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- Germany's 4th National IT Summit sets out the agenda, the "Stuttgart Declaration", for its future digital economy
- Enterprise software , smartgrid technology, green IT and embedded software systems are four of the cornerstones of Germany's future hightech development
- The Stuttgart Declaration also calls for tax breaks for Research & Development investments
- The determination to develop Germany's hightech industries continues to grow after the recent change of Government
Software AG, a global leader in business infrastructure software, today welcomed Germany's fourth National IT Summit, hosted in Stuttgart, as an example of Europe's largest economy's contribution in developing the European IT industry. The IT Summit, hosted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, will set out the agenda for the development of Germany's future digital economy in the "Stuttgart Declaration". Major development areas include enterprise software and Germany's strength in embedded software systems and both smartgrid and green IT technologies. The summit also called for tax relief on Research and Development investments. The future development of Germany's hightech industries has become an increasingly important political issue, highlighted in the recent Federal elections, and is being addressed by the new Government as a matter of priority. A full Government and industry strategy for the development of a digital society will be published by the summer of 2010. In a further positive development, both the UK and Spain are currently considering establishing national IT-Summits which bodes well the IT industry across Europe.
The 4th National IT Summit brings together leaders from all areas of Germany's hightech industries, the German Government and major educational institutes. The IT Summit working groups address the full spectrum of issues needed to support industry development including second and third level education, funding for Research and Development, driving IT adoption in Germany's large SME business sector and the nationwide availability of supporting technologies such as the Broadband network.
An example of collaborative Research & Development was announced earlier in 2009 when Germany's largest enterprise application software vendors teamed up with partners from science and industry in an over €57 million research project aimed at driving the use of the "Internet of Things" in intelligent business processes. The project is an example of how Germany continues to invest in research and innovation, even in times of economic crisis, in order to foster its competitiveness as a business location.
"With software companies accounting for over 85% of hightech startups in Germany, we see the significance of a powerful software industry to a modern economy increasing year by year", commented Karl-Heinz Streibich, CEO at Software AG and working group leader at the IT Summit. "The software industry is critical to Europe's future and is fundamental to our growing prosperity. I have continuously said that Germany, representing nearly 50% of Europe's software industry, must play an active role in further developing Europe's hightech industries. Today is firm evidence that Germany is doing just that."
The role played by the software industry in driving growth within a modern economy was highlighted in this year's edition of the "Truffle 100 Europe" unveiled on November 3rd with the support of Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for the Information Society and Media. The top-100 European software companies last year collectively raised revenue to €25 billion (€24.5 billion in 2007) and net profits to
€3.6 billion (2007: €3.2 billion). Employment in the top-100 companies grew by over 9% to 212,000 and Research & Development headcount increased by 25% to 52,000 in comparison to an overall decline in EU wide employment of nearly 1%. This significant increase in Research & Development investment is reflected in that tax breaks for R&D investments was seen as a critical measure in growing the industry by over 75% of vendors.
The German Government will publish its new IT strategy by the summer of 2010, detailing its program for establishing Germany as a leading digital and knowledge based economy.
- Germany's 4th National IT Summit sets out the agenda, the "Stuttgart Declaration", for its future digital economy
- Enterprise software , smartgrid technology, green IT and embedded software systems are four of the cornerstones of Germany's future hightech development
- The Stuttgart Declaration also calls for tax breaks for Research & Development investments
- The determination to develop Germany's hightech industries continues to grow after the recent change of Government
Software AG, a global leader in business infrastructure software, today welcomed Germany's fourth National IT Summit, hosted in Stuttgart, as an example of Europe's largest economy's contribution in developing the European IT industry. The IT Summit, hosted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, will set out the agenda for the development of Germany's future digital economy in the "Stuttgart Declaration". Major development areas include enterprise software and Germany's strength in embedded software systems and both smartgrid and green IT technologies. The summit also called for tax relief on Research and Development investments. The future development of Germany's hightech industries has become an increasingly important political issue, highlighted in the recent Federal elections, and is being addressed by the new Government as a matter of priority. A full Government and industry strategy for the development of a digital society will be published by the summer of 2010. In a further positive development, both the UK and Spain are currently considering establishing national IT-Summits which bodes well the IT industry across Europe.
The 4th National IT Summit brings together leaders from all areas of Germany's hightech industries, the German Government and major educational institutes. The IT Summit working groups address the full spectrum of issues needed to support industry development including second and third level education, funding for Research and Development, driving IT adoption in Germany's large SME business sector and the nationwide availability of supporting technologies such as the Broadband network.
An example of collaborative Research & Development was announced earlier in 2009 when Germany's largest enterprise application software vendors teamed up with partners from science and industry in an over €57 million research project aimed at driving the use of the "Internet of Things" in intelligent business processes. The project is an example of how Germany continues to invest in research and innovation, even in times of economic crisis, in order to foster its competitiveness as a business location.
"With software companies accounting for over 85% of hightech startups in Germany, we see the significance of a powerful software industry to a modern economy increasing year by year", commented Karl-Heinz Streibich, CEO at Software AG and working group leader at the IT Summit. "The software industry is critical to Europe's future and is fundamental to our growing prosperity. I have continuously said that Germany, representing nearly 50% of Europe's software industry, must play an active role in further developing Europe's hightech industries. Today is firm evidence that Germany is doing just that."
The role played by the software industry in driving growth within a modern economy was highlighted in this year's edition of the "Truffle 100 Europe" unveiled on November 3rd with the support of Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for the Information Society and Media. The top-100 European software companies last year collectively raised revenue to €25 billion (€24.5 billion in 2007) and net profits to
€3.6 billion (2007: €3.2 billion). Employment in the top-100 companies grew by over 9% to 212,000 and Research & Development headcount increased by 25% to 52,000 in comparison to an overall decline in EU wide employment of nearly 1%. This significant increase in Research & Development investment is reflected in that tax breaks for R&D investments was seen as a critical measure in growing the industry by over 75% of vendors.
The German Government will publish its new IT strategy by the summer of 2010, detailing its program for establishing Germany as a leading digital and knowledge based economy.
