Project

In earlier studies, the Expert Commission on Research and Innovation (EFI) has documented that Europe and Germany lag behind the world’s leaders with regard to several key technologies and that this lag is particularly pronounced with regard to digital key technologies. In 2024, another study deepened the analysis with a focus on artificial intelligence (AI). It highlights that Germany and the EU do not count among the global leaders in AI – perhaps the most important and dynamic area within key technologies – and are at risk of falling further behind. In addition to significant economic and societal potential, AI is associated with numerous uncertainties, such as ethical aspects of its use, impacts on jobs and particularly changes in job profiles, as well as its effects concerning disparities. From this, Europe and Germany face a number of issues regarding:

• The identification of ways to reverse this lag and eliminate existing barriers and hurdles.
• The identification of ways to improve the framework conditions for the development and application of AI.
• The identification of ways to improve existing or create new institutions and instruments for research and innovation funding, transfer promotion, and diffusion promotion.
• The identification of ways to improve the governance of research and innovation policy relevant to AI, both at the European level and at the level of member states.
• The identification of ways to improve opportunities for expanding a European industrial policy and its integration with research and innovation policy as a prerequisite for technological leadership in the field of AI.