Tuesday, 5. March 2013
CeBIT
IT branch can generate growth
The IT branch is in a position to generate greater growth in Germany – and indeed throughout Europe, declared Chancellor Angela Merkel with conviction when she opened the trade fair CeBIT in Hannover.
Merkel und Tusk (links) während ihres Rundgangs auf der CeBit
Photo: Bundesregierung/Bergmann
The amalgamation of the real economy and the IT branch gives Germany excellent opportunities to improve its position, said the Chancellor. But she made it quite clear that an enabling environment must be put in place – excellent training and the right conditions for IT start-ups.
Germany will have "its hands full if we are to ensure that we not only have people who can use all the wonderful things produced by the IT branch, but also people who want to develop them," stressed the Chancellor.
A pro-start-up culture needed in Europe
Europe, she said, must become more dynamic in the IT sector. It is important to put in place the conditions that encourage business start-ups. "And I don’t just mean in Germany, I mean throughout the European Union," Angela Merkel continued.
The Chancellor stated that it is her dream to see the same conditions for the start-up of small IT businesses across Europe. That could generate growth in areas that are today still a blank sheet, she said.
The way we live and work is changing
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Chancellor Merkel opens CeBIT
Photo: Bundesregierung/Bergmann
New technical options make it possible to meet individual needs directly. "We are no longer confronted with mass produced articles, one of which we have to choose. We can decide individually what we want to have," said the Chancellor. This obviously entails an entirely different client-product relationship.
We will, however, have to learn how to combine the satisfaction of individual needs with socially acceptable working conditions and working options, she warned. But she declared her conviction that we will take this hurdle too. "It is, however, much more than a technical innovation that we must learn to deal with. It will radically change the fabric of our society."
The social market economy must and will find responses to a radical societal transition, she added.
Partner country 2013 – Poland
Poland is using the meteoric rate of development in the IT sector to create jobs and tap new employment opportunities, Angela Merkel praised this year’s partner country.
Poland is this year’s official partner country of CeBIT. One of Germany’s most important trading partners, and a rapidly growing, innovative industrial nation, Poland is an attractive and emerging market for high-tech businesses. It offers the highly trained specialists needed in the digital economy.
Not too many plugs please
She closed her speech with a plea to the IT branch. "Try not to forget that some people do not spend all day working on or with the latest IT developments. Give us simple instructions, clear presentations – and not too many plugs and sockets please."
CeBIT is the world’s largest trade fair showcasing information and communications technologies (ICT). It will run from 5 to 9 March 2013 in Hannover. The ‘shareconomy’ is a keynote theme of CeBIT 2013, i.e. the sharing and joint utilisation of knowledge, resources and experience. CeBIT was originally the German acronym for the Centrum der Büro- und Informationstechnik (literally, the Centre for Office and Information Technology). In this guise CeBIT became part of the annual Hannover-Messe trade fair in 1970. By 1986 it had expanded to such an extent that it was made a separate event.
The German government, represented by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology has a stand in Hall 9 in Hannover.