Successful knowledge-based strategies for organizations require to build digital experiments which combine the power of networked information technologies like the Internet and the Web with the creativity and competencies of their own staff. This paper presents such an experiment which refers to the services of German economic development agencies. The presented work is carried out within a German project supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (bmb+f). The development of required economic, social and technical competencies of the agencies staff by using Web-based qualification processes and virtual learning communities has a key role within the digital experiment.