Technology and innovation policy has a long tradition in Saarland. Its first innovation strategy in 2001 made Saarland a pioneer among the German federal states. Innovation, research and development have been central themes of Saarland’s state policy ever since. Saarland is undergoing profound economic structural change. Global trends such as digitalisation and dynamic innovation cycles are accelerating the economic transformation process. Saarland therefore relies on research expertise and innovation as motors for growth and competitiveness. Over recent decades, it has systematically built up a productive and diverse higher education and research landscape. The resulting non-university research potential, featuring outstanding and internationally renowned research institutions, grew out of the universities and is closely linked to them.
The Saarland state government relies on intensive knowledge flow between excellent research undertakings and the private sector in the state, as well as on the innovation potential of spin-offs and start-ups and a productive SME sector. The current priorities of Saarland’s research and innovation policy are grounded in the Regional Innovation Strategy and formulated with the involvement of relevant stakeholders in the state. The strategy builds on the specific strengths of Saarland and aligns support and investment measures with key priorities and challenges. It also serves as an incentive for private sector investment in research and development. The Saarland Innovation Strategy is being extended as from 2024, and this, along with the strategic development planning of the universities, will continue to strengthen the science and research landscape and technology transfer with the aim of translating the achievements of science into economic success even more effectively in the future.
The primary field of action for increasing innovative capability is the ongoing expansion and diversification of research capacities based on the key areas of the innovation strategy, as well as raising the transfer potential between science and the economy. Saarland has achieved its broad-based, world-class scientific excellence through its focus on these priority areas and by continuously expanding them over the years. They play a key role in the ongoing development of the innovation location and in managing the structural transformation. As an important basis for economically viable, marketable applications and products, innovation potentials are being developed in a variety of areas, including: artificial intelligence; sectoral digitalisation and cybersecurity with application markets in the automotive supply industry, mechanical engineering, the pharmaceutical industry, personalised medicine, medical technology and energy technology; networked, smart technologies, e.g. in industry, trade and transport; electrical and hydrogen technologies, battery cells and mobility of the future; intelligent sensor systems and intelligent materials; and pharmacy with drug research, biomaterials, biomedicine and biochemistry. Examples of the identification and implementation of cross-innovations are the BMBF-funded Health.AI alliance, which mobilises the value creation potential of AI for innovation processes in the healthcare sector, and the EU-funded European Digital Innovation Hub (EDIH) Saarland, which actively and sustainably promotes digital transformation in Saarland and the greater Saar-Lor-Lux region.