With the Digital Report 2023, the European Center for Digital Competitiveness presents the results of several surveys on the state of digitalisation in Germany and thus reflects the mood of the population.
The vast majority of the German population (77%) is convinced that the country’s future depends heavily on digitalisation. A large majority of citizens (80%) hope that digitalisation will have a positive impact on public administration in particular. However, a majority of respondents also see great potential in the digitalisation of the health and care sector (72%) and the education sector (62%). The effects of digitalisation on their own workplace are also viewed positively by respondents. The majority of 52% were positive. Only 5% perceive negative effects of digitalisation.
With regard to the association of digitalisation with future developments, the picture is more mixed. For example, 71% of respondents associate digitalisation with opportunities and 70% with making work easier. However, 70% also associate digitalisation with risks and 68% with surveillance. For 43% of respondents, digitalisation also harbours the risk of job loss and excessive demands.
The actual status of digital transformation in Germany is generally viewed very critically. For example, 96% of the business and political leaders surveyed are convinced that Germany is lagging behind internationally when it comes to digitalisation. Only 28% are of the opinion that Germany will be able to catch up in the near future.
The responsibility for accelerating the digital transformation in Germany is predominantly seen as lying with politicians (74% of managers surveyed). However, the majority are disappointed with the current federal government in this regard: while 82% of top executives in politics and administration still believed that digitalisation would be more important for the political agenda of the current government than for the previous government in 2021, only 15% now share this opinion. Progress in digitalisation is only seen by 3% of the managers surveyed.
The impression also prevails among the population as a whole that digitalisation has not received any new impetus under the leadership of the new federal government. In general, the competence of politicians in relation to digitalisation is seen as limited (49%) or non-existent (14%).
