For decades, globalization has been shaping the world economy; today, however, the risks posed by the resulting dependencies are becoming increasingly clear. Major industrial nations such as the USA, China, Japan, Korea, and India strive for stronger positions in high-tech fields that often represent central pillars of European added value and prosperity.

Technologies enable innovations and are crucial to solving global challenges such as climate change, digitalization, or public health. Therefore, preserving technological sovereignty in key technology fields is one of the most important foundations for the future competitiveness and economic independence of Germany and Europe. It should also ensure resilience, prosperity, and workplaces in the future, without jeopardizing common European values such as freedom, the rule of law, and sustainability.

The European Commission and the German government have placed technological sovereignty at the center of their innovation policies. The main approach here is to link as many necessary and important competencies as possible along the entire innovation and value chain.

Read more: Impetus of the Federal Ministery of Education and Research (BMBF) on technological sovereignity (German only)

In line with its guiding principle “Theoria cum praxi”, the R&D spectrum of the Leibniz institutes covers a significant part of the value chain: from basic and applied research to prototypes and small series.  In addition, the Leibniz Institutes are highly interdisciplinary, which enables a holistic approach.

In this respect, the Leibniz Association complements the range of competencies of Germany's universities and other science organizations and thus assumes an important liaison function between various actors along the value chain.

The mission of the Leibniz Strategy Forum on technological sovereignty is to develop the contributions of Leibniz institutes to value chains in key technology fields together with partners from industry, science, and politics.

To identify strategically relevant technology fields, we follow the flagship initiatives formulated in the impulse paper of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research on technological sovereignty "Technologisch souverän die Zukunft gestalten" ("Shaping the Future with Technological Sovereignty"). In clusters of Leibniz institutes set up for this purpose, the essential segments of the corresponding value chain are linked together.

Decades of globalisation have led to a widespread loss of both crystal knowledge and actors with relevant expertise in academia and industry in Europe. Measures are therefore needed at both European and national level to restore the reliability of supply chains that have become fragile in the small but important field of crystal technology.

As a contribution to restoring strategic competitiveness in the EU, the TS Forum, together with the European Network on Crystal Growth (ENCG) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kristallzüchtung & Kristallwachstum (DGKK), has produced a status analysis of scientific and industrial activities in the field of crystalline materials for electronics and photonics in the form of an interactive map. This map provides information from the public domain and enables the search and identification of individual partners in the crystal growth industry that are relevant to a specific scientific and technological interest. The interactive tool enables the analysis of missing components and competences to restore strategic competitiveness and stable supply chains in the EU in an efficient way. ENCG, DGKK, IKZ and interested stakeholders will subsequently work on consulting national and EU authorities on necessary measures to close the gaps in the European Research Area (ERA) in the areas of research, development and supply of supply-critical crystals.

If you have any questions or would like your institution to be included in the map, please write to:

Contact

Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung (IKZ)
https://www.ikz-berlin.de
Email: ENCG.interactive.mapikz-berlin.de

• TTopic Science Diplomacy:
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  - auswaertiges-amt.de/blob/2423206/a2086c45807120c7b5842ba5055649eb/201203-science-diplomacy-strategiepapier-data.pdf
    (Science Diplomacy paper from the Federal Foreign Office on the expansion / defence of scientific freedoms)
  - static.daad.de/media/daad_de/pdfs_nicht_barrierefrei/der-daad/220705_daad_awp-papier_perspektiven.pdf
    (DAAD Perspectives: Foreign Science Policy for a Multipolar World)
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• Report 2022 of the Expert Commission on Research and Innovation (EFI) on Germany's research, innovation and technological performance
• Report 2022 of the Expert Commission on Research and Innovation (EFI) on Germany's research, innovation and technological performance (abridged version)