In May of this year, the North Rhine-Westphalian district of Soest received notification of the final amount of funding from the federal broadband funding program. On August 22, the broadband expansion began with a symbolic ground-breaking ceremony in Soest-Röllingsen.
The 14 municipalities in the district and the district town of Soest will use the improvement in digital infrastructure to digitize administration, use new technologies in education and strengthen the business location, among other things. District Administrator Eva Irrgang presented the district of Soest’s digitalization strategy at the event “Wir sehen Land: digital! – Opportunities of digitalization for rural areas” organized by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software (IESE). Irrgang: “Digitalization should not just be limited to e-government and local government services, but should also encompass space and society.” The prerequisite for the success of this three-pillar model is comprehensive broadband coverage.
In order to connect all commercial and local areas that have not yet been able to reach 30 Mbit/s to the fast Internet, the district is relying on the expansion with fiber optics and FTTP (Fiber-To-The-Pipe), the use of existing duct systems to lay the cables. Irrgang: “We are proud to be the first district in North Rhine-Westphalia to have prevailed with a future-proof application that relies on fiber optics right through to every house, i.e. on so-called FTTB (Fiber-To-The-Building) technology.”

Fast Internet makes people in Soest mobile
Among other things, the Guide4Blind project will benefit from the faster internet connection in the district of Soest. It is aimed at people with visual impairments and consists of several apps:
- The “Soester BusGuide” can identify buses and express stop requests.
- The further development “Bus Connects – Simply Mobile” allows the smartphone to communicate directly with the on-board computer of the buses and to pass on the information read out acoustically to the users.
- With the “Soester CityGuide” app, it is possible to discover the 50,000-inhabitant town of Soest with its alleyways and nooks and crannies via audio guide using navigation technology.
Soest was one of the most important Hanseatic towns in the Middle Ages and benefited early on from its good location on the Hellweg trade route. Thanks to salt extraction and iron processing, the town even engaged in international trade and rose to become an important commercial and trading town. Today, the district town is a medium-sized center for the surrounding communities and attracts many visitors and people from the region with its old town center. The listed green sandstone churches and half-timbered houses have been restored in recent years. The town walls are still almost completely intact and the Soestbach stream is gradually being uncovered again. Soest’s investments in sustainable attractiveness for residents and visitors do not neglect the use of new technologies. One example is the solar-powered train for city tours. It offers space for 54 people and travels through Soest city center at a maximum speed of 25 kilometers per hour. When it rains, the energy comes from the power socket.
Companies in Soest benefit from digitalization
The economy in the Soest region benefits from its favorable location. The Soest district is home to automotive suppliers, plastics manufacturers, food producers and energy and building technology companies. Thanks to the connection to the A44, there are also businesses in the logistics, transportation and wholesale sectors. The companies are involved in research and cooperation projects with the South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences, which has been based in Soest for 50 years. Future ideas are developed there in areas such as electrical energy technology, automation technology and agriculture. Companies based in the district of Soest that require support in the areas of innovation promotion, technology scouting, for example in the provision of information on current research projects, and innovation management, can contact Wirtschaftsförderung Kreis Soest GmbH. It is also an important partner in the area of internet supply and digitalization, for example when it comes to finding cooperation partners or experts for digitalization projects.

Cover photo: Warstein, Soest district, North Rhine-Westphalia
Photo credit: Hans Blossey
Photos of people: District Administrator Eva Irrgang (Kreis Soest), photo credit Thomas Weinstock; Volker Ruff (Wirtschaftsförderung Kreis Soest GmbH), photo credit: Wirtschaftsförderung Kreis Soest GmbH
Photos below: Impressions from the district of Soest (Möhnesee and Soest market square), photo credits: Hans Blossey