Germany a Prominent Partner in New European Innovation Projects

12/18/2009

Berlin - Germany is well represented in a new European Union initiative to boost innovation in Europe. Berlin and Karlsruhe have been selected as partner cities and innovation test-beds. The first three Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) announced by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) address the challenges of climate change mitigation, sustainable energy and information and communication technology (ICT). This recognition underscores Germany’s attractiveness as a high-tech business location that is well-suited for foreign investors.

Berlin has been selected as a co-location for both the climate and ICT KICs while Karlsruhe shares this honor for the sustainable energy KIC. Proposals were selected based on existing leadership and excellence in the respective fields. The overarching goal of the KIC program is to create new business opportunities, to have an impact on entrepreneurship education, and to contribute to society through innovation. The communities are set to be operational by mid-2010, each accompanied by a start-up grant.

The projects should also contribute to the integration of higher education, research, and business innovation. The selection affirms Germany’s strength as a high-tech business location and gives the country an added boost in terms of its pivotal role in the future of European innovation.

The climate change project, Climate-KIC, seeks to streamline the entire chain from education to commercialization in order to manage the transition to low-carbon resilient cities, adaptive water management, and zero carbon production. The sustainable energy project, KIC InnoEnergy, entails the training of technology leaders with an entrepreneurial mindset and connecting key players across the innovation chain through projects, platforms, and events in the field of sustainable energy. The EIT ICT Labs project aims at transforming Europe into a knowledge society with an unprecedented proliferation of internet-based services, establishing partnerships between business and academia.

German companies, universities, and the government annually devote EUR 55.7 billion to research and development, making the country a leader of innovation in Europe. As a result, Germany ranks second in the world in the annual number of registered patents. Universities and research institutes closely collaborate with businesses and facilitate the realization of sophisticated ideas and state-of-the-art products. As a result, production and research in Germany are world-class. High-tech exports from Germany rank first in Europe.