In a joint position paper, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and the Federation of German Industries (BDI) are pushing for the swift implementation of the innovation-freedom initiative set out in the coalition agreement, favoring sub-statutory regulation over new legislation.
The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and the Federation of German Industries (BDI) have published a joint position paper calling for swift implementation of the innovation-freedom initiative set out in Germany’s coalition agreement. According to the two organizations, the transfer of research results into industrial value creation should be accelerated to safeguard Germany’s competitiveness and technological sovereignty. The paper’s central demand is not new legislation, but the prompt use of existing scope for sub-statutory regulation.
The innovation-freedom initiative is anchored in the federal government’s coalition agreement and is intended to remove regulatory obstacles between research and industrial application. Fraunhofer president Holger Hanselka said, according to the statement, that Germany’s innovative strength is at stake in international competition. Excellent research alone is not enough, he said; scientific findings need to be converted into industrial value creation more quickly. In Fraunhofer’s view, the initiative is a central instrument of industrial policy. Rather than continuously creating new laws, Hanselka said, existing options for sub-statutory regulation should be used to provide relief in the short term. Bureaucratic hurdles along the entire innovation pathway would need to be reduced so that new technologies can scale within Germany.
Innovation freedom as a competitiveness lever
According to the position paper, whether innovations scale in Germany and generate economic impact depends largely on the regulatory framework. The planned Innovation Freedom Act is described as an instrument for converting scientific findings more quickly into value creation, jobs and technological sovereignty. The organizations note that many of the necessary measures do not require new funding programs but lie in the sub-statutory sphere: simplified procedures, modernized rules, clarified responsibilities and harmonized funding conditions.
Overcoming the “Valley of Death”
A key point in the paper concerns the phase between research success and industrial scaling, often referred to as the “Valley of Death.” According to Fraunhofer and BDI, time and innovation potential are lost during this phase. To address this, research institutions should be given more latitude for demos, pilot plants, and limited zero- and small-series production runs while industry has not yet built sufficient production capacity. This is meant to speed up market validation and reduce development risks for companies. The organizations also call for a national IP strategy and a national technology-monitoring system to identify global developments early and inform strategic decisions.
Speed as a location factor
The position paper cites lengthy funding procedures, differing rules between the federal government and the states, and media discontinuities in administration as further obstacles. It calls for a consistent reduction in “time-to-grant,” along with standardized, fully digitalized funding conditions. Data use relevant to research and innovation — for example in AI applications and health data — should also be made significantly easier within the existing European framework through uniform interpretation, standardized procedures and legally secure testing environments.
Science, industry and policy working together
Fraunhofer and BDI stress that innovation freedom can only succeed through joint action: science creates technological possibilities, companies bring them to market, and policymakers must provide a legally secure framework. In the organizations’ assessment, swift implementation of the proposed sub-statutory measures could unlock significant economic momentum without requiring additional funding. Going forward, they say, innovation-policy success should be measured above all by a shortened “time-to-market.”
Dr. Jakob Jung is Editor-in-Chief of Security Storage and Channel Germany. He has been working in IT journalism for more than 20 years. His career includes Computer Reseller News, Heise Resale, Informationweek, Techtarget (storage and data center) and ChannelBiz. He also freelances for numerous IT publications, including Computerwoche, Channelpartner, IT-Business, Storage-Insider and ZDnet. His main topics are channel, storage, security, data center, ERP and CRM.
Contact via Mail: jakob.jung@security-storage-und-channel-germany.de