Why do we stand up for founders and (digital) education in the “Strategic Dialogue with the Automotive Industry in Baden-Württemberg”?

During the new few years, the automotive industry is set to change faster than ever before. That is a fact. Digitalisation, networking, automation and electrification are the main drivers of this change, all of which represent huge challenges but also a wealth of opportunities. These drivers are very much facts of life in our industry even now. 

To succeed in the face of this change, we must choose the right path now, and anticipate and find solutions for the new requirements that people will have for our products and on mobility as a whole in the future. Doing so requires a great degree of creativity, a willingness to change and innovation on the part of the industry, but such challenges cannot be tackled by individual companies alone. Designing the mobility concepts of the future is a task for society as a whole; a task that can be successful only through a close collaboration between representatives from the fields of politics, economics, science and civic society.

This is why we are involved in the Strategic Dialogue with the Automotive Industry in Baden-Württemberg alongside representatives from the automotive industry, from associations, chambers of commerce, trade unions, scientific fields and the state government. This unique format of institutionalised collaboration has been set up to guide and support the transformation process within the industry – and ultimately to ensure the long-term sustainability of the 440,000 or so jobs in Baden-Württemberg that are directly or indirectly dependent upon the automotive industry.

Defining today the success factors of tomorrow

“The car is our heritage. We fully intend to remain at the forefront of the industry as we move into a new age of mobility and as the concept of vehicles is reinvented”, explains Minister President Winfried Kretschmann. To make this happen, we need to create the right framework as soon as possible, which will include successfully expanding the nationwide fast charging infrastructure for electric mobility, as well as developing an efficient and sustainable power grid and a scalable and secure digital infrastructure. When it comes to real-time applications, such as autonomous driving, rapid communication and data connections with a high bandwidth are a critical success factor. 

However, offering a high level of digital education and training is just as important – as is establishing an environment in which entrepreneurial spirit and innovation can flourish. There are many challenges in store for founders in Germany – in many cases, an incredible amount of work goes into securing funding from lenders and investors. Excessive bureaucracy, the “war for talent” and a lack of foresight in public tendering and contracting procedures all hamper the growth of start-up companies. Economic and political experts must work together to find solutions that will continue to promote entrepreneurship and remove barriers for start-ups.

Dialogue between politics, industry and start-ups

As part of the strategic dialogue, I have taken responsibility for the topic of digitalisation alongside Minister of the Interior, Thomas Strobl. At the inaugural meeting of the steering committee in November 2017, we discussed which topics we wanted to tackle together. Since the meeting, our teams have come together to attend workshops and concrete ideas have been put forwards. One of the approaches that our teams have identified with input from founders is to provide start-up companies with access to affordable premises in the Stuttgart area. By establishing meeting points, we have facilitated interaction between industry, start-ups and political representatives to ensure that innovators and founders have the opportunity to grow here in Baden-Württemberg.

Utilising the opportunities of digitalisation in education

To encourage the next generation to continue exploring promising business ideas, we must ensure that all young people can acquire the skills relevant to our evolving business world and lifestyle during the course of their studies. We plan to, and in fact need to, incorporate the technological opportunities presented by digitalisation in education. As a first step, we therefore plan to support two start-ups that give teachers and children direct access to digital education: 

Through “App Camps”, a start-up based in Baden-Württemberg, we will be supporting the introduction of information technology as a subject in all types of schools across the German-speaking area. App Camps distributes teaching materials for students and teachers featuring interesting content prepared specifically for the relevant target group. 

Through the start-up “Haba Digitalwerkstatt”, we are helping to get the company’s buses on the road and into playgrounds. In these mobile classrooms, children between the ages of six and twelve can explore the digital world through play and develop important skills for dealing with new technologies.

We have laid the first foundations with these two projects. Now it’s time to drive implementation, discuss further initiatives and set them in motion.

It is true that digitalisation is neither an end in itself nor a temporary phenomenon. In fact, digitalisation is set to change the economy and society as a whole, and in doing so will have a decisive impact on the lives of each individual. As a cross-industry and non-partisan concept, theStrategic Dialogue with the Automotive Industry in Baden-Württemberg gives us the opportunity to tackle the issue of digitalisation in a constructive way with a view to setting a decisive course for the future design of mobility.