Tuesday – SAP and Microsoft kicked off the week with some news, and I’m heading out to my first summit – the ‘Sixth National IT Summit’. High-ranking representatives of politics, economy and associations get together – casually spoken – to a ‘meet & greet’. The real work happens in the various task forces during the year, and in my perspective this summit rather highlights the results as well as supports the networking. Not to mention the fact that one or the other slaps oneself on the back.
A report that got presented and is often referred to is the ‘Monitoring-Report – Digital Germany 2011 – An International Comparison of the ICT Industry’, and its results can be interpreted differently. ‘Mediocrity’ was often used in this context – but what does a ‘position’ really mean on such an aggregated level? I recommend to have a look on the long version of the study – comprising 200 pages – and then not only to ask yourself how those results got developed or what they imply and what could be derived, but also what significance they have for oneself.
What else? In the press meeting a remark caught my attention – ‘education is more important than network expansion’. This encapsulated one topic: Ideas per se do not really need the fastest network. Over the entire day – by all means justified – the spotlight was on network expansion, statutory rule and other frameworks and so on, and at the same time it came to my mind that in recent years many (internet) entrepreneurs were, regardless of the network status, location or regulatory limitations, successful globally – only the (right) idea, the will and the belief were crucial. Admittedly – this is not quite easy, but possible. And if the establishment and the lawmaker can support this – so much the better! Hence, I would have wished that the discussion with participants of the Young-IT Lounge and the mentoring program were longer, since they were the most appealing part of the day.
Beside one or two of the witty speeches that the politicians have given this day, I would have welcomed the appearance of a ‘user’ speaking about his perspective using all these services. Doubtless, as Hans-Joachim Otto points out in his greeting of the beforehand mentioned study, the ICT industry is important for the German industry but itself a significant contributor. Finally, it is about the citizen who wants to or is supposed to use offers provided by the government, such as e-Health for instance, the consumer who participates in e-Banking or e-Commerce, as well as the enterprises which either take part in the B2C or B2B area. I would have appreciated to hear the view of each of those users, to learn more about their needs and what requirements emerge for the ICT as a result. This is basic to derive many of the activities – right?
At the end of the day I can state, I had some interesting conversations and I’m looking now forward to the next summit in order to see what will have changed from now on – or not…
