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High-Tech Spaces

High-Tech Spaces marks the launch of a key cross-technological initiative under the High-Tech Agenda Germany (HTAD), sending a forward-looking signal regarding innovation policy for Germany as a technology hub. The aim is to link the key technologies and research fields of the HTAD, thereby systematically strengthening the international competitiveness of high-performing innovation ecosystems.

Regional public-private partnerships for progress

High-Tech spaces are the innovation hubs of the future. They are created through close collaboration between the public sector, science and industry as public-private partnerships. High-Tech spaces deliver high-profile flagship projects in internationally competitive locations and drive technological innovation in a targeted manner. At the same time, they set standards for innovation-friendly conditions, act as pioneers within the innovation system and exert a positive influence beyond their own location.

Opportunities for Germany

  • High-Tech Spaces enable the targeted development of particularly high-performing innovation hubs in Germany and strengthen their international competitiveness.
  • By supporting large-scale flagship projects within regional innovation ecosystems, the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) accelerates the transfer of research into practical application and mobilises additional private investment capital.
  • As regional public-private partnerships, High-Tech Spaces create robust cooperation structures and strengthen regional value creation.
  • High-Tech Spaces also provide a framework for further developing innovation-friendly conditions, testing new regulatory processes in a practical setting and systematically reducing structural barriers.
  • As strategic and learning innovation spaces, they contribute to the further development of the innovation system and enhance its overall performance.

High-Tech spaces are true innovation hubs of the future

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  • Networked innovation ecosystems bringing together business, science and politics
  • Visible flagships with international appeal
  • Drivers of technology transfer into marketable applications
  • Real-world laboratories for future technologies, new business models and regulatory approaches
  • Lever for investment through the targeted mobilisation of public and private funds
  • Engine of regional value creation and the strengthening of national innovation capacity

The BMFTR is providing at least 115 million euros for this purpose over a five-year period; a further funding phase is planned for the future. The funding aims to mobilise significant private investment and establish sustainable, long-term partnerships within the innovation system. This requires a substantial financial and political commitment from the federal states and local authorities, as well as from the private sector stakeholders involved.

High-Tech Spaces as ‘regional public-private partnerships’

High-Tech Spaces define regional public-private partnerships as a binding, strategically oriented collaboration between regionally based stakeholders aimed at jointly developing high-performing innovation hubs:

  • Common objectives: Public and private partners align their contributions with a coordinated regional innovation and development strategy.
  • Binding shared responsibility: Public and private partners each assume substantial financial and substantive responsibility for implementation.
  • Coordinated implementation: The partners jointly plan, prioritise and manage flagship projects and accompanying measures.
  • Leverage effect: Public funds are designed to mobilise significant additional private investment.
  • Structural development: The partnership aims to bring about a sustainable improvement in the framework conditions and innovation structures at the respective location.
  • Long-term perspective: The collaboration is designed to be long-term and has a lasting impact on the regional innovation ecosystem.

No specific legal form is prescribed for the structure of the public-private partnership within the High-Tech Spaces initiative. The specific organisational and legal structure will be determined on a location-by-location basis and will depend on the respective circumstances, the constellation of stakeholders and the implementation requirements on the ground. What is crucial is the binding cooperation between the partners involved in order to achieve the defined strategic objectives.

 

Applicants must demonstrate that their initiative is structured around a clear development pathway and focuses on the implementation of large-scale flagship projects. Funding is provided for flagship projects that raise the region’s profile, strategic infrastructure, as well as demonstrators and real-world laboratories for testing and scaling up new technologies and business models. Alongside this, projects aimed at removing barriers to innovation, as well as regional support measures designed to strengthen the innovation ecosystem in a targeted manner, are being implemented.