The Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation (Expertenkommission Forschung und Innovation-EFI), including Prof Dr Friederike Welter (IfM Bonn/University of Siegen), presented its annual report to Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger today.
In the report, the members of the Commission of Experts complain that the current innovation- and transformation-related policies and strategies of the various ministries need to be more interlinked and coordinated. A new, agile policy style and a suitable governance structure are urgently required to progress in this area. "A turnaround is also necessary for innovation policy! Only in this way will it be possible to create a spirit of optimism in the economy and society, which is enormously important for the implementation of the transformations," says the chairman of the Commission of Experts, Prof Dr Uwe Cantner (University of Jena). "Germany cannot afford to continue as before in terms of policy coordination, neither in terms of time nor financially."
The Commission of Experts recommends setting up a permanent Committee on the Future in the Federal Chancellery as a sign of the innovation policy turnaround. The committee's task would be to coordinate the targets for innovation and transformation-related topics and to coordinate and define relevant strategies, such as the Future Strategy for Research and Innovation, the Digital Strategy and the Start-up Strategy.
From space to daily life: the potential of space technologies should be better used
In the view of the EFI Commission of Experts, space technologies, among other things, can contribute to overcoming global societal crises. The business community has long recognised their broad potential: Increasingly, private companies are becoming active in space and developing products or technologies for space themselves or using satellite data for innovative products and services. However, according to the EFI Commission members, German policy needs to keep pace with this dynamic. Despite announcements to this effect, Germany still does not have a national space law. "The increasing space activities of non-state actors should not take place in a regulatory vacuum. To assess the risks and potentials of their investments, small and medium-sized enterprises, in particular, need timely clarity about the future legal framework," complains Prof. Dr Friederike Welter of the University of Siegen and the Institute for SME Research (IfM) Bonn.
