Updating the regional innovation strategy of the German federal state Saarland

On behalf of the Saarland Ministry of Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digital and Energy (MWIDE), the Institute for Innovation and Technology (iit) supported the update of the Saarland Strategy for Research and Innovation (2024-2030). The basis for the strategy was laid - under the leadership of MWIDE - by around 100 Saarland experts from science, business, administration and the transfer sector in a methodically structured participation process. The central aim of the strategy is to shape structural change through research and innovation and to make the transformation process a success. This includes the further development of the key strategic areas for a future-oriented innovation policy for the Saarland economy. The three key areas central to Saarland - "Digitalization & Artificial Intelligence", "Sustainable Smart Production & New Mobility" and "Life Science & Material Science" - were updated and a large number of potential topics were identified and recommendations for action and measures were formulated. In an additional area "Innovation Management and Technology Transfer", cross-cutting issues relating to Saarland's innovation and transfer system were addressed.

The iit's task was to structure the results of the participation process and transfer them into an ERDF-compliant Regional Innovation Strategy for Intelligent Specialization (RIS3). As part of a broad-based, partially automated data analysis, the iit collected important key figures on the economy, research and innovation in Saarland and assigned them to the three key areas in Saarland. Central hypotheses for the innovation development of the location were validated in dialog interviews with various Saarland innovation stakeholders and association representatives.

After examination, the European Commission confirmed that the Saarland Research and Innovation Strategy (2024-2030) meets the thematically fundamental prerequisite "1.1. Good governance of the national or regional strategy for smart specialization" for the ERDF programme 2021-2027 Saarland. Until 2030, the iit will accompany the implementation of the innovation strategy as part of annual monitoring and regular evaluation.