Fraunhofer-Institut für System- und Innovationsforschung ISI

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  • Publication
    The interplay between innovation, standards and regulation in a globalising economy
    ( 2024)
    Blind, Knut orcid-logo
    ;
    Münch, Florian
    To examine the different roles of regulation and standards in the age of globalisation, we hypothesize and investigate the relation of regulation and national and international standards on the one hand with innovation input (R&D expenditure) and innovation output (patents) on the other hand. The analysis is based on data of 26 high-income countries between 1998 and 2018. There are two main results. Firstly, international standards outperform both de-regulation and national standardisation as they are positively associated with R&D expenditure and patenting. On the other hand, national standards - once believed a source of competitiveness - are negatively related to patents and hence seem to localize economies and slow-down innovation. Secondly, de-regulation does not correlate positively with R&D expenditure, but with increased patenting. We argue the former suggest businesses did not - as assumed - spend freed up resources on R&D, but instead strategically used patenting to replace lost regulation-based protection with patent fences. This casts doubts on the added social value of de-regulation induced innovation.
  • Publication
    The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Standardization
    ( 2024)
    Heß, Philipp
    ;
    Blind, Knut orcid-logo
    Standards played a central role in the quality infrastructure that supported the international reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic and were a cornerstone in managing new technology in times of crisis. They fostered the resilience of value chains, enabled the global production and distribution of medical equipment, and supported the reliable operation of laboratories. To provide new and updated standards, the standardization system needed to restructure highly complex processes that relied on contributions from stakeholders who, themselves, were affected by the crisis. In this article, we generate new and unique evidence on the impact of the pandemic on standardization by using the assessments of nearly 2400 standardizing organizations from a dedicated survey in combination with an 8-year-long panel. Our results show that firms' changes to their standard-setting activities are moderate, especially as digitalization effects compensate for shrinking budgets. An increase in the usage of standards was only noticeable for areas directly implicated by the pandemic, e.g., medical equipment. Standardizing firms appear to "sit out" the crisis while sinking costs for participation equip the system with resilience. However, the pandemic creates new challenges for standard-setting organizations due to disruptive effects on work in committees, where interpersonal exchange suffered, and introduced changes potentially cause creative destruction.
  • Publication
    Innovationen in der deutschen Wirtschaft. Indikatorenbericht zur Innovationserhebung 2023
    (ZEW, 2024)
    Rammer, Christian
    ;
    Doherr, Thorsten
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    Krieger, Bastian
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    Niggemann, Hiltrud
    ;
    Peters, Bettina
    ;
    Schubert, Torben orcid-logo
    ;
    Trunschke, Markus
    ;
    Burg, Julian von der
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    Eibelshäuser, Svenja
    Die Ausgaben der Wirtschaft für Innovationen sind im Jahr 2022 im Vergleich zum Vorjahr in Deutschland deutlich um 6,8 Prozent auf 190,7 Milliarden Euro angestiegen. Rückläufig sind allerdings andere zentrale Indikatoren für die Innovationskraft der Wirtschaft hier zu Lande – so zum Beispiel der Anteil der Unternehmen mit Innovationen, die so genannte Innovatorenquote. Das sind einige der zentralen Ergebnisse der aktuellen Innovationserhebung 2023, die das ZEW Mannheim im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) jedes Jahr durchführt. Bei der diesjährigen Erhebung hat das ZEW bei einem Thema besonders genau hingeschaut – bei den Sozialen Innovationen. Zentraler Befund ist hier: Im Zeitraum von 2020 bis 2022 hat jedes zweite Unternehmen Soziale Innovationen eingeführt – also Neuerungen zur tragfähigen und nachhaltigen Lösung gesellschaftlicher Herausforderungen.
  • Publication
    Assessing open strategic autonomy
    (Publications Office of the European Union, 2024)
    Kroll, Henning orcid-logo
    The objective of this report is to help increase the EU's open strategic autonomy (OSA) by providing data that help monitor and take steps to achieve OSA in the innovation and production domains. The report operationalises the concept and provides empirical insights into the current situation. It finds that the EU’s digital sector has obvious vulnerabilities that impair its OSA, most prominently in the areas of artificial intelligence and big data. Other areas of innovation also display some vulnerabilities, but which less obviously impair Europe's OSA, at least on the surface. In addition to pure economic dependencies, the changing geopolitical landscape has increased potential vulnerabilities stemming from international collaboration on innovation. Accordingly, increased attention should be paid to latent risks that might produce non-obvious or indirect innovation and production dependency relations in the future. In this respect, the role of the US is particularly critical, as US technologies and firms play a substantial role in innovation processes in Europe.
