BDI initiative "Innovation Strategies and Knowledge Management" develops scenarios and strategies for the future of production and the knowledge society

“We need to be more clear about which products, processes and organi­sational structures will keep us in the market in future, what technological advances we must reckon with, and in which technologies we ourselves can become the drivers in the worldwide markets.” These were the words of  BDI President Jürgen R. Thumann on the occasion of the presentation of the BDI initiative “Innovation Strategies and Knowledge Management” in Hanover. The initiative will be chaired by Professor Utz Claassen, Chairman of the Board of the EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG, who is contributing to the initiative his thorough knowledge and innovative power as the "Knowledge Manager of the Year 2002” and as a “Partner for Innovation” of the Federal Government.

“With their commitment to the initiative, the BDI and the companies invited to participate wish to give a definite profile to the challenges facing  Germany as a location for innovation,” Prof. Claassen declared at the presentation of the BDI initiative at the Hanover fair. “The meshing of science and business must help identify and sustain future-oriented technology clusters. Practised knowledge management is a further decisive component in ensuring our affluence differential, and with it our future economic development, on the basis of competence,” Claassen continued.

BDI Chairman Thumann emphasised that the BDI intends to play an active part in the dialog with the Federal Government on innovation policies. “The initiative will show our potentials and future perspectives for net profit, and develop roadmaps for the future from them,” said Thumann. This means that the BDI assumes the responsibility for ensuring  sustainable technological development and net profit in Germany, and for helping to shape the process for discussion on innovation and technology policies. The EnBW Board Chairman, Prof. Claassen, said, “The Federal German Government has acknowledged the 3% target of Barcelona. We must now work together, not only to reach this goal, but also to invest intelligently in future-capable innovations and jobs.”