Why digitization is not making progress in Germany
Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2025 9:42 am
Standstill. Stagnation. Innovation backlog. These are the terms that come to mind when I read the " Monitoring Report Digital Economy 2018 ". According to it, the degree of digitization of the German economy is 54 out of 100 possible points. The same as the previous year. And one point less than in 2016.
Digitalization has stalled
Now you have to know: The "Monitoring Report" is not hungary whatsapp data a half-baked survey by some lobby group, but one of the most important and well-founded studies of its kind. Every year, the opinion researchers at Kantas / TNS and the Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim compile this overall overview of the digital status quo of the German economy. The commissioning party is the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. One can assume that the ministry would prefer to promise flourishing digitization landscapes rather than see this sobering result.
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What is the reason?
At least not due to a lack of insight. 46 percent of respondents said they consider digitization to be important or very important - around ten percent more than in 2017. 32 percent of respondents, eight percent more than in the previous year, believe that digitization has a very strong or extremely strong influence on their business success.
What is the real reason?
A first indication is provided by looking at individual sectors. The frontrunner is – of course – the ICT sector. In the finance and insurance sector, respondents expect a digitalisation push in the next few years. In contrast, vehicle construction, one of the most important sectors in Germany, has been lagging behind for years. Digital maturity currently stands at 40 points, and improvement is only slowly in sight. At least: If you look at industrial companies as a whole, there is steady progress. While the digital maturity of the sector was 39 points in 2016, it rose to 45 this year and is expected to rise further in the future.
The report also asks about the use of individual technologies. This year, the focus was on artificial intelligence. Although its use has more than doubled within a year, it still only accounts for five percent. "We have to be careful that people don't just go to China in the near future if they want to find out about the latest in artificial intelligence," said study co-author Tobias Weber of Kantar TNS, quoted in Handelsblatt . German companies are also having difficulty implementing other future topics such as big data, Industry 4.0 and blockchain.
Digitalization has stalled
Now you have to know: The "Monitoring Report" is not hungary whatsapp data a half-baked survey by some lobby group, but one of the most important and well-founded studies of its kind. Every year, the opinion researchers at Kantas / TNS and the Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim compile this overall overview of the digital status quo of the German economy. The commissioning party is the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. One can assume that the ministry would prefer to promise flourishing digitization landscapes rather than see this sobering result.
New call-to-action
What is the reason?
At least not due to a lack of insight. 46 percent of respondents said they consider digitization to be important or very important - around ten percent more than in 2017. 32 percent of respondents, eight percent more than in the previous year, believe that digitization has a very strong or extremely strong influence on their business success.
What is the real reason?
A first indication is provided by looking at individual sectors. The frontrunner is – of course – the ICT sector. In the finance and insurance sector, respondents expect a digitalisation push in the next few years. In contrast, vehicle construction, one of the most important sectors in Germany, has been lagging behind for years. Digital maturity currently stands at 40 points, and improvement is only slowly in sight. At least: If you look at industrial companies as a whole, there is steady progress. While the digital maturity of the sector was 39 points in 2016, it rose to 45 this year and is expected to rise further in the future.
The report also asks about the use of individual technologies. This year, the focus was on artificial intelligence. Although its use has more than doubled within a year, it still only accounts for five percent. "We have to be careful that people don't just go to China in the near future if they want to find out about the latest in artificial intelligence," said study co-author Tobias Weber of Kantar TNS, quoted in Handelsblatt . German companies are also having difficulty implementing other future topics such as big data, Industry 4.0 and blockchain.