Areas of Expertise

As essential components of production, natural resources form the basis of our prosperity; yet, they are becoming increasingly scarce on a global scale. The industrialised nations are in the lead when it comes to consumption; they consume four times more per capita than less developed countries. Therefore, the German government passed the “German Resource Efficiency Programme” (ProgRess) in 2012. Its aim is to conserve resources for ecological and social, as well as economic purposes. With the follow-up programme, ProgRess II, the Federal Government has made further progress by focusing on the entire value chain.

The progressing digitalisation has an impact on vast areas of our lifes. The Federal Government adopted its principles on digital policy with its “Digital Agenda 2014–2017” and has defined digitalisation as a priority political and economic field of action in its “Digital Strategy 2025”. Moreover, the coalition agreement of the present government is focused on seizing the opportunities of the digital transformation though technical, scientific and social innovation in order to improve and maintain security and quality of life.

The EU Commission has mapped out European research funding for the coming years with the “Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation”. Horizon 2020 has a total budget of approximately 77 billion euro with which it contributes to the implementation of the “Europe 2020” strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth based on the following three programme lines: “Scientific Excellence”, “Industry Leadership” and “Societal Challenges”. We are closely involved in the implementation of Horizon 2020 at the national level.