Autor: Mike Weber

Innovation plays an increasingly important role for economic growth, regional output and a successful sector restructuring. The development of an innovation is regarded as a complex, interactive, technical and social process involving not only producers but also users, scientists and policy makers. Accordingly, the geographical environment with its industry structure, the scientific community, the political level, the labor supply and the interplay of regional actors have a significant impact on the innovation process in a region. The complexity of the innovation process is also reflected in the task of promoting innovation. Against this background, the states of Berlin and Brandenburg develop jointly new innovation strategies. To test these strategies and to position the Capital Region in the competition for innovative businesses and skilled workers, it must be compared with the other German Metropolitan Areas. This task was content of the project "Development of a Berlin Innovation Panel (BIP)", which was financially supported by the Technologiestiftung Berlin (TSB). The central objective of the project was to demonstrate the innovative importance of the Metropolitan Area Berlin-Brandenburg and its fields of competence. In addition, the innovation strategies of Berlin should be reviewed for their effectiveness. In the first step, a comparative assessment of innovation potential and performance of the Metropolitan Area Berlin-Brandenburg was made. Using a comprehensive set of indicators innovation input and output of the region were evaluated. The data stem from a number of relevant surveys at county level, e.g. the German Federal Statistical Office, the Mannheim Enterprise Panel and the European Patent Office. In a second step, appropriate methods for obtaining reliable data for future evaluation of innovation in Berlin and its fields of competence were identified and compared. In this context, possibilities of a meaningful national monitoring using available secondary statistics and relevant indicators for the fields of competence are discussed and reviewed with regard to their feasibility. In addition to an inventory of current innovation studies, interviews with representatives of the management of the six competence fields of Berlin and with other experts from the Senate Department for Economics, Technology and Women's Issues, the subsidy bank of the Federal Land of Berlin (IBB) and the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of Berlin (ICC Berlin) were conducted.