Digital sovereignty

At the end of May, the German government spent two days in Meseberg, Brandenburg, for a closed meeting. The focus of the first day was the federal government's digital policy.

The report on which the meeting was based showed the progress made to date and identified the next steps. However, according to the BVDW's statement, concrete recommendations for action are for the most part still being developed:

Three years of the digital agenda have not yet cast a long shadow in the fourth year. Faster implementation is imperative if the growth and innovations of the digital economy in Germany are not to be jeopardized.

In the area of innovative digitization, the German government announced in particular the identification, monitoring and promotion of key digital skills, the expansion of activities to raise awareness, motivate and qualify SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) for digital transformation, and the expansion of support programs for the development of digital technologies.

The IT Summit Platform Industry 4.0 is to implement and drive forward the recommendations developed. From the perspective of the digital economy, the broad inclusion of these agenda topics in the IT summit process is gratifying.

This gives business the opportunity to contribute its expertise to the process of digital transformation. The figures for SMEs show that there is an urgent need for action here:

51 percent of SMEs still do not see digitization as part of their business models.

Matthias Wahl, President of the BVDW:

"Business and politics must work together to make digitization a success for small and medium-sized enterprises as well. The German government has taken the first cautious steps here.

If our medium-sized economy is to maintain its market position in the future, it must make a leap forward in digitization now. The concrete measures must be tackled today so that they don't take effect in five years' time - future viability is at stake."

The German government's planned measures aim to promote the key technologies and skills needed to maintain and build digital sovereignty.

From the BVDW's point of view, it was recognized that a powerful and secure network infrastructure, a legal framework that ensures data security and enables new business models, the standardization of Industry 4.0 applications, and changes in the area of education and training all play an essential role.

However, there is a lack of concrete implementation approaches in some essential areas such as digital working or IT security.

Matthias Wahl emphasizes: "For the digital economy, it is imperative that the German government provides targeted support for new digital technologies and business models, and that the necessary

framework conditions. Here, investments such as in the expansion of fiber-optic infrastructure are essential, even beyond 2018."