A creative engine: Leipzig’s IT and media industries

Leipzig is home to major media production, software development and networking companies. This makes the city an important location for many creative professionals – Leipzig is a centre of knowledge, ingenuity and expertise for a diverse IT and media landscape.
Based in Leipzig, the regional public broadcaster Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) is the largest media organisation in central Germany. MDR reaches around 6.5 million people in the region with a wide range of public service content on TV, radio, online and social media.
MDR is a producer of formats and programmes that play a key role in the German media landscape. These include the ad-free children’s channel Ki.KA and the cultural platform ARD Kultur. The lunchtime programmes of ARD and ZDF and the popular ARD magazine programme “Brisant” are also produced in the Saxon media city of Leipzig.
In addition, MDR offers high-quality reporting for renowned news and political programmes such as “Tagesschau”, “Tagesthemen” and the ARD political magazine “Fakt”.

Besides the daily news programmes, MDR also produces other series that have been part of German media culture for decades: crime series such as “Tatort” and “Polizeiruf 110” are produced in Leipzig, as is Germany’s most successful hospital soap, “In aller Freundschaft”.

media city leipzig is located in the immediate vicinity of the MDR headquarters and is home to around 90 companies from the film, television, radio and print media sectors – an impressive pool of creativity and expertise in Leipzig’s media industry.
With its vast experience, Appsfactory (AF) is one of Europe’s most respected multimedia agencies. It was founded in Leipzig in 2009.
The services offered by Germany’s leading agency range from digital consulting, design and product development to managed services and quality assurance. AF has extensive expertise in the areas of mobility, medical and healthcare technology, media and entertainment, public administration, real estate and proptech as well as AI, energy and fintech.

As an IT and media centre, Leipzig is regarded as the boomtown of artificial intelligence (AI) in Germany. Appsfactory also places special emphasis on implementing AI and machine learning (ML). As a strong supporter of AI Monday in Leipzig, which is an important networking event that brings together AI experts, AI enthusiasts, start-ups and global companies, AF is playing a key role in the promotion of AI and ML in the region. In this way, the agency helps to bridge the gap between the technology and business communities.

Thanks to its expertise and international reputation, AF now boasts an impressive track record of over 700 successful projects that have reached more than 67 million people.

Many events are organised in Leipzig to strengthen the IT and media sub-cluster. This is an opportunity for people from all over the world to see for themselves the strength of Leipzig as a location, which in turn increases and consolidates the industry’s awareness of Leipzig as an IT and media centre.

One of these events is the Central and Eastern Europe Game Studies Conference, which took place in Leipzig for the first time in 2023. This European conference is an important platform for researchers and experts from the video game industry to share ideas and research findings. The event underlines Leipzig’s position as a German centre of the gaming industry.

Medientage Mitteldeutschland is a two-day networking event for media professionals and companies at Leipzig’s Baumwollspinnerei. From 17 to 18 April 2024, participants can look forward to international speakers and interactive formats that will address the pressing issues facing the media industry, explore new perspectives and provide fresh inspiration.

The EUROPEAN CREATOR’S LAB (EUCL) took place for the second time in Leipzig in 2023, bringing together experienced creators and producers from the European VR and XR scene. EUCL is a forward-looking event that provides a space for immersive projects, experimentation and prototype development in Leipzig. It is open to people with or without their own projects, and taking part is an exciting learning opportunity.