Priming R&D investment, focusing on electric cars and the smart grid
German government is advised to tune up the innovation engine
24.02.2010, Press releases
Germany's legendary innovation engine is faltering, according to a report delivered to Chancellor Angela Merkel today, but could – with a major tune-up – help propel the economy from crisis to sustainable growth. Forward-looking recommendations, such as how to move more effectively toward electric cars and the smart grid, rest on sobering assessments of government programs, trends in technology transfer, and conditions for entrepreneurs and investors. This package of analysis and advice came from the federally chartered Expert Commission on Research and Innovation, also known by the acronym EFI. The Bundestag, the German Parliament, is expected to discuss these issues in May and debate what actions to take.
The
independent commission happens to be led by Munich-based researchers but has
tapped intellectual resources from throughout and beyond Germany, spanning
disciplines from engineering to economics. Professor Dietmar Harhoff, chair of
the Expert Commission, is director of the Institute for Innovation Research,
Technology Management, and Entrepreneurship at LMU, the University of Munich.
Deputy Chair of the commission is Professor Ann-Kristin Achleitner, Scientific
Director of the Center for Entrepreneurial and Financial Studies at TUM, the
Technische Universität München.
"Innovation
is not only about having good ideas and good developments," Achleitner
said, "but it's very important to bring these developments to the
market."
"Our
charter is essentially to advise the government on recent developments, to make
proposals for new policy initiatives, and also to evaluate the policies that
they have put into place," Harhoff said. "And independence in this
case means that we pick the topics of our report, and we can also go into the
dark corners of innovation policy and snoop around in directions that maybe the
policy makers would not like us to investigate – but that's a part of our
job."
A
video report on their findings and recommendations is available at: www.tum.de/film
The
Expert Commission advises the government to refocus some existing efforts,
eliminating others and redirecting resources accordingly. The commission's
advice on financing aims not only toward prioritizing government spending, but
also toward increasing private investment in research and development. Specific
recommendations include measures such as changes in tax policy and the creation
of a commercialization fund.
The
prime example of a sharpened innovation focus would be a coordinated push in
"electromobility." The term refers not only to electric and hybrid
cars, Harhoff explained, "but it also means the overall system by which
cars are charged, and discharged, through the smart grid. Ideally, the electric
energy that we would like to use to power cars is highly volatile. It's coming
from wind and solar, so it's fluctuating a lot. And in order to buffer these
fluctuations, we could use, in principle, a large fleet of electric cars in
Germany that would be charged and discharged in synch with the fluctuations in
the electric system."
"For
Germany," Achleitner said, "the automative sector is of considerable
importance, and we see that this new technology is developing and we are not at
the head. And electromobility is a perfect showcase where innovation policy
shouldn't stop at the borders. We believe it is important on the European level
to join forces in order to catch up – and to catch up will be of importance to
the industry."
Other recommendations target more effective transfer of knowledge and technology from universities and other research institutions to industry – together with measures to strengthen the patent system and support standardization efforts.
Contact:
Prof.
Ann-Kristin Achleitner
KfW Chair
in Entrepreneurial Finance & CEFS
Technische
Universität München
Arcisstr.
21
80333 München, Germany
Tel:
+49.89.289.25181
Fax: +49.89.289.25188
E-Mail: ann-kristin.achleitner@wi.tum.de
Download the EFI report:
Interview with Prof. Ann-Kristin Achleitner and
Prof. Dietmar Harhoff:
Kontakt: presse@tum.de
More Information
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