Hannover after the World Exhibition EXPO 2000--An Attempt to Establish an ICT-cluster

The Hannover Region is extremely interested in the development of an innovative information and communication technology (ICT) cluster through the continued use of the EXPO 2000 site. This article looks into the question of whether the potential for the successful development of an ICT cluster exists. The location factors considered by the ICT firms to be poor, such as cooperation with consulting and transfer facilities, the administration and educational facilities, the missing critical mass of related and supporting industries and R&D facilities, all indicate serious weaknesses in the ICT sector. But, the development of the Hannover EXPO Park into a nucleus of the regional ICT cluster, which was begun after the end of EXPO 2000, is counteracting these deficits