When it comes to translating basic research into industrial success, few nations can match Germany. Since the 1940s, the nation's vast industrial base has been fed with a constant stream of new ideas and expertise from science. And though German prosperity has faltered over the past decade because of the huge cost of unifying east and west as well as the global economic downturn, it still has an enviable record for turning ideas into profit. Much of the reason for that success is the Fraunhofer Society, a network of research institutes that exists solely to solve industrial problems and create sought-after technologies. The organisation has created everything from commercially important lasers for cutting out car parts to the popular music format MP3. But today the Fraunhofer institutes have competition. Universities are taking an ever larger role in technology transfer, and technology parks are springing up all over. These efforts are being complemented by the federal programmes for pumping money into start-up companies.
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