Norms, standards and technology transfer are three long-established forms of innovation from Germany that play a key role today in the country’s economic transformation process, where success is urgently needed, and thus in effective climate action.
To promote the commitment to innovation displayed by Germany’s SME sector in a targeted manner, both now and in future, three organisations have decided to join forces and pool their expertise. These are the German Federation of Industrial Research Associations (AiF), the German Institute for Standardization (DIN) and the German Commission for Electrical, Electronic and Information Technologies (DKE). “SME businesses make up 99.5% of the German private sector”, says Professor Michael Bruno Klein, CEO of AiF, explaining their transformational importance. A memorandum of understanding was signed at the end of November 2023 by Michael Bruno Klein, Jan-Frederik Kremer, CEO of AiF Forschung Technik und Kommunikation (FTK) GmbH, Christoph Winterhalter, chairman of the executive board at DIN and Sibylle Gabler, a member of the DIN executive board, Michael Teigeler, managing director of DKE, and Florian Spiteller, member of the DKE executive board. In concluding the memorandum, the signatories expressed their intention to work together more closely to sustainably increase the German economy’s ability to innovate.
“Standards support global trade and help to ensure the safety, interoperability and functionality of products and systems”, Teigeler says. About 10,000 technical experts develop norms and standards at DKE, supported by the Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies (VDE), a scientific and technical association. Among other things, these standards ensure the safety of electrotechnical, electronic and IT products and systems. As a national standardisation organisation and nationwide centre of excellence for the standardisation of electrical technology, DKE represents the German economy’s interests in European and worldwide standardisation organisations.
DIN – an independent body founded in 1917 – plays a significant role today, helping to shape digital and green transformation. Around 36,500 experts from the fields of business and research, consumers and the public sector contribute their expertise to the standardisation process, which DIN runs as a project under its auspices as a private organisation. “Norms and standards promote technology transfer, making them an important catalyst for innovation worldwide. In that regard, they support the national and international competitiveness of the German economy”, explains Sibylle Gabler. AiF CEO Klein adds: “At the same time, we are engaged in a joint effort to foster application-driven research in German SMEs.”
AiF is the industry-supported network for advancing research, transfer and innovation in SMEs. Its aim is to initiate research for SME businesses and to help young researchers and specialists in innovative fields gain the necessary skills and qualifications. As an umbrella organisation of around 100 non-profit research associations, with 50,000 businesses and 1,200 research institutions involved, AiF has a unique infrastructure. This makes it possible to connect business with research efficiently and across industries. “As the voice of SMEs conducting research in Germany, we are constantly expanding our – as we call it – network of networks with a view to optimising the AiF innovation ecosystem”, Kremer says.
The three organisations intend to work together particularly closely on developments that will shape the future, including the circular economy, hydrogen technologies, artificial intelligence/IoT, resource efficiency and transformation of the energy system, as well as strategic foresight and other areas of innovation. Their plan is to make it possible for businesses and society to make use of the research results via norms, standards and the processes previously established in the research associations.
Under the memorandum of understanding, the parties involved aim to emphasise in more concrete terms the value added by norms and standards as a tool for the practical application of research results. In addition, a training programme will be developed for transfer managers and multipliers in the SME sector. Easily accessible information and networking formats are already being delivered via the AiF InnovatorsNet, such as the DIN Spotlight series of events. The AiF InnovatorsNet is a community run by innovators for innovators, bringing established businesses, start-ups, research centres, institutions and individuals together, both digitally and in person. The platform helps its members to build networks, develop their business models and foster growth and innovation. In collaboration with DIN and DKE, norms and standards will be fully integrated in the platform by way of a dedicated AiF InnovatorsNet co-community.
The three partners involved are also committed to strengthening the Industrial Community Research (IGF) funding programme run by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and are in favour of incorporating norms and standards into projects run by IGF and the Central Innovation Programme for SMEs. In addition, they are working to ensure SME interests are represented more effectively in the context of Germany’s national hydrogen standardisation roadmap. “When it comes to the potential for standards covering issues and activities that will shape the future, we want SMEs involved from an early stage”, Klein states.
