Policy Implications and Future Challenges

The findings on the innovation capabilities and practices of non-R&D-performing and non-R&D-intensive companies have implications for German science and technology policy. The goal of this chapter is to outline those potential implications. The chapter begins with an assessment of the current role of non-R&D-intensive (“low-tech”) industries in German innovation and technology policymaking. Based on the shortcomings identified in this book, this chapter outlines how the frequently overlooked innovation potential of non-R&D-intensive industries and firms could increasingly attract the attention of policy makers to support more comprehensive policies that promote and strengthen innovation in German industries