Digitization is penetrating all areas of life and networking people, machines and processes. This is creating immense opportunities for the German economy.
About the topic
In Germany, it has triggered a profound structural change in all areas of the economy and society. This digital transformation holds enormous opportunities, and they must be exploited - including, but not limited to, the automation and networking of value creation processes under the buzzword Industry 4.0. Autonomization in particular, i.e. enabling machines to organize, repair and optimize themselves, opens up extensive opportunities.
The prerequisites for digital transformation are nationwide high-speed networks and an unbureaucratic and capital-rich innovation environment. Employees also face challenges: Companies must identify the new requirements for employee qualifications and train employees accordingly. In addition, companies, especially from the SME sector, must drive digitization more strongly in their own operations, for example by refining their business models and developing new ones, for example in cooperation with startups. On this page you will find various topics and current studies from the field of digitization.
Jan Büchel / Armin Mertens IW-Kurzbericht No. 32 13. May 2023
How companies use ChatGPT
ChatGPT is currently very popular. The AI can answer questions in seconds, summarize entire texts or create programming code. On the one hand, there are many advantages for the economy and society, on the other hand, experts warn of dangers and call for ...
The digitization of public administration is making almost no progress in Germany. In a European comparison, the country continues to rank in the lower midfield in terms of e-government.
Jan Büchel / Klaus-Heiner Röhl IW-Trends No. 4 28. December 2022
Do Differences in Data Management Help to Explain Persistent Productivity Differences Between Western and Eastern Germany?
Since the mid-1990s the economies of the five states of ex-communist Eastern Germany have been converging only slowly with the rest of the Republic, though the process has not come to a complete halt.
ChatGPT is currently very popular. The AI can answer questions in seconds, summarize entire texts or create programming code. On the one hand, there are many advantages for the economy and society, on the other hand, experts warn of dangers and call for regulation. It is therefore interesting to see whether and for what purposes companies are already using ChatGPT.
The digitization of public administration is making almost no progress in Germany. In a European comparison, the country continues to rank in the lower midfield in terms of e-government.
Do Differences in Data Management Help to Explain Persistent Productivity Differences Between Western and Eastern Germany?
Jan Büchel / Klaus-Heiner Röhl
Since the mid-1990s the economies of the five states of ex-communist Eastern Germany have been converging only slowly with the rest of the Republic, though the process has not come to a complete halt.
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German Economic Institute (IW) 
