Future Council of the Federal Chancellor

What is the Future Council?

The Future Council initiated by Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz looks at new developments, findings and trends in the process of innovation and draws up proposals to enhance resilience and technological sovereignty in key technologies and digitalisation. It aims to maximise the potential that research and enterprise hold for Germany and for completing the digital transformation. It also addresses issues of public acceptance and ethical aspects.

With this in mind, the Future Council aims to initiate specific projects to bring about an appreciable increase in the innovative strength of Germany as a place to do business and in order to safeguard the technological sovereignty of citizens, companies and the state.

Members of the Future Council representing the government are: Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck, Federal Minister and Head of the Federal Chancellery Wolfgang Schmidt as well as Federal Minister of Education and Research Bettina Stark-Watzinger. They, together with representatives of industriy, science and society make up the Future Council.

The Future Council is organised by a committee office within acatech. This office prepares a dossier on each topic on the agenda, creating a common knowledge base and springboard for advising the federal government.

Topics dealt with by the Future Council

A strong capacity for innovation is required for Germany to be competitive on the international stage – and thus to safeguard prosperity, value added and employment. In addition to this main objective, however, in these uncertain times innovation policy must also develop more approaches for enhancing sovereignty and resilience in Germany.

Incorporating the unique acatech network and the expertise of further organisations, new developments and findings in research, science and technology are monitored and analysed. In the Future Council’s individual meetings, which take place in the Federal Chancellery, important issues relating to the future of innovation policy are discussed among a small group. These may be specialised technological issues as well as political, economic and societal circumstances. There is flexibility regarding the setting of the agenda from meeting to meeting, so as to react quickly to the dynamics of the international innovation system.

Future Council Steering Committee

The Steering Committee appointed by the Federal Chancellor is a group of prominent representatives of science, business and society, who take part in the meetings that take place in the Federal Chancellery. Henning Kagermann, Chairman of the acatech Board of Trustees, chairs the Steering Committee.

Members of the federal government

Members of the Steering Committee

© from left to right Thomas Koehler & Thomas Imo, Dominik Butzmann, Hans-Joachim Rickel, Thomas Köhler, Thomas Weber, Astrid Eckert Photography, Robert Bosch GmbH, Anna Logue, ZEISS Gruppe, DGB/Benno Kraehahn, Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, Volocopter, acatech/D. Ausserhofer, BASF SE, Bert Bostelmann, Bettina Schöne-Seifert, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Biontech, Munich RE