economic development.

Appendix

Methodology

This report evaluates both the IT infrastructure provider landscape and the policy environment that shape Limburg’s digital infrastructure ecosystem. The geographic focus of this report corresponds to the NUTS-2 classification for the Province of Limburg (NL42), as defined by Eurostat for regional statistical and policy analysis.

Classification System for Digital Infrastructure

Provider Types

Data Center Provider (DCP)

Provides rack space or white space, electricity and redundancy. Bundles electrical power, cooling and space.

Examples:

Shared/dedicated white-space provider (retail/wholesale co-location)
Corporate IT department white-space provider
Internal building entity of IT/Cloud Infrastructure provider
Telco entity providing connectivity-related white-space

Internet Service Provider (ISP)

Provides network connectivity to internet or point-to-point connections.

Examples:

Internet Exchange connectivity providers (e.g. Eurofiber, Global Connect)
Telcos offering dedicated dark fiber or private connectivity
IT/Cloud providers with direct connectivity solutions

IT Infrastructure Provider (IaaS)

Offers computing, storage and network capacity as a service with monthly/annual fees. Can be virtualized/shared or dedicated.

Examples:

Virtual machine providers using rented DCP space
Dedicated server providers using own DCP facilities

Cloud Infrastructure Provider (IaaS)

Similar to IT Infrastructure Provider but with minute-by-minute purchasing options.

Examples:

Pay-per-minute virtual machine providers
Network-as-a-service with minute-by-minute billing.

Managed Service Provider (MSP)

Operates specific services (e.g. databases, inventory systems) for customers, often including IT capacity. Fixed monthly/annual fee model.

Cloud Service Provider (CSP)

Offers managed IT services with hourly pricing, similar to MSP but more flexible.

Hosting Provider

Bundles IT capacity with common internet services like WordPress CMS or Drupal.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Combines Cloud Infrastructure and Services into software products, typically using pay-per-use pricing enabled by cloud flexibility.

Provider Assessment

We reviewed 135 digital infrastructure providers headquartered in Limburg, across eight business categories:

Our assessment focused on four critical dimensions that reflect the maturity and sustainability of Limburg's digital ecosystem:

Environmental Impact Reporting: Do providers publish comprehensive and regular environmental performance data? (transparency & sustainability)
Value-Based Procurement: Do they maintain and publicly share procurement criteria that prioritize sustainable, transparent, or local sourcing? (transparency & sustainability)
Sustainability Strategy: Have they established and published comprehensive sustainability strategies with measurable goals and defined timelines? (sustainability)
Local Impact Creation: Do they actively contribute to the regional economy through employment, skills development, and community engagement? (local impact)

Research was conducted through public sources only - primarily company websites and published reports (CSR/ESG).

Note: Assessment is based on publicly available information. "Yes" indicates clear evidence, "Partial" indicates some evidence, "No" indicates no public evidence.

Policy Analysis

Appendix

Methodology

Classification System for Digital Infrastructure

Provider Types

Data Center Provider (DCP)

Provides rack space or white space, electricity and redundancy. Bundles electrical power, cooling and space.

Examples:

Shared/dedicated white-space provider (retail/wholesale co-location)
Corporate IT department white-space provider
Internal building entity of IT/Cloud Infrastructure provider
Telco entity providing connectivity-related white-space

Internet Service Provider (ISP)

Provides network connectivity to internet or point-to-point connections.

Examples:

Internet Exchange connectivity providers (e.g. Eurofiber, Global Connect)
Telcos offering dedicated dark fiber or private connectivity
IT/Cloud providers with direct connectivity solutions

IT Infrastructure Provider (IaaS)

Offers computing, storage and network capacity as a service with monthly/annual fees. Can be virtualized/shared or dedicated.

Examples:

Virtual machine providers using rented DCP space
Dedicated server providers using own DCP facilities

Cloud Infrastructure Provider (IaaS)

Similar to IT Infrastructure Provider but with minute-by-minute purchasing options.

Examples:

Pay-per-minute virtual machine providers
Network-as-a-service with minute-by-minute billing.

Managed Service Provider (MSP)

Operates specific services (e.g. databases, inventory systems) for customers, often including IT capacity. Fixed monthly/annual fee model.

Cloud Service Provider (CSP)

Offers managed IT services with hourly pricing, similar to MSP but more flexible.

