The digitalization and innovation arm of the German aviation giant launched its first office on foreign land in Singapore to tap into a network of strategic partners in the region.

Lufthansa Innovation Hub (LIH) Singapore has been exploring how the future of work and digital transformation would look for business travel with the help of Insead, the business school. The findings from this partnership with the business school will be implemented as a test project in Lufthansa’s business strategy.

“More than ever, Asian startups but also digital enterprises are the driving force behind fundamental changes along the travel chain,” said Christian Langer, Managing Director of LIH, in a statement. “With the expansion of LIH, we want to become a serious part of this emerging ecosystem.”

Other partners of this German airline in the region include WeWork, a co-working space provider gaining popularity in the SEA region. The findings from research work with WeWork will also be tested out in real-life scenarios. The partners have approached both Changi Airport Group in Singapore and Munich Airport for the implementation of these findings.

With the setting up of a regional office in Singapore, Lufthansa hopes to become the leader in defining how future job roles in the aviation industry would be shaped. The innovation hub plans to test out findings in real-world conditions in order to determine the skill set required from their future employees and how they can gear up for digital transformation in the world of travel.

Originally kickstarted in 2014 in Berlin, Germany, LIH will be set up in Shanghai, China in the latter part of 2019.