Innovation & Germany
The Fraunhofer Institute is among the most important German research centers. The Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI conducts research on how innovations are generated and which impact they have on our society and economy. Ms. Prof. Dr. Marion A. Weissenberger-Eibl is Director of the Fraunhofer ISI and holds the Chair for Innovation and Technology Management at the Institute for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology Management (ENTECHNON) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The study "Innovation Indicator", favoring and inhibiting factors for innovation, particularly innovative industries as well as Germany's strengths and weaknesses as a location for innovation are only part of the topics discussed in the following interview.
GSC: Innovation is an ever-present concept. Very often things are subjectively described as innovative. How can this subjectivity be tackled and innovation be defined? What are the defining characteristics of an innovation?
Prof. Dr. Marion A. Weissenberger-Eibl: First of all an idea is needed as innovations always start with an idea. However, a good idea does not automatically become an innovation. We only talk about an innovation if it is successful on the market - whether as a new product, a new technology or a new process. Innovations are most likely to be successful if they have noticeable and measurable advantages for people, for example more cost-effective production, fewer side effects of a medication, the use of renewable raw materials or using existing products in a simpler way. The research and development departments in companies clarify whether these advantages exist at a very early stage of the innovation process.
Our understanding of innovation research at the Fraunhofer ISI includes the economic, ecological, social, political and regulatory impacts of innovations. We therefore define the term "innovations" as widely as possible. These are not only technological innovations but also phenomena which affect services or organizations and can trigger processes. We not only investigate new products and how well they are received in the marketplace, but also analyze how innovations affect services, other areas of the economy, the social security system and our society.
GSC: Your research deals with the development conditions for innovations. What are the prerequisites a company or project manager has to meet?
Prof. Dr. Marion A. Weissenberger-Eibl: Innovations are created in a targeted process which needs the right environment to be successful and bring about the desired changes. In order for mere "novelties" to become real innovations, they have to have the right environment and the right conditions.
For new ideas it is important to identify relevant issues as early as possible, to investigate their practicability and to do all this faster than the competition. So-called corporate foresight – i.e. internal innovation management – includes strategic innovation and technology management methods. For example we can look into the future by constructing scenarios and roadmaps. Good scenarios, which depict different plausible developments, are tools which make it easier to think and talk about the future. We use them to identify the first, slight indications of a trend which we can then develop into questions about a topic.
If we are dealing with a specific product, service or innovative process, the Fraunhofer ISI uses roadmaps. Roadmaps describe future pathways and indicate crossroads and landmarks – exactly like conventional road maps. Uniform definitions are established when making the roadmap, meaning that a roadmap can be the basis for shared communication. The roadmapping process offers the opportunity to jointly classify and bring together separate developments and different assessments. Often, this also identifies valuable synergies.
Companies need to know on which trendsetting, key technologies the planned innovation is based, which relevant markets are affected and which concrete further developments for their own products and services can be expected as a result. The roadmap tells companies about the viability of an idea which helps them to better assess the economic dimension of the innovation. Roadmaps are therefore very useful for concrete planning and implementing future strategies, i.e. in assessing and evaluating both the management and implementation of the innovation up to its successful market launch.
GSC: The study "Innovation indicator" – a comparison of the innovation capability of the most important industrial nations- showed a slightly lower overall result for Germany compared to the previous year. Despite increased investments, the country has slipped from 4th place to 6th place. What are the reasons for this decline? Is it because other countries have improved their innovation capability?
Prof. Dr. Marion A. Weissenberger-Eibl: Slipping into 6th place is less due to Germany's deterioration than to other countries being able to overtake it because they invested more in their innovation systems than Germany did during the economic recovery in 2010 and 2011. The weakest point in the German innovation system is still the education system: Germany remains one of the leading countries worldwide as far as vocational training is concerned, but has a shortage of employees with a university education.
