ABSTRACT
The experience of having to work in a home office led to massive learning effects in Germany. This chapter describes how Germany managed the crisis until the end of 2021. It looks at health issues, but also at economic policies. Most of the structural effects were taking place before COVID-19. But COVID-19 invigorated them, and these trends are becoming much more apparent. From the perspective of innovation research, a lot of the measures taken against COVID-19 such as social distancing involve social innovations, with changes in behavior becoming a core element. Prior to COVID-19, changing geopolitical landscape and intensifying conflicts such as between China and the US had pointed to the vulnerability of such value chains. The chapter presents conclusions for German policymakers if they want to reimage innovation systems based on the COVID-19 experience and the challenges ahead. It shows a strategic reevaluation of the patterns of critical supply chains in the reimaging of future innovation systems.
