About dpa-infocom

dpa-infocom

dpa-infocom is a Hamburg-based media technology and data journalism company, a 100 percent subsidiary of the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa), Germany's national news agency. Founded around 2000 by Christoph Dernbach and Meinolf Ellers, the company produces interactive graphics, data visualisations, election services, sports data, fact checks and digital storytelling products for newsrooms. On 1 July 2025, it merged with dpa-infografik — the agency's graphics department, founded in 1946 as the Globus-Kartendienst — to form dpainfocom GmbH. The company's leaders include Jirka Albig and Teresa Dapp, and its services are presented through the dpa's corporate channels at dpa.com.

Overview

dpa-infocom operates at the intersection of journalism and technology: it builds the digital products that modern newsrooms need but often cannot produce themselves. Its interactive graphics explain complex stories — elections, climate data, sports statistics — in visual form; its election services power the results coverage of German votes, from federal elections to state polls; its sports data feeds the live tickers and tables of sports desks; its fact-checking unit addresses misinformation; and its data journalism projects turn datasets into stories.

The company's customers are the newsrooms of Germany — dpa's clients and beyond — who integrate its graphics, data and interactive products into their digital offerings. In an era when readers expect visual, interactive journalism, dpa-infocom provides the technical and editorial capabilities that make it possible.

As a 100 percent dpa subsidiary, the company combines the technological agility of a digital studio with the journalistic standards and market access of Germany's national news agency.

History

dpa-infocom was founded around 2000 by Christoph Dernbach and Meinolf Ellers, at the dawn of the internet's transformation of journalism. The founding recognised that the digital age required new journalistic forms: newsrooms needed interactive graphics, data visualisations and digital storytelling, but few had the technical capacity to produce them. dpa-infocom filled that gap, building a studio that combined journalistic expertise with technological skill. The founders — journalists who understood both the newsroom and the code — created a company that spoke both languages, bridging the gap between editorial ambition and technical possibility.

The company's roots, however, reach back much further. On 1 July 2025, dpa-infocom merged with dpa-infografik — the dpa's graphics department, founded in 1946 as the Globus-Kartendienst (Globus Map Service). The Globus-Kartendienst had produced maps and graphics for the German press since the immediate post-war period — its cartographers drawing the maps that illustrated Germany's reconstruction, the Cold War division and reunification. The 2025 merger united this traditional infographics expertise with the digital studio's interactive capabilities, forming dpainfocom GmbH — a comprehensive visual and data journalism provider that combines eight decades of cartographic heritage with cutting-edge digital storytelling.

Through the following decades, the company developed its product portfolio: election graphics and results services for Germany's federal and state elections; sports data products for the Bundesliga and international competitions; fact-checking services addressing the misinformation crisis; and data journalism projects that turned public datasets into interactive stories. Each product reflected the news industry's evolving needs: as print declined and digital grew, as elections became data stories and sports became real-time experiences, dpa-infocom built the tools that newsrooms required.

Content and Programming

dpa-infocom's interactive graphics are its signature product: visual explanations of complex stories, built for digital publication. Election graphics — results maps, coalition calculators, turnout visualisations — serve newsrooms covering German democracy, while data visualisations explain climate trends, economic developments and social changes. The graphics combine editorial judgement with design excellence, making complex information accessible.

The company's election services power the results journalism of German votes: real-time results data, visualisations and analysis tools that newsrooms integrate into their election coverage. From federal elections to European polls to state votes, dpa-infocom's products help editors tell the story of democracy as it happens.

Sports data products feed the live tickers, tables and statistics of sports desks, while the fact-checking unit addresses misinformation — verifying claims, debunking false stories and providing newsrooms with reliable corrections. Data journalism projects turn datasets into interactive narratives, giving readers new ways to understand the news — from the federal budget to the climate crisis to the demographics of German society.

Coverage and Audience

dpa-infocom serves the newsrooms of Germany — newspapers, magazines, broadcasters and online media, particularly dpa's extensive client base. Its products reach readers indirectly, through the publications and platforms that integrate its graphics, data and interactives. When German readers explore an election results map, a climate data visualisation or a sports statistics graphic, they are often engaging with dpa-infocom's work. The company's election night products — the results maps and coalition calculators that millions consult — make it a household name on the evenings when Germany votes, even if readers never see its logo.

The company's fact-checking services serve the broader fight against misinformation, providing verified corrections that newsrooms publish and readers share. In an era of information disorder, the company's contribution to verified visual journalism supports the credibility of the German media ecosystem. Its fact checks — investigating viral claims, verifying images and videos, debunking conspiracy narratives — give newsrooms the verified material they need to counter falsehoods with facts.

Ownership

dpa-infocom — since 1 July 2025, dpainfocom GmbH — is a 100 percent subsidiary of the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa), Germany's national news agency. dpa itself is owned by German publishers and broadcasters, giving the digital studio the institutional backing of the German media industry. The 100 percent ownership ensures that the studio's work aligns with dpa's journalistic standards while giving it the corporate stability to invest in long-term technological development.

The company's leaders Jirka Albig and Teresa Dapp guide its operations from Hamburg, continuing the work begun by founders Christoph Dernbach and Meinolf Ellers around 2000. The 2025 merger with dpa-infografik — heir to the 1946 Globus-Kartendienst — united the company's digital expertise with eight decades of visual journalism heritage. The dpainfocom GmbH that emerged from the merger represents the dpa group's commitment to visual and data journalism: a recognition that the future of news is not just written but visualised, interacted with and experienced.

Digital Presence

dpa-infocom's services are presented through the dpa's corporate channels at dpa.com, where the agency's product portfolio — including the infocom offerings — is showcased for customers. The company's products live on the digital platforms of its newsroom customers: the interactive graphics, election visualisations and data stories appear on the websites and apps of Germany's leading media.

The company is present in the professional discourse on data journalism and newsroom innovation, contributing to the German media industry's digital transformation. Its experts speak at journalism conferences, publish on data visualisation best practices and help shape the standards of visual journalism in the German-speaking world. As a dpa subsidiary founded around 2000 by Dernbach and Ellers and merged in 2025 with the historic infographics department, dpa-infocom combines startup agility with institutional heritage — building the visual and data journalism that modern newsrooms require.

The website field in this profile reflects the parent agency's corporate online home, through which the company's services are presented. Founded around 2000 by Dernbach and Ellers, merged on 1 July 2025 with the historic Globus-Kartendienst tradition, dpa-infocom builds the interactive graphics, election services, sports data and fact checks that power modern German journalism — the visual infrastructure of the digital news age — essential, innovative and built to last for the newsrooms of tomorrow and the readers they serve.