Berlin According to its own estimates, the German economy is making little progress in its digitization. This is the result of a current survey by the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), which is available to the Handelsblatt.
For the evaluation in November 2021, the DIHK surveyed over 4,200 companies from industry, trade, hospitality and finance, among others. The DIHK sums up the results as follows: “The big push towards digitization is still missing”.
And this despite the fact that many of the companies surveyed state that they have intensified their digitization efforts in the wake of the corona pandemic. In particular, future technologies such as cloud applications and artificial intelligence (AI) are on the rise. A quarter of the companies want to use AI-based applications in the next three years.
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According to the DIHK, the fact that the German economy is only making very sluggish progress despite increased efforts in digitization is due to the high complexity of the project and the lack of money and skilled workers, as well as the poor framework conditions on the part of politics. “A particularly large deficit is evident in the area of digital infrastructure,” says the study.
Hardly any fast internet in the country
Almost a third of companies complain about insufficient internet at their premises. Almost 17 percent of those surveyed also complained about ambiguities regarding regulatory requirements.
>> Read more: Shortage of skilled workers in IT professions greater than ever
Hotels and restaurants in particular, which are often located in rural areas, feel inadequately supplied. 30 percent did not have sufficiently fast Internet connections, and 12 percent even stated in the survey that there was no fast Internet at their company location.
Iris Pfeiffer also confirms this. She is the managing director of the Research Institute for Business Education (f-bb) and works closely with companies from various sectors – among other things, to set up regional “centres of the future” for digital further training in companies.
These “centres of the future” are funded by the Federal Ministry of Labour, among others. The f-bb is already active with its future centers in Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt, two more for Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg as well as Berlin have just started.
The political framework conditions are a “huge issue” for companies when it comes to digitization, says Pfeiffer. Above all, politicians must push ahead with broadband expansion more quickly in order not to slow down digitization efforts, she says. From their point of view, this has “top priority”. Rural regions in particular often do not have the appropriate networks to enable adequate Internet access.
However, the challenges of digitization vary greatly from industry to industry, reports Pfeiffer. While smaller catering establishments are often concerned with digital billing or an app for the ordering system, the need for digitization in large companies, for example in the automotive industry, extends through all areas: from personnel management to purchasing to robotics in production. “It’s a whole different dimension,” she says.
Involve employees
However, it is always important that the company management involves the workforce in the process from the very beginning. “Otherwise, managers can accuse the employees of not following along, and vice versa, the employees argue that the managers are not planning what is needed,” reports Pfeiffer from practice.
In order to prevent this, those who ultimately operate the system should be included in the procurement process so that digitization does not bypass the employees.
According to the DIHK, not only the workforce but also the customers should be involved in the digitization process. For the companies, however, this is a major challenge: “26 percent encounter acceptance problems,” according to the DIHK.
More: The digital committee suddenly has something to say – and will be able to take the lead in advising laws in the future.