As we are facing strong international competition, we have to take action in different areas. We need more investments in education to improve quality. We also need to facilitate increased cooperation between the federal government and state governments in this area. However, simply making more money available is not enough. The existing resources, which are already considerable, have to be used sensibly. Greater efficiency is needed in science and research – and this also applies to industry. And we also need a cultural change at the level of society. Not enough use is being made in Germany of the opportunities resulting from greater diversity in the economy, science and society. Considerable resources have not been exploited.
GSC: The above-mentioned study of 2012 identified the following areas as strong points of the German climate for innovation: industry in general, the networking of science and industry and the efficiency of the innovation system. What else favors Germany as a location for innovation?
Prof. Dr. Marion A. Weissenberger-Eibl: Germany's strengths include the value added share of high technology and the share of universities' R&D expenditure which is financed by companies, in other words, the networking of science and industry through research cooperations and contact research.
Countries with a strong dual system of education and vocational training such as Germany also tend to do better in the innovation indicator. Skilled workers are an important part of the innovation personnel in this country and contribute to the rapid implementation of innovative ideas. Having said this, a good dual system cannot substitute but only complement higher education because, in the end, it is the engineers and scientists who have been trained to the current level of research who have to create new technologies and develop innovation leads. It also needs to be stressed that the citizens of a society significantly influence the development of their national innovation system. Their attitude towards new technologies and their willingness to engage with innovations and to actively demand them are important framework conditions for the success of innovation efforts made by industry.
The general willingness to take risks, attitudes towards entrepreneurship and openness to new technologies also play an important role both in the early stages of technology development as well as for its diffusion. In the innovation indicator, we not only record the demand for technologies, but also the openness and willingness of a society to accept innovations. This is directly relevant for the dynamics of an innovation system. For example, the very good rankings of the Netherlands and Sweden can, among others, be attributed to these societal factors.
GSC: Not every company is predestined to develop an innovation. Many companies lag behind and can hardly keep up with the competition. What are the most frequent obstacles to innovation?
Prof. Dr. Marion A. Weissenberger-Eibl: In order to secure the innovation capability and competitiveness of enterprises in the long term, a culture of innovation should be established and promoted together with the employees which is open to new ideas and provides incentives for change. A corporate culture which focuses on innovation capability can be a definite advantage if corporate strategy has to be adapted to short-term changes without losing sight of long-term objectives.
It is important that management creates a climate which accepts errors – and encourages employees to try out new ideas. It is difficult to be creative in a system which sanctions errors – innovations do not emerge without creativity, without trial and error. You cannot command or force creativity, you can only create the right framework conditions. In order to use creative potentials, it is important to integrate them into a systematic approach. A company needs a specific ideas management to structure creativity. The staff in companies or research institutions often have specific ideas on how to improve processes or products. However, these are not always implemented – perhaps because they are not publicized. Good ideas management structures the generation, collection and selection of suitable ideas for improvements and innovations.
Ideas management is then followed by innovation management, which serves as a kind of bridge between creativity and innovation. A highly developed innovation management which takes into account both the point of view within the company as well as the external aspect facilitates a permanent corporate creativity process. Only those who continuously dare to look into the future while drawing on the creative resources of their co-workers and their environment will be sustainably innovative. As far as the practical application is concerned, this means that sufficient opportunities to exchange information and opinions or supporting structures are made available, for example, complex areas of responsibility and the company's management "living the culture of innovation". Social networks such as blogs, Wikis and other social communities can also serve as an inspiration.
GSC: The Fraunhofer ISI offers an interdisciplinary range of services. Are there any core areas which are being pushed due to trends or governmental support? Which innovative sectors are on the rise in Germany?
Prof. Dr. Marion A. Weissenberger-Eibl: I believe that issues such as sustainable mobility, energy use and regenerative energy generation, the use of raw materials and demography will become increasingly important. In future, attention will focus particularly on the efficient use of raw materials. The funding initiative "r² - Innovative technologies for resource efficiency – resource-intensive production processes", which the Fraunhofer ISI accompanied, revealed that the efficient use of raw materials has an enormous savings potential: If all the investigated innovative technologies for resource efficiency were implemented in resource-intensive production processes in Germany, around 80 million tons of material could be saved every year and raw material productivity could be increased by five percentage points-. Furthermore, energy consumption could be reduced by approximately 75 terawatt hours and greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced by around 60 million CO2 equivalents annually.