  • Publication
    The impact of the EU General data protection regulation on product innovation
    ( 2024)
    Blind, Knut orcid-logo
    ;
    Niebel, Crispin
    ;
    Rammer, Christian
    In May 2018, a new regulation, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), on data protection came in the European Union into force. It requires firms to update their data protection strategy and may complicate the use of data related to individuals, with potentially adverse effects on product innovation. This study provides evidence on the likely impacts of the GDPR on innovation. We employ a conditional difference-in-differences research design and estimate firm fixed-effects models based on data from the German innovation survey. We find that the GDPR led to a substantial shift from radical to incremental product innovation. Our finding indicates that the GDPR stimulated firms to re-organise their data management in a more profound way than they would have done in the absence of the regulation, opening up opportunities for improving existing products. The additional resources needed for complying with the GDPR limited their capacity for developing entirely new products.
  • Publication
    Monitoring des Asiatisch-Pazifischen Forschungsraums (APRA) - Länderbericht ASEAN mit Schwerpunkt Malaysia und Thailand
    (DLR, 2024)
    Kroll, Henning orcid-logo
    ;
    Schüller, Margot
    ;
    Schäfer, Christian
    ;
    Knüttgen, Naomi
    ;
    Neuländtner, Martina
    ;
    Scherngell, Thomas
    Das Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) beobachtet die dynamische Entwicklung von Wissenschaft, Forschung und Innovation im Asiatisch-Pazifischen Forschungsraum bereits seit mehreren Jahren, um das eigene Handeln adäquat auf neue Entwicklungen abstimmen zu können. 2024 wurde hierzu im Rahmen des Auftrags "Monitoring des Asiatisch-Pazifischen Forschungsraums (APRA)" ein ausführlicher Bericht zu ASEAN mit Schwerpunkt auf Malaysia und Thailand vorgelegt. Der Bericht befasst sich mit aktuellen wissenschaftlich-technologischen Entwicklungen den Ländern des Verbandes Südostasiatischer Nationen (Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN), einschließlich Brunei, Indonesien, Kambodscha, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, den Philippinen, Singapur, Thailand und Vietnam. Dabei werden insbesondere die Entwicklungen in Malaysia und Thailand detailliert betrachtet, da diese beiden Staaten ein großes Potenzial im Bereich Wissenschaft und Technologie aufweisen. Gleichzeitig werden jedoch auch die Fortschritte in allen anderen ASEAN-Ländern berücksichtigt, um den insgesamt dynamischen Kompetenzaufbau angemessen zu erfassen. Der Bericht zu ASEAN ist Teil einer Reihe, die sich mit den Entwicklungen in Forschung und Innovation im asiatisch-pazifischen Raum beschäftigt. Diese Region zählt neben Europa und Nordamerika zu den weltweit führenden Gebieten in Bezug auf Wissensproduktion und Innovation. Das Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) beobachtet unter dem Begriff "Asia-Pacific Research Area" (APRA) seit mehr als zehn Jahren die Entwicklung von Wissenschaft, Forschung und entsprechenden politischen Maßnahmen in diesen Ländern.
  • Publication
    Monitoring des Asiatisch-Pazifischen Forschungsraums (APRA) - Demographische Herausforderungen, Fachkräftebedarf und -migration im Asiatisch-Pazifischen Raum
    (DLR, 2024)
    Kroll, Henning orcid-logo
    ;
    Ferrante, Chiara
    ;
    Schüller, Margot
    ;
    Wieczorek, Ires
    ;
    Schäfer, Christian
    ;
    Knüttgen, Naomi
    Das Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) beobachtet die dynamische Entwicklung von Wissenschaft, Forschung und Innovation im Asiatisch-Pazifischen Forschungsraum bereits seit mehreren Jahren, um das eigene Handeln adäquat auf neue Entwicklungen abstimmen zu können. 2023 wurde hierzu im Rahmen des Auftrags "Monitoring des Asiatisch-Pazifischen Forschungsraums (APRA)" ein ausführlicher Bericht zu Demographischen Herausforderungen, Fachkräftebedarf und -migration im Asiatisch-Pazifischen Raum vorgelegt. Der Bericht bietet einen Überblick über die demographische Situation in China, Indien, Indonesien, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, den Philippinen, Thailand und Vietnam und analysiert die Trends der letzten Jahre sowie den Bedarf an Fachkräften und die Migration in der Region. Zudem werden die Daten im Zusammenhang mit aktuellen Entwicklungen in den einzelnen Ländern betrachtet. Dieser Bericht über die demographischen Herausforderungen im APRA ist Teil einer Reihe, die sich mit Forschung und Innovation im asiatisch-pazifischen Raum beschäftigt. Dabei nimmt der asiatisch-pazifische Raum eine führende Rolle in der weltweiten Wissensproduktion und Innovation ein, neben Europa und Nordamerika. Das Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) beobachtet seit über zehn Jahren die Entwicklung von Wissenschaft, Forschung und politischen Programmen in diesen Ländern unter dem Begriff "Asia-Pacific Research Area" (APRA). Das APRA-PM informiert seit 2018 über die tatsächlichen Entwicklungen innerhalb des APRA sowie über die politischen Ziele der einzelnen Länder. Das Monitoring wird im Auftrag des BMBF vom Fraunhofer-Institut für System- und Innovationsforschung ISI, dem Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien (GIGA) und dem Deutschen Akademischen Austauschdienst e.V. (DAAD) durchgeführt. Der DLR Projektträger unterstützt das BMBF bei diesem Projekt und ist Herausgeber der Reihe.
