Hightech Agenda: Merz calls for solidarity for technological sovereignty

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“We must not allow the USA and China to solely determine the technical future.” Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) adopted this quote from the French economist and Nobel laureate Philippe Aghion on Wednesday at the kick-off event for the federal government's Hightech Agenda in Berlin. He thereby underscored the necessity of strengthening the innovative power of Germany and Europe. The head of government emphasized: “We need nothing less and nothing more than technological sovereignty, where it is achievable.”

Germany must focus all its attention on how knowledge growth leads to technological innovation and sustainable growth, Merz highlighted. The Federal Republic is currently not as innovative and growth-strong in this field as it could be. There is considerable room for improvement in translating excellent research into products and services, and in particular, progress needs to be made in artificial intelligence (AI).

“With the Hightech Agenda, we are comprehensively realigning our economic and research policy towards value creation and technological sovereignty,” the Chancellor explained. The latter is essential for prosperity, security, and freedom considering tectonic power shifts and geopolitical system conflicts between authoritarian and liberal states.

Less data protection, more data utilization

As part of the strategy adopted in July, the government is focusing on the six key technologies: AI, quantum technologies, microelectronics, biotechnology, nuclear fusion, and climate-neutral energy generation, as well as technologies for climate-neutral mobility. By 2030, the state and economy are to spend at least 3.5 percent of their gross domestic product on research and development, with a focus on the aforementioned areas. Specifically, the government has set the goal of building the world's first fusion power plant in Germany. Over two billion euros alone are to flow into research for this purpose by 2029.

Merz considers solidarity between science and industry to be essential for the implementation of the agenda. Roadmaps with concrete milestones should be developed. A correction of the inertia in the country is necessary, he appealed. The bureaucratic jungle must be reduced.

He advocated for talking less about data protection and more about data utilization. It is also important to combat risk aversion in German stock exchanges and banks to keep the scaling phase of innovative companies more within the country. The venture capital market must be strengthened.

Europe's technological sovereignty is crucial, agreed Ekaterina Zaharieva, EU Commissioner for Startups and Research, with Merz. Germany must lead the way as the best place for innovation. She regretted that for the “Scaleup Europe” fund planned from 2026 for fast-growing companies, there is still “no anchor investor from Germany.”

Putting the PS on the road

Minister of Research and Technology Dorothee Bär (CSU) said that the country has “an insane amount” and can do it. It is now about “putting the PS on the road” to make Germany a high-tech republic. The constant complaining that “it's all too late” gets on her “nerves completely.” She countered this with the claim that “we can manage it.” There is also no other country that hides its champions. Furthermore, it is not forbidden in the Federal Republic to “make money with good ideas.”

Bär considers targeted support and a “decisive gardener's hand” to be sensible. She refers to the 1000-plus program for attracting talent and the establishment of an Institute of Health on the Charité campus. At the same time, she underscored the claim that at least one of the four to five planned European AI gigafactories should come to Germany. The country must stop being satisfied with mediocrity.

Germany must actively participate in AI and be at the forefront, as it is the most “innovative force” of humanity to date, demanded Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger (CDU). The most obvious approach is to use industrial data and build solutions for Europe and the world with “agentic AI.” However, the former manager still misses “the obsession to be able to achieve it” in a Germany that is too risk-averse.

Germany not left behind in AI

Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) advocated for quickly connecting the controversial research data center with findings from 70 million insured individuals to the European network in the form of the European Health Data Space EHDS. Data protection should not be a showstopper in this regard.

Even in Silicon Valley, they only use water, Michael Förtsch, CEO of Q.ANT, took away from there. The company he leads specializes in photonic processors. “We can manufacture these chips entirely in Germany,” he emphasized. “We produce at the Stuttgart site.”

In this sector, it is possible to keep international competition at bay for two to three years, Förtsch said. The speed of exploration and the quick burial of non-functional technologies are crucial.

Bernhard Montag, CEO of Siemens Healthineers, sees the agenda as an opportunity to sharpen the country's identity and move away from a defensive stance. The aspiration should be: “We now also really want to have the most modern healthcare system.”

The founding director of the Dortmund Lamarr Institute for Machine Learning, Katharina Morik, points to excellent cutting-edge research in national AI centers and over 30 highly rated German companies in this area: “I don't call that being left behind.” The translation service DeepL also claims an international leading position.

Edge AI, i.e., the automated processing of data directly on an end device, offers the greatest leverage in the short and medium term, said Deggendorf AI researcher Patrick Glauner. It reduces latency, costs, and dependence on US clouds and is interesting from a data protection perspective.

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