Challenges

Setting the stage for knowledge-based societies

Achieving sustainable economic growth depends on knowledge, skills, and creativity. Innovation is the central driver for economic growth. Equally important, innovation generates new ways to solve technological, social, environmental, and health-related problems. Therefore, improving the innovative capacities of developing countries is a major challenge for social and economic progress and for people's improved quality of life. Promoting innovation requires social and economic framework conditions that unleash the creativity of citizens and businesses. However, providing suitable framework conditions at the macro-level is not sufficient for stimulating an economy’s path towards a knowledge-based society. Instead, targeted support for innovation processes and agents of knowledge creation and diffusion at the national or regional level is needed to achieve a vibrant innovation system.

GFA concept and services

© YakobchukOlena | stock.adobe.com | Fotolia GFA provides a wide range of services that aim at stimulating innovation in national or regional innovation systems. GFA offers services at the macro, meso, and micro levels of the economy and target framework conditions, intermediary organizations, and innovation processes in and between businesses and other agents of innovation.

Innovation systems

GFA experts advise ministries and government agencies on options to improve framework conditions for the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and other businesses through innovation. The mapping of national or regional innovation systems provides a basis for identifying gaps and elaborating roadmaps to build stronger innovation ecosystems.

Innovation support to organizations

GFA consultants are highly experienced in building the capacities of intermediary organizations that facilitate technology transfer and innovation in and between businesses. Establishing incubators and training technology brokers or improving the accessibility of finance for funding innovative ideas are cases in point of services offered by GFA.

Improving innovative capabilities of SMEs

GFA experts assist SMEs in upgrading the innovative capabilities through direct consulting in areas such as quality management, use of information and communication technologies (ICT), and through sector studies in various industries.

Contact

Dr. Mareike Meyn

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