High-Tech Strategy

Research is the key to innovation, and innovation is the driver of growth and prosperity. Germany is in an excellent position, because science, research and innovation have been given greater priority in recent years. At the same time, however, we are facing great challenges. If we want to compete in the global race for talents and for technology and market leadership, we need to embrace the spirit of research and entrepreneurship. The Federal Government launched the High-Tech Strategy for Germany in August 2006 to encourage the development of new products and innovative services.

With the High-Tech Strategy for Germany, we are pursuing new approaches in research and innovation policy.

Pooling strengths

Cooperation between science and industry leads to valuable strategic partnerships and innovation alliances. That is why we are promoting cooperation and pooling our strengths. Numerous successful collaborations have already been established, for example to improve energy and car efficiency. The goal is to significantly accelerate and streamline the transition from product development to a marketable product.

Focusing on lead markets

Health, climate and resource efficiency, mobility and security - these are the key challenges that our society is currently facing. That is why these topics are the most important among the High-Tech Strategy's 17 fields of innovation.  Existing strengths in these areas are being promoted and intensified with the aim of developing modern, forward-looking lead markets and securing international competitive advantages.

Improving framework conditions

Small and medium-sized companies are the backbone of our economy. Many of them invest heavily in research and are highly innovative. We support the innovative strength of German companies by improving their conditions in a targeted way: financing opportunities for investments in research and development are being expanded, the protection of intellectual property is being improved, and innovation-oriented procurement is being promoted.

Evaluating strategies

To ensure that the High-Tech Strategy continues to improve, the Federal Government is being advised by the Expert Commission on Research and Innovation (EFI) and the Industry-Science Research Alliance. This has the aim of ensuring that there is reliable and independent impact research and supporting scientific research.

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  Germany is gaining more profile as a location for science

  The Federal Government has introduced important steps towards modernizing the German science system with the Excellence Initiative, the Higher Education Pact 2020 and the Joint Initiative for Research and Innovation. The science scene has gained considerable profile and Germany has become more attractive as a science nation.
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  Science and business

  Innovations can realise their full potential only if they are transferred rapidly from research into products and released onto the market. Only in a joint effort, adopting cross-sector approaches and exploiting synergies, can this objective be achieved. Recognising this, the Federal Government intends to strengthen collaboration between business and science in order in particular to harness the vast potential of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
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  Focusing on tomorrow's lead markets today

  Germany is preparing for the future: to be able to meet the great challenges of the 21st century, the Federal Government has launched the "High-Tech Strategy for Germany". Thanks to this strategy, pathbreaking research projects are being initiated, innovations are being financed, and state-of-the-art technologies are being developed to market maturity. This is creating markets with great potential for growth as well as international competitive advantages. We want cutting-edge technology "made in Germany" to continue to enjoy an excellent reputation across the world!
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