‘Digitalisation is a team sport’
At the opening of the Smart Country Convention 2025, Federal Minister Dr Karsten Wildberger calls for an exchange of ideas between business, administration and politics in a digital welcome message.
Dirk Hoffmann, COO of Messe Berlin, speaks at the opening of the Smart Country Convention 2025. Image: Messe Berlin
For the first time in its history, Germany has a Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and State Modernisation – and SCCON thus has a new patron: Federal Minister for Digital Affairs Dr Karsten Wildberger. ‘The Smart Country Convention brings together people who want to make a difference from the federal, state and local governments, business, science and society,’ Wildberger explained in his welcoming address, with which he opened SCCON 2025. That is why his ministry was fully convinced to take on the patronage of this year's event.
Modern administration for greater trust in the state
Due to the two-day closed-door meeting of the Federal Cabinet, the minister will not be able to attend the Smart Country Convention in person until Thursday. Nevertheless, the digitisation of administration and the modernisation of Germany are ‘at the top of the political agenda, and we are picking up the pace,’ Wildberger assured. Smart cities and modern administration are not an end in themselves, he said: ‘They must make people's everyday lives noticeably easier and better.’ Only if this succeeds will trust in the state grow.
The impetus provided by the business community and start-ups at SCCON is indispensable for this, Wildberger continued, because: ‘Digitalisation is a team sport. It can only succeed if we view it as a joint project, as teamwork that thrives on the experience and commitment of many.’
One mission: citizen-oriented administration that is fast, secure and efficient
The Smart Country Convention has arrived ‘at the heart of political reality,’ emphasised Dirk Hoffmann, Managing Director of Messe Berlin. And it is ‘the place where the digital future of the public sector becomes visible.’ For the first time, it fills three halls – with over 470 exhibitors from 14 countries presenting their solutions and over 700 speakers on seven stages. ‘Let's use SCCON to ensure that digital administration works everywhere as we want it to: fast, secure, citizen-oriented and efficient.’
Optimism at the digital association Bitkom
The conditions for developing digital participation for all have never been as good as they are now, said Dr Bernhard Rohleder, managing director of the industry association Bitkom. Finally, the Digital Ministry is here, and it is setting the pace. In fact, the federal government had already done most of its homework in the last legislative period. It cannot force the federal states and local authorities to digitise, ‘but it can create a strong pull.’
This is because citizens and businesses expressly want to see the expansion of digitisation: according to a representative Bitkom survey, 88 per cent of people in Germany see digitisation primarily as an opportunity. 94 per cent of companies say that the lack of digitalisation in administration is an obstacle to innovation for them, and 83 per cent consider it an international disadvantage for Germany as a business location. 78 per cent want the federal government to make digitalisation a top priority in the current legislative period.