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Put to the test: Bremen's innovation strategy, Image: SWAE/Ginter
It was already clear during the kick-off event for the innovation strategy Land Bremen 2030 on October 29, 2020: Bremen's strength is its diversity – in order to make clever use of that, many threads must be brought together.
Kristina Vogt, Senator for Economic Affairs, Labor and Europe, welcomed 150 stakeholders from business, science, politics, and society with the announcement that the Innovation Strategy 2030 will set priorities that go far beyond the current crisis. “Innovations not only permeate all areas of the economy but also social life, and they lead to new forms of work. It is therefore important to shape innovation processes together with employees,” says Vogt.
Bremen has a broad base
“Bremen is very broadly positioned in its research and innovation activities, which is not so pronounced in other federal states” – with these words, Dr. Gerd Meier zu Köcker, Head of the Institute for Innovation and Technology (iit) from Berlin, summarized the key findings of the survey of the innovation landscape in Bremen.
In addition to strong clusters, such as the renewable energy industry, maritime economy and logistics, and aerospace, also mechanical engineering, environmental technology, and the healthcare industry take part in the state's research and development activities.
There is also a broad diversification of key technologies, i.e., technologies that are highly relevant across all sectors. These include artificial intelligence, robotics, digitalization, business-related services and – a surprising result – metrology and simulation technology. This combination is unique for Bremen and a major advantage of the location, according to the expert's professional opinion.
R&D activities in Bremen, image: SWAE/Institute for Innovation + Technology (iit)
This insight into the current situation marks the start of the participatory process for developing Bremen's innovation strategy with a view to the year 2030.
Strengthening knowledge transfer
What do these results mean for Bremen? Which topics will be relevant in the future? And what resources, methods, and support do science and research need in order to remain competitive?
The last question in particular contains an important aspect for the federal state of Bremen – the interaction between science and industry. This is the conclusion reached by Hans Georg Tschupke, Head of Department 4 – Innovation, Industry, Digitization at the Senator for Economic Affairs, Labour and Europe. “Companies that were founded in the university environment and grew from there are very typical for Bremen. The transfer from science to industry takes place particularly via knowledge-intensive services. This is of crucial importance for Bremen's ability to innovate,” said Tschupke.
In recent years, the successful industry-related cluster policy has been supplemented by a focus on so-called key technologies. Here it is important to expand the transfer across the sectors, as many of the important and innovative ideas arise at the interfaces. However, according to Tschupke, this does not mean abandoning the tried and tested clusters, as innovations in the service and industrial sectors will tend to mix in the future and the boundaries will become more fluid.
One example is Bremen-based space technology group OHB that no longer just builds satellites but also works on deriving digital business models from satellite data – in other words, it will be both an industrial company and a service provider in the future.
According to Tschupke, this development must be reflected in a future innovation strategy. This also means including the employees in Bremen's companies. “Digitalization is not an end in itself, we have to involve people and use the potential to remain competitive,” he explains. This also includes close cooperation with social partners as is already successfully practiced in the round tables for aerospace and the food industry, for example.
A look at selected topics for the strategy process
In addition to these general developments in Bremen's research and development landscape, the kick-off event focused on selected topics that are to be explored in greater depth in the further strategy process. To this end, the moderator, Simone Neddermann, entered into a discussion with experts, who also responded to questions from the online audience.
Wind energy / renewable energies
When it comes to renewable energies, Nils Schnorrenberger, Managing Director of BIS Bremerhavener Gesellschaft für Investitionsförderung und Stadtentwicklung mbH, sees the area of storage technologies as a growing research topic, in addition to trends in the dismantling of wind turbines. There is a paradigm shift in research, especially due to the emerging hydrogen economy. The need for research here is very high, but at the same time there is also a lack of suitable infrastructure, such as networks, test fields, or funding opportunities to invest in prototype development.
The city of Bremen itself also has a great need for hydrogen. Fifty percent of Bremen's CO2 emissions come from the Bremen steelworks, so defossilizing the industry is an important step towards reducing CO2 emissions, confirms Dr. Torben Stührmann, research associate in the Resilient Energy Systems group at the University of Bremen.
Around one gigawatt of electrolysis capacity would be needed for the steelworks alone – an enormous figure, as Germany's largest projects currently only comprise eight megawatts by comparison. In addition to electrolysers, the infrastructure also needs to be expanded in Bremen. All of these processes are planned in the long term for more than ten to twenty years. “We will initially start with smaller projects, embedded in national or EU-wide strategies,” adds Tschupke. The North German hydrogen strategy is the start of this development.
Places of the future
Innovation policy needs places of the future that leave room for creativity, explained Tschupke. “A start-up culture needs suitable spaces where it is not yet clear exactly what will develop,” he says. The Digital Hub Industry, which is currently under construction, is such a place that also benefits from the very successful technology park at the University of Bremen. Specialists from science and industry will come together here and make innovations possible.
The space requirements for logistics, on the other hand, must be considered in a very differentiated manner in the respective business environment and solved in cooperation with the surrounding area. These aspects will be addressed in the 2030 commercial development program of the municipality of Bremen.
Another important project for the future is the commercial area for the green economy on the Lune Plate in Bremerhaven. Dr. Saskia Greiner from BIS Bremerhaven explained that it offers excellent conditions for innovative companies in environmental and climate protection technology in particular.
Social innovations
“Social innovations are not fundamentally different from technical innovations. In many cases, social innovations even arise from technical innovations,” explained Dr. Uwe Wunder, Head of the Social Impact Lab Bremen. Tackling social challenges with an entrepreneurial background is at the heart of social entrepreneurship. This has potential in Bremen, as the first nationwide scaling program in the social sector has shown. Here, Wunder pleaded for closer cooperation within Bremen, as is currently being approached with the Starthaus and WFB Wirtschaftsförderung Bremen GmbH.
Digital change with new opportunities for women in the labor market, including as entrepreneurs
According to Lisa Ringen, head of the Bremen branch of the Digital Media Women network, the advancement of women plays an important role in future innovations. Digital automation is changing jobs in the service and administration sectors, many monotonous tasks are disappearing and communicative, empathetic skills are in greater demand. According to Ringen, women are well prepared for this change in the world of work.
In many cases, however, research and development structures are still male-dominated. In the field of artificial intelligence, for example, only 16% of employees are female. Better training opportunities for women are needed here.
According to Ringen, the desire of many young people to take on more entrepreneurial responsibility is not only related to women – in the future, companies will have to find ways to give skilled workers more room to develop, which in turn will lead to innovations.
Outlook
Building on existing strengths and shaping transformation processes together – this is probably how the tenor of the kick-off event for the innovation strategy could be summarized.
In order for this to succeed, the participatory process is now beginning with interviews with experts, strategy workshops, and workshops involving stakeholders from business, science, networks, and society. This intensive work process will result in the key points of the Bremen Innovation Strategy Land Bremen 2030 by March next year, which will then be voted on by the political bodies.
If you would like to follow this process, please visit the following page at regular intervals: https://www.bremen-innovativ.de/innovationsstrategie-2030/ or get in touch with the contact person (see sidebar).
