Monitoring Report - Digital Germany
An International Comparison of the ICT Industry in 2011
By TNS Business Intelligence
WELCOME
Information and communication technologies (ICT) are a catalyst for growth and an innovation driver for the entire economy. ICT plays the decisive role in ensuring the future viability of Germany as a high-tech location.More than half of industrial production and more than 80 per cent of German exports rely on the use of state of- the-art ICT.We need to consistently leverage the opportunities offered through the extensive use of ICT across the entire value chain in all industries to promote Germany as the place to do business.
The findings of the “Monitoring Report–Digital Germany 2011” reveal that Germany has made progress in delivering world-class performance, managing to move up the ranking of the top 15 ICT locations worldwide from seventh to sixth place. While we are pleased with this achievement, we are of course committed to doing even better.
The Federal Government has already laid the foundations for the German ICT industry, ensuring that the information and communication industry is able to tap into future-oriented growth sectors.One key element in this approach has been the setting up and expansion of a high-performance ICT infrastructure along with the promotion of growth areas such as cloud computing, green IT and smart grids.
The Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) is initiating and supporting research and development projects to ensure the German ICT industry continues to perform to high standards, and to bolster Germany’s positionas a location for state-of-the-art and innovative technologies. Such initiatives include:
▶ The “ICT for Electromobility” technology programme which involves developing solutions for the charging, control and billing infrastructures for various vehicle models as well as the associated business models, services and possibly newly emerging norms and standards.
▶ The “IT2Green” technology programme that aims to cut energy requirements for ICT in data centres, communications networks as well as office and home applications.
▶ The “CloudComputing” action programme initiated by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology jointly with partners from industry and science in which our contribution involves the “TrustedCloud” technology programme to develop and test secure cloud computing solutions that meet statutory requirements.
These programmes form part of the Federal Government’s ICT strategy “Digital Germany 2015”,which sets out the keypoints for the ICT policy including objectives and initiatives. This strategy also forms the basis for the Sixth National IT Summit held in Munich on December 6, 2011. The Sixth National IT Summit will once again be a meeting point for key players from the scientific, industrial and political arenas. It will also provide a forum for discussing the findings of the MonitoringReport 2011 and agreeing on new initiatives to bolster Germany as an ICT location.
I look forward to discussing these issues with all the key players.
Hans-Joachim Otto
MdB, Parliamentary State Secretary for the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology