“There are also many innovative and exciting startups in the Northeim district. I recently visited one of them as part of my Startup Summer Tour: VALOFLY, based in Holtensen near Einbeck,” reports State Parliament Representative Christian Grascha (FDP). Grascha also serves as his party’s spokesperson on startup issues. The founding team led by Daniel Stahlmann, Arne Glaser, and Sebastian Stubba is developing solutions to enable drones to operate continuously while actively tethered by cable. These solutions are needed in the fields of defense, public and private security, disaster response, and other services. “We should value and support it more when young people, in particular, take the courageous step of starting their own business. That’s how new ideas for current challenges emerge,” says Grascha. With a wink, he adds: “Here in the countryside, of course, you don’t start a business in a garage, but in a barn.”

From the team’s perspective, the digitization of public administration at all levels would be a necessary step toward streamlining processes and reducing bureaucracy. "With this topic, you are adressing to my main task. We finally need a clear IT strategy and a dedicated Ministry of Digitalization in the state. Unfortunately, Lower Saxony hasn’t made any real progress in this area in recent years,” Grascha notes.

VALOFLY’s solutions would have a future, particularly in the areas of public safety and disaster response. “As the Northeim district, we should benefit from this with our district fire department. On the one hand, we can become national pioneers in drone-related technical equipment, and on the other, we can contribute to economic development in our district. We have agreed to move this project forward. Public safety and disaster response must be given significantly higher priority in the future, and we should also benefit from local companies,” states Grascha.