Berlin In the past 20 years, Germany has clearly fallen behind in the key technologies in international competition. This is shown by the data for research and patent applications from the new annual report of the Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation (Efi), which was handed over to Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) on Tuesday.
This applies not only to digital technologies, in which, according to the report, Germany, like the entire EU, is clearly weakening and is heavily dependent on imports from China. Germany’s good position is also threatened in production and materials technology as well as in the biological and life sciences, because China has increased the number of research publications and patent applications many times over since the turn of the millennium.
According to a study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (Isi) commissioned by the Efi for this year’s report, there is a “rapid increase in publication activities” in the People’s Republic in all the fields examined.
In Germany, for example, the number of publications on digital technologies has increased by a factor of 3.4 since 2000 – similar to the USA and Europe. China, on the other hand, increased research output by a factor of 17.5. South Korea also made strong gains.
This means that “Germany’s initially good position deteriorates or changes to a subsequent position,” writes the Efi team. A strong position at the top is only possible for Germany in association with the other EU countries.
According to the study, the situation is similar for transnational, i.e. internationally decisive patents: China ranks fourth internationally for applications in production and material technology as well as bio and life sciences, while Germany is in the middle. “However, the significantly higher rates of increase in China, Japan and South Korea show that Germany is increasingly lagging behind in terms of technology,” warns Efi.
When it comes to patent applications for inventions in the field of digital technology, Japan and the USA lead, followed by China. Here, too, China and South Korea grew particularly strongly.
The trend can also be seen in the trade balance. According to the report, Germany has advantages in the individual technologies of photonics, advanced manufacturing, new materials and the life sciences. On the other hand, there were disadvantages in robotics, bioeconomy and nanotechnology, but above all in the entire field of digital technologies. The problem is particularly big with digital security, big data, microelectronics and artificial intelligence.
China, on the other hand, already has significant advantages in world trade in all areas of digitization, “which are even surpassed by South Korea in microelectronics, digital security and digital mobility,” according to the report.
Finally, the Efi also emphasizes the relevance of uniform specifications for the global innovation race: Unlike Germany and many Western countries, “China does not leave the setting of standards in the personal responsibility of companies and organizations, but relies on a centralized and controlled state procedure”.
In addition, China has massively expanded its involvement in the standardization organizations. German companies and organizations, on the other hand, “do not seem to be able to make a significant contribution to forums for negotiating future standards in the particularly dynamic key technology area of digital technologies”.
According to Efi experts, the federal government needs to invest more in research and development.
(Photo: dpa)
The Efi chairman Uwe Cantner is alarmed by the overall development: “Germany must do a lot more here so as not to run the risk of losing technological sovereignty and thus risking prosperity.” Without a leap forward, especially in digitization, ” the ecological transformation cannot succeed either,” warns the economist. In addition, Germany’s comparatively good position in production technologies is threatened, as these are increasingly being penetrated by digital technologies.
With the Efi report, the warning signals for Germany as a location for innovation are increasing. A slump in innovation spending had recently become known. According to a company survey by the Center for European Economic Research (ZEW), these fell massively in 2020 – and a recovery in the past year is at least questionable. In particular, spending on research and development fell more than in almost any other European country.
Economist Cantner calls on the traffic light coalition to develop a new concept for the promotion of central technologies as quickly as possible. In addition, in view of the backlog, she must also work on a “targeted, time-wise limited industrial policy”, “in conjunction with the EU, in order to achieve the necessary critical mass”.
>> Read here: This number is an alarm signal for Germany as a high-tech location
Germany needs “a new, comprehensive research and innovation strategy – based on the high-tech strategy, but from a single source and with funding priorities coordinated in terms of time and content,” demanded the Efi chairman.
Definition of key technologies is missing
In the opinion of the expert commission, the federal government’s goal of increasing overall economic spending on research and development from 3.17 percent in 2019 to 3.5 percent of GDP in 2025 is not sufficient. It also needs “a qualitative dimension”, i.e. a concentration on the decisive fields.
To do this, the government must clearly define which key technologies it wants to promote, also in order to push back “assertive individual interests”. For example, the coalition agreement declares naval shipbuilding below and above water to be a key technology. The Efi experts complain that this “misses all the criteria for a key technology”.
On the other hand, you recommend that traffic lights set up an independent committee, preferably with foreign institutes. This must continuously monitor how Germany is doing in the individual technology fields and whether the funding needs to be adjusted accordingly.
More: “Germany is facing fundamental problems” – high-tech is suffering a decline in this country.