A recent Bitkom survey of 505 companies shows a gloomy picture, at least in some areas, when it comes to using state-of-the-art technologies in German companies: Especially with regard to using AI-based processes, 68% of all respondents see themselves as lagging behind or even completely defeated in international comparison. Things look a little better in other areas, where less than half of the board members and managing directors consider themselves trailing behind: These include 3D printing (48%), blockchain (47%), robotics (45%), the Internet of Things (42%) and Big Data (37%). This is surprising, according to Bitkom, since Germany is very strong in the research of artificial intelligence or blockchain technologies. On the other hand, at least 26% of the participants consider themselves leading internationally or within the top group with regard to the use of drones. The self-assessment in the field of IoT applications (24%) shows a similarly good result.

The general evaluation of their own digitization progress is slightly better: 44% of companies consider themselves to be ranking in the middle worldwide with regard to using new technologies, and 36% even in the top group. Fast progress is being hampered in particular by the high standards of data protection (45%), technical security (39%), and a shortage of qualified staff (33%). The results thus seamlessly follow up on last year’s investigation by Capgemini Consulting , which states that not only are technologies crucial to successfully tackling the digital change, but the full anchoring of a specific digitization strategy in corporate culture.