Framework Agreement Innovation

Innovation is a key to future viability and competitiveness – this applies not only to companies, but to an even greater extent to the Deutsche Bundesbank. In view of the speed of technological developments and the increasing need for efficient and agile processes, establishing effective innovation management is essential. Furthermore, digitalization presents public institutions with major challenges, but at the same time offers enormous opportunities for modernization and efficiency improvement. This framework agreement aims to ensure long-term, structured, and needs-based support, which guarantees continuous innovation capability. This enables: - Better acceptance and successful introduction of innovations in the organization. - Testing and targeted use of new technologies through prototyping and Proof of Concepts (PoC). - Effective networking and knowledge exchange within the organization and with external partners. - Sustainable anchoring of innovation culture through change management and communication. The efforts made so far – including major infrastructure projects such as the development of an integrated data and analysis platform (IDA) or the "Journey to Cloud" (J2C) program, with which the Bundesbank is creating the technical infrastructure and organizational framework for the provision and use of cloud services – must be continued and intensified in the core services of the Deutsche Bundesbank. For the digitalization process, the Bank has adopted four principles that guide the transformation and form the basis for this framework agreement: i. Digital-by-default, ii. User-centricity, iii. Co-creation, iv. Once-only. Strengthened by anchoring innovation management in organizational units (e.g., the Team of Teams InnoWerk in the Central Department Strategy & Innovation, the Department B 9 Innovation and Evaluation in the Central Department Banking Supervision) and the formation of special teams such as a team to support the use of artificial intelligence (e.g., the Service & Community Center for Artificial Intelligence – SCAI) or the Competence Center Processes (KPro), digitalization and innovation permeate the organization. The expansion of the national and international innovation ecosystem can be seen as a further pillar. The Eurosystem projects around the digital euro and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) initiative to establish a global innovation network (Network of BIS Innovation Hubs) are particularly noteworthy. The Hub for the Eurosystem is operated by the Bundesbank in close partnership and shared responsibility with the Banque de France in Frankfurt and Paris. Furthermore, a broad understanding of innovation has prevailed within the Deutsche Bundesbank: This is not only technology-oriented but also relates to modern ways of working and the changing culture in which challenges are addressed and solutions are developed. The scope of innovation ranges from smaller continuous improvements, including process improvements, through the exploration of future technologies and their impact on central banking, to the implementation of large infrastructure applications or the holistic redesign of service offerings. In addition to the previous engagement with technology-driven trends (within the framework of the Bundesbank Trend Radar), market and environmental developments will be increasingly monitored in the future using strategic foresight methods (including scenario analyses). The goal is to fully promote innovation and digitalization tailored to the needs of a central bank, thereby also implementing the overall bank strategy and transformation.