Alliance Co-Spokesman Volker Ludwig: “Importance of digital infrastructures for growth and sustainability should be on the table in coalition negotiations.”
Digital infrastructures are the foundation for sustainable digitalisation in the industry and society. As the basic infrastructures for digitalisation, high-performance data centre – in addition to a well-developed gigabit network – have a considerable influence on the current and future industrial as well as social and socio-political development of the country and are at the same time pioneers for sustainable and climate-friendly digitalisation.
This importance of digital infrastructures for growth, competitiveness and sustainability should also play an important role in the current coalition talks as well as in the next coalition agreement, demands the Alliance for the Strengthening of Digital Infrastructures in Germany, founded under the umbrella of eco – Association of the Internet Industry.
“The next German federal government needs a master plan for digitalisation that translates the potential impact of digitalisation for our business location as well as for the major socio-political challenges of the coming years – such as education and dealing with climate change – strategically and across all ministries into a fundamental digital policy programme,” says Alliance co-spokesman Volker Ludwig of Interxion. All further political decisions should be made along the lines defined there; Ludwig continued.
The need for such a master plan is particularly clear in the case of energy policy, for example, where decisions and laws from different ministries do not pursue a uniform objective, but sometimes almost contradict each other: “Data centres form the backbone of digitalisation. And although they require a relatively large amount of energy, they are not only an essential prerequisite for achieving the climate targets in Germany and Europe, but also carry considerable sustainability potential through innovative concepts. In order to ensure that the digital transformation succeeds in all areas of the industry and society and that the climate targets of the European Union and Germany are met, policymakers must address and resolve the corresponding areas of tension between energy consumption, CO2 emissions, ecological sustainability, and industrial and social success,” Ludwig explains.
From the point of view of the Internet industry, a leading ministry for digitalisation would be best suited to keep an eye on such interrelationships and to ensure a consistent digital policy.
