User:Maturion/IT-Cluster

The IT-Cluster Rhine-Main-Neckar is a cluster of high-tech companies located in the Frankfurt Rhine-Main and the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan areas in Germany. It's currently one the world's largest IT and high-tech clusters. The region is home to companies such as SAP AG, Software AG, T-Systems or Crytek. The region has been refered to as the “Silicon Valley of Europe” by French venture capital company Truffle Capital. Several studies highlighted the region as the major software cluster in Europe and one of the largest in the world.

History
German software hi-tech and IT firms originally began to form in the 1960s. In 1968, Software AG was founded, the first major software company headquartered in the region. It was followed by SAP AG in 1972, founded by five former IBM engineers. Since the 1990s, the region has emerged to one of the most important software and hi-tech clusters world-wide.

Location
The area is located in southern Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate (Frankfurt metropolitan area) and in the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan area, two of the largest metropolitan regions in Germany, with a total population exceeding 5.8 million. Within the area lie the cities of Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Mainz, Wiesbaden, Heidelberg and Mahheim.

Economy
Many international technology companies have research, development and production facilities in this region, including the likes of Fujitsu, Microsoft, Infineon, Deutsche Telekom, IBM, Google, Siemens, Samsung, EMC Corporation and Panasonic. Many major German high-tech companies are headquartered in the region, including SAP AG, Software AG, T-Systems, Crytek, Kalypso Media, Schott AG and Singulus Technologies. The region is also home to a large number of universities and other higher educational institutions, most notably Frankfurt University, Darmstadt University of Technology, Hochschule RheinMain and Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences.

Notable companies headquartered in the region

 * BASF IT Services
 * Crytek
 * Deck 13
 * Euromicron
 * Finanz Informatik
 * Kalypso Media
 * Keen Games
 * MAXON
 * EA Phenomic
 * PROFI Engineering Systems
 * P&I Personal & Informatik
 * SAP
 * Schott AG
 * Singulus Technologies
 * Software AG
 * T-Systems