  • Publication
    Research and Innovation for Climate Neutrality by 2050
    (Publications Office of the European Union, 2024)
    Kisielewicz, Jerome
    ;
    Lonsdale, Jonathan
    ;
    Audino, Aurora
    ;
    Griffa, Arianna
    ;
    Rahim, Safa
    ;
    Dobre, Irina
    ;
    Malkun Cure, Sebastian
    ;
    Reinfandt, Niklas orcid-logo
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    Rao, Swaroop
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    Eichhammer, Wolfgang orcid-logo
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    Kimpeler, Simone orcid-logo
    ;
    Rörden, Jan orcid-logo
    ;
    Winkler, Malte
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    Honegger, Matthias
    ;
    Frizis, Iakov
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    Fazekas, Dóra
    ;
    Chatburn, Lucy
    Transforming Europe into a climate neutral economy and society by 2050 requires extraordinary efforts and the mobilisation of all sectors and economic actors, coupled with all the creative and brain power one can imagine. Each sector has to fundamentally rethink the way it operates to ensure it can be transformed towards this new net-zero paradigm, without jeopardising other environmental and societal objectives, both within the EU and globally. Given the scale of the transformation ahead, our ability to meet climate neutrality targets directly depends on our ability to innovate. In this context Research & Innovation programmes have a key role to play and it is crucial to ensure they are fit for purpose and well equipped to support the next wave of breakthrough innovations that will be required to achieve climate neutrality in the EU and globally by 2050. The objective of this study is to contribute to these strategic planning discussions by not only identifying high-risk and high-impact climate mitigation solutions, but most importantly look beyond individual solutions and consider how systemic interactions of climate change mitigation approaches can be integrated in the development of R&I agendas.
  • Publication
    European standardisation panel survey
    (Publications Office of the European Union, 2024)
    Blind, Knut orcid-logo
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    Kromer, Luzie
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    Neuhäusler, Peter orcid-logo
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    Rosenberg, Daniele
    ;
    Schubert, Torben orcid-logo
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    Baldan, Federica
    ;
    Tardos, Gergely
    The survey aims to identify the demand from industry and other stakeholders for standards as potential results of research and innovation (R & I) projects, to assess how EU R & I framework programmes could tackle them, and generally to raise awareness of the importance of standardisation as a knowledge valorisation channel. A Europe-wide survey revealed that policy initiatives, including regulations and customers’ requirements, particularly for industry, as well as organisations’ own and collaborative research, are the most relevant sources for standard development. Research input is most important for measurement and testing standards, followed by quality and environmental standards. The most significant advantage of research as input for standardisation is free access to scientific content and the ability to keep track of scientific progress. Recommendations are derived for industry, higher education institutes and public research organisations, standard development organisations, research funding organisations and other innovation policy areas.
  • Publication
    Innovation without growth? Exploring the (in)dependency of innovation on economic growth
    (Fraunhofer ISI, 2024)
    Heyen, Nils B. orcid-logo
    ;
    Zenker, Andrea orcid-logo
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    Aichinger, Heike orcid-logo
    ;
    Bratan, Tanja orcid-logo
    ;
    Kaufmann, Tanja
    ;
    Schnabl, Esther orcid-logo
    For more than a decade, advocates of both green growth and degrowth have argued about the role of economic growth for the transformation towards a societal system that ensures social well-being on a global scale without transgressing planetary boundaries. Given that such a transformation needs innovations of various kinds, this article explores the question of how dependent innovation is on economic growth and what effects a potential long-term economic stagnation or decline may have on innovation processes and systems. We approach the subject from different angles using mixed methods. First, we present a quantitative analysis of the linkages between economic growth and innovation activities on a sectoral level, based on data of the Community Innovation Survey (CIS) for Germany. Here, we find two sectors (petroleum and advertising industries) showing negative growth rates but still a higher than average share of innovative enterprises. Subsequently, we present an in-depth qualitative case study of the international pharmaceutical sector, which allows us to include a qualitative evaluation dimension. Here, we investigate different innovation approaches and find that both the amount of capital needed to finance research and development activities and the added health benefit of novel drugs vary greatly. We finally conclude that economic growth is not a necessary condition for all kinds of innovation and reflect on some implications for innovation policy. If in a post-growth era financial resources are limited, a shift to less capital-intensive types of innovation and a concentration on innovations which address prioritised societal or ecological needs seem feasible.