What if early childhood professionals finally had more time for what truly counts – the children?
This question was at the heart of the collaboration between the State Institute of Early Childhood Education and Media Literacy (IFP) and the Digital Product School (DPS). The answer is now part of KITA HUB Bavaria – a platform that integrates digitalization, data protection, and artificial intelligence into the world of early childhood education in a practical, accessible way.
More than 120,000 dedicated early childhood professionals work every day in Bavaria’s childcare centers to ensure that children are well supported, nurtured, and cared for. In addition to this core responsibility, a wide range of additional tasks arise – from planning field trips and holding parent-teacher meetings to staff coordination and documentation. Much of this is still managed with outdated software, hardware, or even paper-based systems. Meanwhile, the pressure to adopt digital tools and present a professional, modern image to families continues to grow. These demands increasingly challenge teams, leaving little room for creativity or pedagogical development. Many professionals operate under constant time pressure, and some are at their limit. The need for meaningful, easy-to-use digital solutions that genuinely support daily work and create breathing room is more urgent than ever. To address this need, the IFP developed the KITA HUB – a central digital infrastructure that is free of charge, practice-oriented, data-protection-compliant, and available to all childcare centers in Bavaria. It supports communication, training, collaboration, and resource sharing – all tailored to the real needs of early education professionals.
“KITA HUB offers everyday support for teams that otherwise lack the time or tools – creating a digital, productive, and accessible work environment using familiar tools like messengers, tutorials, and online courses. It creates a vibrant educational ecosystem that sustainably strengthens quality, practice, and collaboration,” explains Manfred Steger, Project Lead at the IFP.
Still, it was clear to the IFP: To truly meet the complexity of everyday life in childcare settings, even smarter tools were needed – especially ones that directly support lesson planning and educational activities. Tools that are not just technically innovative, but practically helpful.
In our work, it’s essential to put the users at the center. The team visited childcare centers regularly, presented their ideas, and tested solutions in real time.
Lorenz Hutterer, Head of Operations & BD bei der Digital Product School.
The Innovation: Bringing AI into Everyday Childcare – Co-Created with the Digital Product School
That’s why the IFP turned to the Digital Product School (DPS) – a program by UnternehmerTUM that connects interdisciplinary teams with partners from business and society to develop real-world digital solutions.
Together, they created an AI-powered app that significantly eases everyday work in childcare centers. It scans PDFs, recognizes relevant content, and organizes it by criteria like the child’s age, learning focus, or group size. It can even respond to individual requests like, “Can you adapt this activity for a larger group?” – saving educators up to three hours per week.
“Artificial intelligence makes sense for us when it tangibly improves everyday life in childcare – not as a trend, but as a tool. The DPS team understood this and implemented it impressively,” says Manfred Steger.
A key priority for the IFP was keeping practitioners involved throughout the process. The prototype was regularly tested in real childcare centers – including in Garching – and continuously improved based on user feedback.
“In our work, putting the users at the center is essential. The team visited childcare centers regularly, presented their ideas, and tested solutions in real time. That’s how they managed to meet the users’ needs so precisely,” adds Lorenz Hutterer, Head of Operations & Business Development at DPS.
What began as an innovation project has now become a fixed part of the ongoing development of KITA HUB: three members of the original DPS team were hired by the IFP and are continuing to develop the solution toward full-scale implementation.
The Impact: Lasting Digital Competence in Early Education
Today, around 11% of Bavaria’s more than 11,000 childcare centers are already active on the platform. The AI-based tool is set to roll out across the state in fall 2025. The collaboration between IFP and DPS is a powerful example of how public institutions and forward-thinking digital programs can create truly future-ready solutions. It proves that digital transformation in education doesn’t have to stay theoretical – it works when it’s collaborative, user-focused, and socially relevant.
“We often talk about digital transformation in education. With DPS, we just did it,” says Manfred Steger.
Watch the video to see how digital change in childcare is already working!
