Monitoring Report Digital Germany - An International Comparison of the ICT Industry in 2010
by TNS Business Intelligence
An international comparison of Germany with the world's top ICT nations This report uses a global benchmark to compare the performance of the German ICT industry with that of 14 other top ICT nations. The latest figures on developments for 24 key indicators areas were used for this purpose. Leading foreign experts were also asked for their assessments of a direct comparison between Germany and France, as well as between Germany and the aspiring ICT nation India. A workshop held in May 2010 was used to identify key points for the German ICT strategy “Digital Germany 2015”. This strategy has determined that the ICT industry and national economic policy needs to be more proactive if Germany is to take up a permanent pole position in global ICT developments.
By 2010 Germany had recovered more quickly and effectively from the economic and financial crisis than other countries,which should have a positive impact on the positioning of the German ICT industry in 2011. 1.
The performance of the German ICT industry is mediocre compared to that of the world's top 14 ICT nations. The information and communication economy (ICT) accounts for five percent of Gross Value Added (GVA) of the European economy. However, this indicator shows the importance of the information and communication industry as it is the driving force for innovation and revenue generator in many application industries. The aim of the ICT strategy “Digital Germany 2015” is to make Germany a global market leader with cutting-edge technologies in as many areas as possible. The “Monitoring Report – Digital Germany 2010”measures the progress made by the German ICT industry towards this objective.
ICT industry ranked seventh in the TNS benchmark Germany and the Netherlands have remained in joint seventh place in the ranking of the most important ICT nations, each with 59 index points. Unlike the previous year, Germany failed to place first or second in any of the key performance indicators. Its top ranking was third place,which it achieved in “Mobile Internet use in the population” and “Maturity of the telecommunications market”. By contrast, the Netherlands is global market leader in the “Computer penetration in households” and “SSL server penetration per 100,000 inhabitants”.
While the global recession in Germany has lead to an unusually high five percent fall in GDP, according to EITO, the turnover of the ICT industry (excluding consumer electronics) only fell by 3.7 percent (2009: 127.2 billion euro, 2008: 133.2 billion euro). By comparison, the mechanical engineering sector suffered a 22.5 percent drop in revenues. The fact that Germany was able to hold on to seventh place in the ranking in 2009 must be regarded as a success and as evidence of how well the German ICT industry withstood the economic crisis.
According to BITKOM, the turnover of the ICT industry will rise by 1.4 percent in 2010.
The French experts consulted within the framework of “Monitoring Report – Digital Germany 2010” confirmed these results by acknowledging that they did not consider the German ICT industry to hold a leading position in the world’s ICT markets. In the years ahead, the German ICT industry will also face increasing competition from East Asia.
To read the full report, download Monitoring Report - Digital Germany (pdf, 2.5 Mb)