It is the task of the project commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalisation and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) to carry out a comprehensive survey of the innovation system in NRW. The report outlines central aspects of innovation performance and the framework conditions for innovation in seven sections, each referring to an important dimension of innovation, and four in-depth focus sections. The seven sections are concerned with i. human capital, education and training, ii. research and development, iii. patenting and new technologies, iv. knowledge and technology-intensive business start-ups, v. innovation activity in enterprises, vi. investments and infrastructures, and vii. productivity. The four in depth sections focus on i. an innovation strategy for NRW, ii. the status and mobility of human capital, iii. potentials of artificial intelligence and machine learning, and iv. economic dynamics generated by technology-oriented and knowledge-intensive start-ups.