National Academy of Technologies of France and acatech wish to further strengthen bilateral cooperation
Paris, 20 April 2022
acatech President Jan Wörner and President of the National Academy of Technologies of France (NATF), Denis Ranque, agreed on 12 and 13 April 2022 in Paris to further strengthen cooperation between the academies. In this context, they reaffirm the partnership between the two national academies, whose course is defined in the cooperation agreement signed in Paris in May 2011. The academies wish to carry out joint projects and events in the future, and maintain a regular exchange of information with each other on topics of common interest, such as the promotion of young talent in the STEM subjects, the issue of sustainability, energy and resources, security as well as information and communication technology.
In his speech at the National Academy of Technologies of France, Jan Wörner underlined the value of international cooperation in innovation issues: cross-border thinking and international cooperation are the decisive keys to the future viability and competitiveness of Germany, France and Europe, as well as to solving global challenges such as climate change. acatech therefore maintains numerous strategic partnerships with its counterparts in other countries and scientific organisations around the globe. Back in May 2011, acatech and NATF set out their intention to work together in various areas in a cooperation agreement.
On 12 April, the Presidents of the two academies, Jan Wörner and Denis Ranque, Gérard Creuzet (Delegate for International Affairs at NATF), Claudie Haignere (Member of NATF and former French Minister for European Affairs), Patrick Maestro (Member of NATF and Secretary General of Euro-CASE), Yves Bamberger (Member of NATF) as well as Karen Wagner (Head of International at acatech) and Stephanie Dachsberger (Advisor to acatech President Jan Wörner) exchanged views on topics and initiatives of common interest. They expressed their solidarity with Ukraine and discussed the new challenges for the engineering sciences resulting from the attack for which the Putin government is responsible, such as the issues of energy and raw materials supply. Another topic of discussion was the sustainability in its dimensions (social, economic and environmental, as set out in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals).
NATF deepened the exchange on the following day during its monthly plenary session for its members and interested audience. In his 45-minute keynote speech, Jan Wörner presented acatech’s structure, working methods and main topics, such as energy, the future of work, sustainability and data spaces. The subsequent discussion revolved around questions of energy supply, for example with regard to the expansion of innovative and sustainable technologies as well as dependencies in energy supply. There was also a lively exchange of opinions on the promotion of young talent in the STEM subjects and ideas for engaging them in the work of the academy. The participants agreed that the topics of resilience and security will play a greater role in innovation policy in the future against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Denis Ranque, President of the National Academy of Technologies of France, emphasised in his closing remarks the importance of deepening cooperation between NATF and acatech. As the voice of the engineering sciences in Germany, acatech is an important partner for international scientific cooperation.
