Danger of digital depression in Western Europe

 Germany is an economic heart of Western Europe.

 

"Western Europe is falling further behind in digital future technologies. We are knowingly becoming more and more dependent. And we argue and argue and argue. That has consequences.

 

Lilium in insolvency proceedings, Intel plants in Magdeburg postponed, Wolfspeed factory in Saarland stopped. Bosch is laying off thousands of employees in the autonomous driving department and VW has to get software from the USA and China so that its cars can become competitive. Aleph Alpha is taking refuge in a niche, and China is overtaking us in terms of robot density. We are really not having a good run with future projects this year.

 

All international rankings are currently going downhill: France and South Korea are overtaking Germany in the Stanford AI rankings, and in the IMD rankings of digital competitiveness Germany is only in 23rd place. Particularly worrying: 54th place (out of 67 countries) in the use of digital technologies in companies, 59th place in people's digital skills and even only 64th place in adaptability and flexibility.

 

Now we don't want to send anyone into digital depression at the turn of the year. But the alarm signals are increasing that we have become dependent in too many relevant technology fields, although the political situation demands the exact opposite: America is pulling ahead in AI and autonomous mobility, China in electromobility and renewable energy. But it is not just the two digital superpowers that are better. India, Saudi Arabia and France show us how AI competence is built up, while Denmark and Switzerland are digitally competitive without any major investments.

 

The few beacons are enough to provide some consolation, but sugarcoating things no longer helps in this situation. Since the beginning of digitalization, the productivity of the German economy has lagged behind that of the USA. The gap is getting bigger every year. The bill has now come with a delay, but it is visible to everyone, especially in the automotive industry. If we - as in every economic crisis - save money on investments and research at the wrong end, the gap will grow rather than shrink.

 

While the world is investing full steam ahead in the next basic technology, artificial intelligence, we are arguing about the debt brake and gender. The course has long been set on the digital world markets. We must now decide whether we want to continue arguing or invest in the future. I am in favor of investments."

 

The economic heart of Western Europe is stopping.