A review of the year with Claudia Eckert and Thomas Weber

Thank you for joining us in looking back on 2024 – a busy year for the Academy, and a year marked by political volatility and economic stagnation. The key to sovereignty, stability and prosperity lies in shaping change and, first and foremost, in achieving sustainable growth through innovation. The Academy is helping to make this happen through its STUDY and IMPULSE publications, through its policy recommendations and by networking the relevant stakeholders and promoting innovative ecosystems. We’re delighted to share this overview of our programmes, projects and outputs with you. You can find out more about them in the relevant chapters of our online Annual Report.

In our “Energy and Resources” programme, the science academies’ joint initiative ESYS (Energy Systems of the Future) provides science-based advice on all sectors of the energy industry. ESYS addressed four key themes in 2024: (1) ESYS experts investigated options for carbon management, i.e. the capture, storage and utilisation of unavoidable emissions. (2) A widely acclaimed ESYS Discussion Paper considered the future role of base-load power plants in tomorrow’s energy systems. (3) The topic of nuclear fusion was examined from two different angles. ESYS concisely summarised the technology’s basic principles and future prospects, while an acatech IMPULSE outlined options for building a nuclear fusion innovation ecosystem in Germany. (4) Finally, a detailed STUDY looked at the cutting-edge topic of geothermal energy and its considerable potential as an energy source in urban settings. Urban areas are also the focus of a completely different area of acatech’s work – our new Building and Living initiative is developing engineering solutions to create affordable housing and cities that are fit for the future.

The transformation of our energy supply is closely linked to the transformation of mobility and logistics. Carried out for acatech by the Allensbach Institute, the annual Mobility Monitor is a representative survey that investigates public attitudes towards developments and technological alternatives in the mobility system. Meanwhile, our ReMIX project is exploring the responsible creation of data-based mobility innovations. The space sector is the first topic to be addressed by the Innovationsplattform Bayern, also established in 2024. We are currently investigating ways to stimulate the development of new innovations at the interfaces between the space sector and terrestrial industries.

The Digital Transformation was a major focus of our work at acatech. This innovative enabling technology facilitates progress in many different areas. Our AI platform Plattform Lernende Systeme fosters dialogue and develops policy options in relation to artificial intelligence. 2024 was an election year, and one of the topics that the platform investigated was the influence of AI on democratic societies. Coordinated by acatech, the Research Council Industrie 4.0 developed a long-term Engineering Roadmap that sets out themes and timeframes for preparing systems engineering for the changing requirements of networked, automated and autonomous systems. In addition, the new “Industrie 4.0 Forschung in Kürze” series provides concise overviews of Industrie 4.0 implementations, the deployment of new technologies and the impacts on organisations and their employees. The Open-source Design Tools for Sovereign Chip Development (QDISC) project addressed the question of whether and to what extent open-source chip design software can provide new opportunities for strengthening technological sovereignty. Our publications on the digital transformation also included a paper describing successful Advanced Systems Engineering case studies and an analysis of the AI sector in Baden-Württemberg.

The circular economy is one example of how technology is driving the transformation of the business location. The transformation of value chains into circular systems enables the systemic reduction of resource consumption, emissions, costs and critical dependencies. Key to making this possible is the use of intelligent technologies. Accordingly, in 2024 we actively engaged in the dialogue concerning a National Circular Economy Strategy. Together with our consortium partners, we developed a digital battery passport concept that provides the basis for a circular battery ecosystem. The battery passport provides essential information about a battery’s condition, design and usage. Our concept can thus also serve as a blueprint for digital product passports in general. These passports are the digital enablers of an efficient circular economy, and digital enablers like this were the focus of a systematic acatech STUDY. Work and work organisation are also undergoing a transformation, and acatech’s HR Working Group has been helping to address these changes for many years. In 2024, it focused on the impact of AI in the workplace.

The framework for innovation is key to our country’s future success, and this was the key theme addressed at the meetings of the Future Council of the Federal Chancellor. In 2024, acatech once again coordinated and provided documentation for the Council’s meetings. The studies in our Germany’s Innovation System series highlight the weaknesses in our national innovation system and the areas where action is required. The 2024 study focused on ways of making public administration processes more efficient and agile. Educating the public about technology is also key to innovation, and the foundations for this are laid in our schools. Our STEM Proficiency Study revealed that school students are underachieving to an alarming degree, especially in mathematics.

Some of our initiatives have a stronger focus on implementation, promoting the transfer of research and development into applications in the private and public sectors. This is an area where the German innovation system is notoriously weak. Accordingly, the priorities of our MISSION KI project include the establishment of data spaces, since availability of and access to data are a key requirement for adding value through AI systems. In October 2024, acatech introduced an organisational change to support initiatives focusing on the transfer of research into practice, with the establishment of the acatech Stiftung, which operates as a separate legal entity. This change draws a clear line between the Academy’s science-based work – which focuses on providing independent advice to policymakers and the public – and its transfer projects.

Technology impacts society – and conversely, society influences the creation, application and development of technology. In the chapter on Dialogue with the Public, we report on acatech’s findings and activities in this area. The TechnikRadar representative population surveys investigate what people in Germany think about technology. In 2024, we carried out a comparison of past surveys that uncovered surprising differences between different age groups. Our public dialogue events allow us to address the attitudes identified in surveys like this. Our regular acatech am Dienstag (acatech on Tuesday) events are one opportunity to do this, while we are also constantly developing new dialogue formats with our partners. In 2024, for example, we launched the successful “TechTalk 28/4” format, developed in partnership with the Münchner Volkshochschule and the Münchner Merkur, tz media group.

acatech represents the technological sciences on the global stage, where it works to strengthen international cooperation. Meanwhile, our Brussels office acts as our point of contact at EU level, where acatech helps to provide science-based advice on technology to the European Commission. We are particularly active in the European academies’ association Euro-CASE and the global umbrella organisation CAETS. Next year, it will be our turn to assume the presidency of CAETS, and we will be welcoming our partner academies from around the world to the CAETS Annual Meetings in Munich. We also continue to strengthen international cooperation through bilateral partnerships with academies from across the globe.

As our work continued to advance on several fronts, 2024 also saw dynamic developments at acatech. 25 scientists were elected as Members of acatech in 2024, strengthening the science and engineering expertise that underpins our advice to policymakers and the general public. acatech’s Senate – which represents our corporate members – was also very active in the Academy’s topic networks and working groups, as well as at its annual meeting hosted by IBM and in the Bavarian State Parliament in Munich. Our scientific Members, Senate members and the many technical experts who participate in our working groups, platforms and initiatives all engage in acatech on a voluntary basis. We would like to express our sincere thanks to all of them for their invaluable support and contributions.

We would also like to take this opportunity to say a special thank you to Jan Wörner, whose tremendous dedication and energy shaped and very successfully advanced our Academy’s development during his time as its scientific President. His term of office has now come to an end, and he was replaced as President by Claudia Eckert on 1 July 2025.

In the coming years, we will be redoubling our efforts to continue the successful work carried out during 2024. Faced with the enormous challenges of our time, we, and acatech as a whole, will do everything we can to provide science-based advice to policymakers and the general public and to help shape sovereign technological change. We believe Germany has many strengths, and that’s something that we as a nation can and should quite rightly be proud of. Now we must build on these strengths together so we can head into the future with justifiable optimism.

Your acatech Presidents