9th IT Summit promotes ICT use across all sectors
Germany’s Federal Government is continuing to promote the digitisation of the country’s key sectors. The rapid transformation of the economy, public administration and society requires the involvement ‘on equal footing’ of the ICT industry, ICT users and civil society, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) said in a statement at the 9th IT Summit, in Berlin on 19 November.
The 9th IT Summit attracted around 1,100 high-ranking attendees, including politicians, businesses, trade unions and researchers. The summit focussed on seven areas:
- Digital infrastructure;
- Digital economy and digital works;
- Innovative state;
- Connected life and work in society;
- Education, research, science, culture and the media;
- Safety, protection and trust for society and the economy;
- European and international dimension of the Digital Agenda.
One of the key topics at the IT Summit was ‘Industry 4.0’, a set of measures with a EUR 430 million budget introduced last year, to bridge the gap between the country’s IT engineers and their peers in construction, and the mechanical, electrical and automotive sectors. This year, the IT Summit showcased over a 100 examples of digitised industries. “Industry 4.0 has arrived in Germany”, BMWi concluded.
Sovereign
Germany ranks 6th in a top-10 of digital economies, according to a BMWi report released ahead of the conference. The total value created by Germany’s ICT sector in 2014 ranks it just ahead of mechanical engineering, and just behind the automotive sector. According to the BMWi numbers, the country’s ICT sector totals 92,000 companies, which employ more than 1 million people generating a turnover of EUR 221 billion in 2014.
At the summit, the government presented a Guideline on Digital Sovereignty, kicked off a campaign to increase awareness among medium-sized enterprises of the possibilities of digitisation, and published recommendations for the successful digitalisation of trade, crafts, and culture.
More information:
IT Gipfel website (in German)
IT Gipfel’s press announcement (in German)
Heise news item (in German)
Netzpolitiek news item (in German)
Frankfurter Allgemeine newsitem (in German)
Economist news item