Thuringia pursues a research and innovation policy that focuses on the expansion of the state as a science and technology location. In the coming years, the Free State of Thuringia’s strategic objectives will enable government R&I initiatives to be implemented in such a way that they can have an optimal and rapid impact right through to commercial application.
The current version of the Thuringian Research Strategy sets two priorities: On the one hand, existing research priorities that have been identified through funding initiatives in national programmes will be expanded in such a way that their international competitiveness is secured and increased; on the other hand, funding will be provided for innovative projects in priority areas.
The Regional Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialisation and Economic Change in Thuringia (RIS Thuringia) defines five priority areas for the 2021–2027 funding period: industrial production and systems; sustainable and smart mobility and logistics; healthy living and the healthcare sector; sustainable energy supply and resource use; information & communication technology, innovative and production-related services.
These fields of specialisation strengthen Thuringia’s existing core competencies (strengths-based approach) in science and industry and therefore systematically expand promising, high-growth value networks across sectors and technologies. The transformation process towards a resource-efficient, climate-friendly, defossilised economy and the development of innovative solutions are assuming increasing importance in this context.
The innovation policy goal of increasing the share of R&D in the GDP is to be achieved by expanding research and innovation capacities and introducing advanced technologies. Particularly in the small-scale business landscape that characterises Thuringia, these aspects can have significant positive effects on the economy as a whole. The innovation activity of Thuringian companies still lags significantly behind the structurally strong regions. The private sector faces the task of addressing this and will be supported by funding and incentives from the Free State.
To implement its innovation policy goals, the Free State of Thuringia has launched the ‘Thuringia MOTIVation – move to innovation’ programme. This is implemented on the one hand through an integrated set of funding instruments for research, technology and innovation (FTI-Thuringia), and on the other hand through a committee structure that integrates the various interests of innovation actors along the value chain. It is managed by Thüringer ClusterManagement (ThCM) on behalf of the Free State of Thuringia. The various funding and networking programmes are intended to increase the innovative strength of the Thuringian economy.
For Thuringia, clusters and networks are of outstanding importance for driving the implementation of its policy goals in innovative value networks with cross-cluster and cross-innovation approaches. Against the backdrop of the twofold transformation towards a digital, low-carbon economy, cross-sector and cross-cluster networking and cooperation are gaining in importance, because it is almost impossible for individual companies or even sector networks to manage transformation processes on their own. Industry clusters are also important players in Thuringia’s RIS, which anchors them institutionally in the strategic advisory councils of the fields of specialisation.