Last Updated on 4. April 2025 by mgm-marketing
Thanks to the new funding search, those interested in funding services can now find the right offers for them more quickly and easily. mgm supported the Free State of Bavaria and its project partners in the implementation of the One-for-All (EfA) software, which sets new standards for a modern and digitalized funding system.
In a nutshell:
- New online search (https://foerderfinder.digital) makes it easier to find funding services – initially in Bavaria.
- The modern search experience is made possible by state-of-the-art technologies according to e-commerce standards and the future data standard XFoerderleistungsbeschreibung (XFLB).
- The continuous expansion and maintenance of the database is uniform and standardized throughout Bavaria using the Förderfinder Suite editing tool.
- As a “one-for-all” (EfA) solution, the Förderfinder is available to all federal states and the federal government for subsequent use.
Since the end of July, citizens, municipalities, companies, organizations, associations and universities in Bavaria have been able to use the online search function of the Förderfinder Suite. It makes it easier to find funding services and offers barrier-free, convenient and user-friendly access to all relevant information.
With the search going live, all components of the funding finder are in production for the first time. The development of the EfA solution started in August 2022 under the leadership of the Free State of Bavaria in cooperation with Saxony and the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection. mgm is supporting the project with the professional and technical conception, implementation, project organization, communication and roll-out.
OZG project lays the foundation for nationwide standardization in digital funding
The OZG project was originally motivated by the results of the digitalization labs in the field of research and funding. There it became apparent that a number of services were very difficult to find in the “funding jungle”. The aim of the project was to provide all the necessary components to lay the foundation for uniform nationwide recording, greater transparency and user-friendly searchability of funding services on the basis of a data standard.
This goal was achieved in less than two years. The Förderfinder Suite covers the entire chain from data collection and synchronization to online searches – and relies on the future data standard XFoerderleistungsbeschreibung (XFLB) throughout. This creates the basis for drastically improving the findability of funding services not only in Bavaria, but also nationwide in the future.
Convenience features from e-commerce find their way into administration
The Förderfinder Suite offers all users a first-class search experience by using common convenience features from the world of e-commerce. In addition to a high-performance full-text search including auto-completion, this includes intuitive faceted navigation and suggestions of similar terms. Under the hood, the search relies on the proven open source search platform Apache Solr, which is also used by Netflix, Instagram and DuckDuckGo, among others.
Right on the homepage, users can limit the search to the most important criteria with just a few clicks: funding area, target group and location. The search can then be refined with additional filters. Optionally, users can log in to the funding search via BundID or company account. They then benefit from an extended range of functions, which will be successively expanded. Registered users can already save the search results that interest them as favorites and display the favorites list.
Datenstandard XFLB legt Grundstein für passgenaue Ergebnisse
Auch wenn die modernsten Technologien zum Einsatz kommen, ist die Güte einer Online-Suche generell sehr stark von der zugrundeliegenden Datenbasis abhängig. Auch hier setzt der Förderfinder neue Maßstäbe, da die Datenbasis auf dem offenen Standard XFLB aufbaut. Als fachlich motivierter Standard ermöglicht XFoerderleistungsbeschreibung die Abbildung von förderspezifischen Informationen – zum Beispiel den gängigen Finanzierungsformen – in strukturierten Daten. Die Fördersuche macht sich diese Informationen zunutze und schafft dadurch eine größere Transparenz des Förderangebots und bessere Trefferquoten.
Um die Daten komfortabel im XFLB-Format zu erfassen, bietet die Förderfinder Suite ein eigenes Redaktionstool. Es ist seit Ende 2023 in allen betroffenen bayerischen Ministerien ausgerollt und in die verwaltungsinternen Abläufe integriert. Mithilfe des Tools können die Mitarbeitenden der Verwaltung kontinuierlich die Datenbasis pflegen und verbessern – und zwar landesweit einheitlich standardisiert und ohne die Hinzunahme kostspieliger externer redaktioneller Dienstleister.
Das Redaktionstool vereinfacht Verwaltungsprozesse, indem es beispielsweise einen teilautomatisierten Export in weitere Behördenstandards wie XZuFi unterstützt und durch eine Kommentarfunktion medienbruchfreies Arbeiten im Redaktionsprozess ermöglicht.
One for all – the starting signal for subsequent use has been given
As the Förderfinder Suite is designed as a one-for-all solution (EfA), other federal states and the federal government have the opportunity to reuse the system. The more federal states use the solution, the closer the vision of a nationwide, uniformly recorded and fully searchable database of funding services becomes. As part of the project, all the necessary concepts and technical components have already been developed to ensure the synchronization of different Förderfinder instances.
For Bavaria, the launch of the Funding Finder also marks the start of a comprehensive modernization of the funding system. As part of the FAZID project, the Bavarian State Ministry for Digital Affairs is setting up a funding management platform that maps the process from application to payment in a fully digital format.