Hosting Provider

Bundles IT capacity with common internet services like WordPress CMS or Drupal.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Combines Cloud Infrastructure and Services into software products, typically using pay-per-use pricing enabled by cloud flexibility.

Provider Assessment

We reviewed 104 digital infrastructure providers headquartered in Middle Franconia, across eight business categories.

Our assessment focused on four critical dimensions that reflect the maturity and sustainability of Limburg's digital ecosystem:

Environmental Impact Reporting: Do providers publish comprehensive and regular environmental performance data? (transparency & sustainability)
Value-Based Procurement: Do they maintain and publicly share procurement criteria that prioritize sustainable, transparent, or local sourcing? (transparency & sustainability)
Sustainability Strategy: Have they established and published comprehensive sustainability strategies with measurable goals and defined timelines? (sustainability)
Local Impact Creation: Do they actively contribute to the regional economy through employment, skills development, and community engagement? (local impact)

Research was conducted through public sources only - primarily company websites and published reports (CSR/ESG).

Note: Assessment is based on publicly available information. "Yes" indicates clear evidence, "Partial" indicates some evidence, "No" indicates no public evidence.

Policy Analysis

Objectives

Limburg's Vision for a Future-Proof Economy

Making the Vision Work: Future-Proofing Limburg's Digital Ecosystem

The Risks of Inaction

The Assessment of the State of Digital Infrastructure in Limburg

Appendix

Source

Title

Stadt Nürnberg

High-tech information and communication technology – Office for Economic Development

Söder, M., Gerlach, J., Bavarian State Ministry for Digital Affairs, & Bavarian State Government

Future strategy for our home country

Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy

Digital Strategy 2025

Stadt Nürnberg, Könönen, A., Durdel, A., Krahe, C., Jiménez, Y. A., Bilger, A., Lobeck, L., INSEK-Team Digitales Nürnberg, Wirtschaftsreferat, Fraas, M., & Riedel, H.

Digitale Dachstrategie / Integriertes Stadtentwicklungskonzept (INSEK) TEIL 2: ROADMAP – PERSPEKTIVEN FÜR DIE WEITERENTWICKLUNG

Könönen, A., Krahe, C., Arias Jiménez, Y., Bilger, A., Ramboll Management Consulting GmbH, INSEK-Team Digitales Nürnberg, Fraas, M., & Riedel, H.

Digitale Dachstrategie / INSEK „Digitales Nürnberg“ | Teil 1: Strategische Leitlinien

Stadt Nürnberg

Dachstrategie „Digitales Nürnberg“ für die digitale Transformation der Stadtgesellschaft – Digitales Nürnberg

E-think Energy Research

KWP Nürnberg

City of Nuremberg

European Circular Cities Declaration

Fürth

Aufbau einer Digitalisierungs-Strategie für die Stadtverwaltung Fürth

Fürth

Digitalisierung an Schulen und Bildungseinrichtungen - Sachstand

Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy

Status and development of the German data centre landscape

Lincke, F.

Bayerns Internet wird endlich schneller - auch auf dem Land

LLBW

Germany as a business location: the Steinbeis Infrastructure Study 2024

Statista

Public Cloud - Deutschland | Statista Marktprognose

Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets

Market Study Cloud services

Ofcom

Cloud services market study: Final report

EURES (EURopean Employment Services)

Labour Market Information: Germany

Federal Environment Ministry

The National Circular Economy Strategy (NCES)

Bayern Innovativ

Sieben Fragen zur Kreislaufwirtschaft und einer zirkulären Wirtschaftsweise

UmweltClus-ter Bayern

CIRCULAR4.0 - Digitale Technologien zur Unterstützung des Übergangs zur Kreislaufwirtschaft durch KMU im Alpenraum – Projekt - Umweltcluster

Source

Title

Stadt Nürnberg

High-tech information and communication technology – Office for Economic Development

Söder, M., Gerlach, J., Bavarian State Ministry for Digital Affairs, & Bavarian State Government

Future strategy for our home country

Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy

Digital Strategy 2025

Stadt Nürnberg, Könönen, A., Durdel, A., Krahe, C., Jiménez, Y. A., Bilger, A., Lobeck, L., INSEK-Team Digitales Nürnberg, Wirtschaftsreferat, Fraas, M., & Riedel, H.

