Agency for jump innovation gets more freedom
The Leipzig-based Federal Agency for Leap Innovations (Sprind) is to be given more options in the search for inventions in future. To this end, the Bundestag approved the Sprind Freedom Act on Friday. The law provides for greater flexibility in funding instruments and the budgetary framework so that the agency can perform its tasks more efficiently and agilely. Currently, subsidiaries have to be founded for selected Sprind projects, which the federal government then supports with loans.
The law is an important step in the right direction, said the director of Sprind, Rafael Laguna, to the German Press Agency on Friday. "At last we can commission founders on a larger scale, at last we can invest in existing start-ups. This gives us the freedom to finance teams and technologies with leap innovation potential faster, more flexibly and in a more targeted manner." The agency defines a disruptive innovation as an invention that has an impact on a country's economy, creates new markets and companies and can disrupt existing industries. One example is the invention of the internet.
Overall, his agency would have liked to see "a little more courage on the part of the ministries and parliamentarians" with regard to the renunciation of ministerial supervision, said Laguna. Nevertheless, the law paves the way for less bureaucratic and therefore more efficient government action. This is urgently needed for the upcoming economic and social transformations.
The approval of the Sprind Freedom Act allows the agency to significantly expand its research in leap innovations, utilizing various funding instruments and strategies. This enhanced freedom in science and research will enable Sprind to identify and support innovative teams and technologies more effectively and promptly.
Source: www.dpa.com
