Information technologies make a lot of things easier, safer and more energy efficient for us in our everyday lives, a process that German Chancellor Angela Merkel is convinced will continue to shape the coming years. At the same time, customer-oriented innovations could generate new growth across the whole of Europe, Merkel emphasised at the start of CeBIT, the world's largest IT trade show in Hanover.
The impressions the Chancellor gained during her tour of the trade show were all very similar. Whether you're at the Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone or the Spanish Telefónica stand, it soon becomes clear that the former telephone companies stopped focusing only on cables, hardware and radio communication a long time ago.
Everywhere you look, the focus is now on intelligent networks along with the necessary applications and user interfaces. From energy management in private households to completely internet-based office solutions for businesses.
Storage media are a thing of the past, as data and documents are now migrating into the net. Smart phones are turning into mobile offices. "Progress that is important for people," Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero emphasised.
Boosting reserves, saving resources
But the latest developments are not just about comfort and flexibility the Chancellor learned. Take, for example, resource efficiency: IBM is using an ingenious piece of software to feed energy generated by wind power into batteries in electric scooters, on a demand-driven basis. SAP provides employees with tailored, online and 3-D assistance to help them navigate through complicated production processes.
Information technologies and classical industries are merging. Darmstädter Software, for example, coordinates complex business processes by means of digital controlling. IT specialists use online and networked systems to ensure a medium-sized enterprise' entire fleet becomes more energy efficient and CO2 levels are reduced. And tailback management and driving behaviour analyses are included in the package too.
Growth across borders
For the Chancellor these examples represent a "significant development". She said she was convinced that cooperation between the big players and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular still holds great potential when it comes to innovation. The big players were good and tackling comprehensive and complex big projects, she said, while the smaller players were able to bring their specific know-how to bear.
Merkel and Zapatero called for common EU standards in the sector – so that this dynamic development in Europe does not stop at national borders. The topic is to be addressed in Brussels during the Spanish EU Presidency, which runs until late June.
Broadband spurs on the economy
"Giving rural regions high-speed internet access is not only very important for the quality of life there," the German Chancellor underlined. High-speed internet connections were also a decisive factor when it came to economic development in these regions.
You only need to look at this year's partner country to see why. In the space of only a few years Germany's favourite holiday destination has become an important IT provider. Spain now supplies digital hospital management and election computers across the whole of the world, for instance. From 2011 Germany's air traffic control service will be re-organising its airspace surveillance above 8,000 metres – using software from Castille.