In future, there will also be major changes regarding mobility patterns and, as a result, there will be a boom in some industries which may not even exist today. We have outlined this in the "VIVER" scenario and have come to the following conclusion: cities will become greener, more livable, and pedestrian and cyclist friendlier in the future. In general, there will be a trend towards a more urban life style in cities with a high level of access to public transport, where daily needs can be met with fewer transport services. A multi-modal mobility is the standard for the sustainable transport system in urban regions in the year 2050, i.e. the flexible combination and use of different modes of transport. A growing number of drivers use the car as one mode of transport among others depending on the purpose of the trip and the mode of transport on offer. As an alternative to private cars, extensive mobility packages are wide spread and reduce the otherwise increased costs of mobility. The backbone of this integrated mobility is barrier-free access to all modes of transport via simple and standardized information and booking systems. The main components of this new multi modality are modern public transport systems, car sharing schemes, rental cars, bike sharing, carpooling services including mobility guarantees, delivery services and taxis. Shared cars and bicycles parked at locations all over the city could be used spontaneously without pre-booking or fixed drop-off times and then parked again.
In this context, electric mobility has to be mentioned and its significance for the economy, society and the environment in the coming years. A study conducted at our Institute sees electric mobility on the roads in the next twenty years as an important component of mobility systems in Germany and worldwide. This development in combination with the breakthrough of renewable energy generation can contribute to solving, or at least significantly mitigating the two biggest problems facing us this century – greenhouse gas emissions and the scarcity of fossil resources – namely when electric vehicles are successfully placed on first user markets. This includes the use of multi-modal mobility offers and commercial fleets as well as long-distance commuters.
GSC: Environmental technologies appear to play an increasingly important role and are an approach to international cooperation. How do you see the development as regards the environment, both nationally and internationally?
Prof. Dr. Marion A. Weissenberger-Eibl: The consequences of climate change are measurable; extreme weather events such as very hot and dry summers, violent winter storms, storm surges, floods and landslides are increasing. In order to limit the damage caused by these weather extremes and natural catastrophes, adaptation measures will be necessary in the future. Therefore the Fraunhofer ISI is not only concerned with ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also with adaptation measures for transport. The projects "WEATHER" and "MOWE-IT", for example, document the costs of extreme weather events and the benefits of adaptation strategies and outline political action. In cooperation with international scientists, e have also investigated the economic impacts of extreme events on infrastructure, transport companies, travelers and the economy for all transport carriers in Europe and have assessed appropriate emergency measures and adaptation strategies.
On the European level, we are currently working with partners from Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Italy, Romania, Spain and the Czech Republic under the direction of the Technical University Vienna. Building experts from the European research community are brought together with national decision makers and the most important interest groups in workshops and regular meetings in order to jointly draw up sound strategies and pathways to transformation. They can learn from the experiences of other countries which have already introduced certain measures. This not only concerns the results of energy saving, but also the political implementation and viability for the actors involved.
The scientists researched and developed a database with building data from the European Union and Serbia. These data have been graphically presented and are available online. The up-to-date information provides a basis for the development of policy instruments, particularly for the promotion of ultra- low energy buildings as well as heat and cold from renewable energies. The sound data basis and lively exchange support the market penetration of ultra-low energy buildings as well as heat and cold generation from renewable energies.
These are just two examples of the environmentally-relevant topics we deal with at the Fraunhofer ISI nationally and internationally. The shortage of resources and the many kinds of pollutant emissions which are discharged to the air, water bodies and soil mean it is necessary for us to use finite natural resources sustainably and to avoid polluting the environment. The necessary orientation towards a "green economy" opens up new economic opportunities on environmentally-friendly future markets – nationally and internationally.
GSC: Thank you very much for this very informative interview, Ms. Prof. Dr. Weissenberger-Eibl.
More information: www.isi.fraunhofer.de
Contact: weissenberger-eibl(at)isi.fraunhofer.de