"We desperately need a new mindset”

Unfortunately, we never really took digitalization seriously. We have to replace all analog processes in the government, in large companies, and in our small and medium-sized businesses with digital ones. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown just how poorly Germany is doing in terms of digital processes. Our public health departments are still mainly analog – this cost a lot of lives and our economy will suffer because of it for years to come.

We desperately need a new mindset and should rethink our attitude towards data privacy and technological progress. Many digitalization projects fail due to relicts such as the GDPR and, in some cases, due to lacking competency. Personally, I think this is the government's responsibility. In companies, I believe the main problem is that there isn't enough incentive to take risks and drive innovative processes forward. Most levels of management in German companies are only focused on not making any mistakes and on getting their next annual bonus. I'm not saying it's the managers' faults, but more the German error culture. We have to re-learn to weigh opportunities, and not just risks, and to create incentives for seizing opportunities.

We need a more agile legal system that can respond to new technologies and possibilities faster and pass the necessary legal frameworks to enable the use of these technologies in Germany to begin with. Instead, we now have the GDPR, which makes it virtually impossible for our German companies to utilize data, while the big players from the USA are exempt. We have to learn to handle data and to see data as an opportunity instead of rejecting it flat out. I also wish that our government would lead by example and demonstrate how digitalization works. Unfortunately, German government agencies are still drowning in stacks of paperwork and files.

We have to totally rethink the structure and objective of our companies. Our economy is still in a slumber of prosperity. We were pioneers in crucial industries for a long time, and rested in this position for too long. Now, we've entered a phase of technological disruption, with entire industries being completely revolutionized. 2-3% optimizations aren't enough – we need tenfold jumps. This means no longer thinking and planning in quarters, but in decades, and to start ignoring quarterly figures. It's better to be bold and invest logically in digitalization and innovations now than to ultimately miss the boat a few years down the road.

I think we currently have a momentum that we desperately need to take advantage of. Many companies were forced to digitalize their processes, a majority of people suddenly had to work from home. Our departments of health and our country also had to learn that digital processes are simply part of the future. I hope we will harness these insights to digitalize our country and our companies.

Definitely. Data are likely the most valuable asset of our future. They enable applications such as autonomous driving and improved traffic routing, which make our lives easier, safer, and more efficient, but also enormous leaps forward in medicine: Faster development of medications, customized therapy options, earlier diagnoses, etc. can save lives. We urgently need to begin an objective, factual debate on utilizing data instead of rejecting it flat out. With the current data privacy laws, we are only hurting European companies and giving leverage to the players from the USA and China.

In my book 10xDNA, I talk about waves of innovation. The first wave of innovation was set off by the development of four technologies: microchips, the Internet, smartphones, and the cloud. This gave birth to companies and services that dominate our lives today. The second, imminent wave includes technologies such as artificial intelligence, 3D printing, 5G, cloud computing, robots, blockchain, synthetic biology, and advancements in the area of green energy. These technologies are nearly finished in the labs and are just about to enter the market. For the German and European economy, it is critical for us to become a world market leader in at least one of these areas. A good deal more has to be poured into research and development than is the case today, and we need the right framework conditions for innovative tech start-ups. France is showing how it's done. Germany could learn from Macron’s willingness to invest in start-ups.

There has probably never been so many opportunities for each of us, and the opportunities have never been spread out so evenly. All of humanity's knowledge is accessible and freely available to everybody. Thanks to unlimited computing capacity and rapid prototyping, for the first time ever everyone has the ability to develop innovations – even without huge amounts of seed capital. Whether we will harness these opportunities will make or break us. It's true that we are facing a social revolution – and those who don't move now will likely fall behind. But this is no reason to see digitalization as an enemy or threat. Instead, we should take advantage of the many resulting opportunities and restore our country's reputation as a driver of innovation. If we manage that, I am confident that we will come out of this revolutionary time stronger as a society.

Frank Thelen is a European serial entrepreneur, technology investor, and TV personality. He has been founding and running technology and design-driven companies since 1994. In his role as founder and CEO of Freigeist Capital, he focuses on early stage investments. His products have reached the hands of over 100 million customers in more than 60 countries. Frank was the initial investor in startups such as Lilium Aviation, Wunderlist, Xentral, Ankerkraut, and YFood. In 2018, at the age of 42, he published his autobiography "Startup-DNA", followed by "10xDNA" in 2020.