Global competition in the technological arena has intensified significantly. Research, innovation and technological performance have become key factors in terms of economic strength, strategic sovereignty, defence capabilities and societal resilience. Countries are investing more heavily in key technologies, safeguarding strategic value chains, and increasingly gearing their innovation systems to geopolitical interests.
These developments are also having a growing impact on international research collaborations and scientific value creation. Open international cooperation must be balanced even more effectively with research security, knowledge protection and strategic technology controls. This will enable us to ensure that basic research, scientific excellence and open knowledge production can remain strategic resources in a knowledge-based security and innovation system.
Against this backdrop, Germany and Europe are facing an increased need for action in the field of innovation and technology. The EU is realigning its innovation and technology policy, in particular by stepping up its legislative initiatives (e.g. the Chips Act, the Digital Compass, and the planned European Innovation Act and European Research Area Act) and by fundamentally restructuring the EU’s funding architecture. The overarching goal for the EU is securing and strengthening the EU’s competitiveness, technological sovereignty and resilience. The European Commission is proposing that support should cover the entire innovation cycle, and that this should be achieved by linking the new EU Competitiveness Fund with collaborative research within the future 10th EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (Horizon Europe) from 2028. This is to allow greater prioritisation and dovetailing of initiatives in the fields of research, innovation, industrial and technology policy.
One key response from the Federal Government is the High-Tech Agenda Germany, which was adopted on 30 July 2025. It is already aligned with the strategic priorities established by the EU, while at the same time enabling Germany to provide vital impetus with regard to important key technologies and strategic research fields. The High-Tech Agenda Germany specifically addresses strengths, potential and weaknesses in Germany’s technological performance and innovative strength, which significantly influence economic competitiveness, autonomy in security matters and societal resilience. At the same time, it aims to strengthen the research and innovation (R&I) system as a whole and support German businesses, which are currently facing cyclical and structural pressure.
With the High-Tech Agenda Germany, the Federal Government is specifically gearing its research and innovation policy to supporting innovation in six priority key technologies. Advancing them is regarded as an integral component of security and industrial policy, as well as policies designed to ensure Germany’s attractiveness for business. Germany is thus taking part in a broader European realignment that is shaped by the discussion surrounding technological sovereignty, support for deep tech, resilient value chains, and a focused, modern industrial and innovation policy.
The High-Tech Agenda aims to boost Germany’s economic strength and technological sovereignty through groundbreaking research and innovation. To this end, it seeks in particular to strengthen the country’s technological performance, accelerate transfer to commercialisation, and improve the innovation system’s structural conditions. The focus is on developing technological expertise and investing in the technologies of the future – especially the six priority key technologies. They are: artificial intelligence (AI), quantum technologies, microelectronics, biotechnology, technologies for climate-neutral mobility, and energy research with a particular focus on fusion and climate-neutral energy generation.
In its 2026 report, the Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation (EFI) likewise underlines the growing geopolitical dimension of technology policy and commends the Federal Government for sending a strong, early signal in terms of innovation policy with the High-Tech Agenda Germany. In addition, the EFI endorses the clear focus on selected key technologies, while at the same time pointing out that technological developments are often cross-sectoral and cannot always be categorised unequivocally as falling within a single technological field. This underlines the importance of a flexible and adaptive approach to defining technology policy priorities, as is provided for by the High-Tech Agenda. The EFI also highlights that Germany has ground to make up by international standards in terms of vital key technologies, especially in relation to development and application, and emphasises in particular the country’s comparatively weak position in the fields of AI and microelectronics.
The Federal Government is therefore pursuing a comprehensive roadmap process for the key technologies, as recommended by the EFI; this process includes stakeholders from the scientific community, business, (civil) society and the public administration. The first version of the roadmaps was published in May 2026. As part of this process, we are, firstly, working in partnership with stakeholders to formulate specific, verifiable technological and competition-related milestones for the implementation of the High-Tech Agenda in relation to the individual key technologies. Secondly, the partners can establish powerful technology alliances in order to join forces and bring together interests with the aim of leveraging synergies. In addition, the establishment of 360-degree monitoring with impact-oriented indicators is an integral part of the roadmap process.
Flanking the support for key technologies, the High-Tech Agenda sets out nine strategic levers as crucial starting points for strengthening, modernising and safeguarding Germany’s R&I system – in line with the recommendations contained in the 2026 EFI report. Among other things, these levers aim to improve the conditions and structures in knowledge and technology transfer, strengthen technological expertise and capacities, expand financing instruments, intensify European and international cooperation, expand science communication and participation, and encourage synergies in civil-military cooperation. In conjunction with the key technologies, the levers are intended to make the German R&I system substantially more innovation-friendly, and to accelerate direct transfer to the private sector, the public administration and society.
With the High-Tech Agenda, the Federal Government is specifically looking at alliances with private sector involvement and is seeking to significantly boost private investment in Germany’s position as a centre for technological innovation. To this end, the Federal Government is interlinking policy areas across ministerial lines and striving to synchronise its activities with those of the Länder (the German states) and the European Union. The High-Tech Agenda’s strategic focus on European and international cooperation is also highlighted by the EFI as an important element of a coherent research and innovation policy.
More detailed information can be found in Chapter 1 of the Federal Report (in German).