‘The analogue must be overcome’

For a long time, Germany had a reputation for having more dead spots than mobile phone coverage. He is now repeatedly asked by his international partners ‘how we managed to get into the fast lane like this’, said Dr Volker Wissing, Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport, in his keynote speech at the Smart Country Convention. ‘Three years ago, just one in six households could book a fibre optic connection, now it's one in three.’ Three quarters of households can now use gigabit bandwidth, while mobile coverage for 4G is 97 per cent of the country's area and 93 per cent for 5G.

Germany's race to catch up

The EU Commission is talking about a spectacular race to catch up, said Wissing - and made it clear that this is how things should continue. Of the 100 measures from the gigabit strategy from summer 2022, 87 per cent have either been fully implemented or are currently being implemented. The next step will be the Telecommunications Network Expansion Acceleration Act. Wissing conceded that its title does not sound like a bureaucracy tamer. In terms of content, however, the law will ensure clarity in the approval process - among other things because the expansion of telecommunications networks will take priority in the event of conflicts of interest in future. This will result in more applications and faster approvals.

‘We need to focus on expanding our digital infrastructure because it will be the basis for participation, growth and prosperity in the future,’ said Wissing - and went even further: ’Digitalisation is the great problem solver of our time.’ The goal for Germany must therefore be to introduce ‘digital only’ as quickly as possible and leave hybrid systems and offerings behind. Wherever there are digital solutions, the following must apply: ‘The analogue must be overcome.’ Because: ‘Anything that does not provide data does not contribute to becoming more efficient, faster, more precise, more cost-effective and better.’ However, this must be ‘the aspiration of our society’.

Künstliche Intelligenz „mutig nutzen“

Wichtig werde dabei auch, Künstliche Intelligenz „mutig zu nutzen“, und gerade da könne Deutschland optimistisch sein, sagte Wissing. Die OECD habe erst kürzlich bestätigt, „dass Deutschland sich zu einem weltweit führenden Land in der KI-Forschung entwickeln konnte“. Gerade in den Behörden könne Künstliche Intelligenz helfen: Zeitaufwändige Routineprüfungen könne KI erledigen, während die Mitarbeitenden sich auf die schwierigeren Aufgaben konzentrieren könnten. Das mache die Arbeitsplätze attraktiver.

„Die Akzeptanz einer Verwaltung und damit die Akzeptanz eines Staates und unserer Demokratie hängt davon ab, ob wir leistungsfähig sind“, sagte Wissing. Dieses serviceorientierte Denken ist, „was wir verinnerlichen müssen. Mit dem Analogen können wir diesen Anforderungen nicht gerecht werden.“