Digitale Dachstrategie / Integriertes Stadtentwicklungskonzept (INSEK) TEIL 2: ROADMAP – PERSPEKTIVEN FÜR DIE WEITERENTWICKLUNG

Könönen, A., Krahe, C., Arias Jiménez, Y., Bilger, A., Ramboll Management Consulting GmbH, INSEK-Team Digitales Nürnberg, Fraas, M., & Riedel, H.

Digitale Dachstrategie / INSEK „Digitales Nürnberg“ | Teil 1: Strategische Leitlinien

Stadt Nürnberg

Dachstrategie „Digitales Nürnberg“ für die digitale Transformation der Stadtgesellschaft – Digitales Nürnberg

E-think Energy Research

KWP Nürnberg

City of Nuremberg

European Circular Cities Declaration

Fürth

Aufbau einer Digitalisierungs-Strategie für die Stadtverwaltung Fürth

Fürth

Digitalisierung an Schulen und Bildungseinrichtungen - Sachstand

Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy

Status and development of the German data centre landscape

Lincke, F.

Bayerns Internet wird endlich schneller - auch auf dem Land

LLBW

Germany as a business location: the Steinbeis Infrastructure Study 2024

Statista

Public Cloud - Deutschland | Statista Marktprognose

Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets

Market Study Cloud services

Ofcom

Cloud services market study: Final report

EURES (EURopean Employment Services)

Labour Market Information: Germany

Federal Environment Ministry

The National Circular Economy Strategy (NCES)

Bayern Innovativ

Sieben Fragen zur Kreislaufwirtschaft und einer zirkulären Wirtschaftsweise

UmweltClus-ter Bayern

CIRCULAR4.0 - Digitale Technologien zur Unterstützung des Übergangs zur Kreislaufwirtschaft durch KMU im Alpenraum – Projekt - Umweltcluster

Source

Title

Stadt Nürnberg

High-tech information and communication technology – Office for Economic Development

Söder, M., Gerlach, J., Bavarian State Ministry for Digital Affairs, & Bavarian State Government

Future strategy for our home country

Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy

Digital Strategy 2025

Stadt Nürnberg, Könönen, A., Durdel, A., Krahe, C., Jiménez, Y. A., Bilger, A., Lobeck, L., INSEK-Team Digitales Nürnberg, Wirtschaftsreferat, Fraas, M., & Riedel, H.

Digitale Dachstrategie / Integriertes Stadtentwicklungskonzept (INSEK) TEIL 2: ROADMAP – PERSPEKTIVEN FÜR DIE WEITERENTWICKLUNG

Könönen, A., Krahe, C., Arias Jiménez, Y., Bilger, A., Ramboll Management Consulting GmbH, INSEK-Team Digitales Nürnberg, Fraas, M., & Riedel, H.

Digitale Dachstrategie / INSEK „Digitales Nürnberg“ | Teil 1: Strategische Leitlinien

Stadt Nürnberg

Dachstrategie „Digitales Nürnberg“ für die digitale Transformation der Stadtgesellschaft – Digitales Nürnberg

E-think Energy Research

KWP Nürnberg

City of Nuremberg

European Circular Cities Declaration

Fürth

Aufbau einer Digitalisierungs-Strategie für die Stadtverwaltung Fürth

Fürth

Digitalisierung an Schulen und Bildungseinrichtungen - Sachstand

Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy

Status and development of the German data centre landscape

Lincke, F.

Bayerns Internet wird endlich schneller - auch auf dem Land

LLBW

Germany as a business location: the Steinbeis Infrastructure Study 2024

Statista

Public Cloud - Deutschland | Statista Marktprognose

Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets

Market Study Cloud services

Ofcom

Cloud services market study: Final report

EURES (EURopean Employment Services)

Labour Market Information: Germany

Federal Environment Ministry

The National Circular Economy Strategy (NCES)

Bayern Innovativ

Sieben Fragen zur Kreislaufwirtschaft und einer zirkulären Wirtschaftsweise

UmweltClus-ter Bayern

CIRCULAR4.0 - Digitale Technologien zur Unterstützung des Übergangs zur Kreislaufwirtschaft durch KMU im Alpenraum – Projekt - Umweltcluster

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About

The Program

Progress

Resources

Knowledge Hub

Events

Publications

Research Projects

Dictionary

Contact

Imprint

Subscribe to Newsletter

Youtube

Made by

Concealed

About

The Program

Progress

Resources

Knowledge Hub

Events

Publications

Research Projects

Dictionary

Contact

Imprint

Subscribe to Newsletter

Youtube

Made by

Concealed