Companies require nationwide fiber-optic connections promptly. Mobile network gaps should be closed as quickly as possible, and the nationwide 5G network expansion must be pursued vigorously. In the medium term, a nationwide gigabit mobile network based on current standards needs to be developed. The networks should be upgraded for the significantly growing data volumes of the future, enabling companies to fully leverage the advantages of digitalization, such as AI and cloud computing. High-performance digital infrastructures are part of the essential services infrastructure. The public sector must ensure that all parties—network providers, construction companies, federal and regional authorities, and municipalities—act in a coordinated manner and invest collectively. Both wired and wireless expansion should be considered comprehensively.

Consistent expansion planning, including implementation monitoring, a competition-friendly regulatory framework, investment-friendly conditions, efficient spectrum utilization, and effective funding structures should be stringently aligned and obstacles promptly overcome. Approval processes should be streamlined, standardized, and digitized. Municipal actors need stronger support, such as in project planning. For mobile network expansion, federal, regional, and municipal authorities should provide sites on public property and buildings. Existing barriers to constructing data centers should be removed. The growing demand for skilled labor should be met through suitable training programs, marketing initiatives, and information about roles in fiber-optic expansion (see also chapter "Securing Skilled Labor: Strengthening Vocational Education - Unlocking Workforce Potential").

When promoting fiber-optic expansion, priority should be given to previously underserved regions and business locations, ensuring a well-coordinated balance between self-financed and subsidized network expansion. Concurrently, the state should establish supportive conditions for broad usage of digital technologies.

At the EU level, all efforts should be directed towards achieving the EU's goal of a comprehensive gigabit and 5G infrastructure by 2030. Additionally, the development of advanced technologies (6G and beyond) should be supported to the fullest extent.

The security of networks and information technology in companies is becoming increasingly important against the backdrop of current geopolitical challenges. Companies require a digital ecosystem in which they can safely operate along the value chain. This requires a comprehensive strategy that considers both analogue and cybersecurity for companies as well as the security and resilience of infrastructures in a holistic approach to economic protection. Politics, administrations, manufacturers, IT security providers, and operational users should work closely together in this context.

Cybersecurity should be established as an essential component of software- and hardware-based products and applications (security by design/default). Additional security regulations should follow a risk-based approach and adhere to the principle of appropriateness. Transparency requirements must not lead to particularly sensitive infrastructures being exposed to increased attack potential. The state should promote the development of new IT security technologies and take the lead as a pilot user. In the field of European and international standardization, significant emphasis should be placed on secure solutions.

The complex issue of security increasingly requires closer forms of cooperation, including between the state and businesses, where each contributes according to their capabilities. This necessitates a stronger build-up of competencies (quantitatively and qualitatively) in security authorities and improved collaboration between security authorities and businesses. Information about the threat situation should be prepared and channelled in a way that companies, especially IT service providers, are specifically warned.

Contact points for businesses should present the multitude of good offers in a consolidated manner and provide tailored support offerings for companies. Public funding for IT security in individual companies is a meaningful contribution to the dissemination of competencies and IT security activities and should be maintained or intensified.

Confident handling of digital applications and technologies (e.g., AI), the resulting organisational changes in company collaboration, as well as an in-depth technical understanding and innovative capability, are essential for digitalisation within businesses. The foundations for "digital competences" should be established early (refer to chapter "Securing Skilled Workers: Strengthening Vocational Education – Utilising Skill Potentials") and further developed as needed in vocational training, continuing professional development, and universities.

Digital competences encompass media literacy and technological understanding and acquiring soft skills, such as cooperation and team skills, communication and innovation skills, and interdisciplinarity. Digital competences are important across the breadth of user groups; simultaneously, the economy requires more IT professionals, IT security specialists, and data experts.

Within the digitalisation strategies of Germany's federal and state governments, vocational schools should hold special significance. Their contemporary equipment is therefore urgently needed, along with functional infrastructure, reliable support, and enhanced competence development among teachers. Established pilot spaces and initial and transfer points should be preserved and expanded. Digital education should start as early as possible and encompass the entire education system – from primary school to university – (refer to chapter "Securing Skilled Workers: Strengthening Vocational Education – Utilising Skill Potentials").

In the area of data economy, improving IT capabilities in businesses, and public administration is also of great importance for the competitiveness and innovative capacity of the (European) economy.

The Federal Government, States, and Municipalities should agree on a shared vision aimed at comprehensive, secure, and user-friendly digitalisation of administrative services and processes for businesses. This includes appropriate governance structures, adequate financing, and the willingness to fundamentally rethink existing processes.

A reform plan derived from this must adapt the legal framework, potentially up to the constitution, and shape administrative actions to be digitally compliant, enabling business activities to become easier and less bureaucratic. Corresponding competence-building within the administrations will be required.

Implementation requires, among other things, a platform infrastructure with centralised, uniform standards and basic components – for instance, user accounts, payment components, IT transport standards, and APIs for secure data exchange. This infrastructure should be provided comprehensively for all public authorities and centrally managed. Commercial or open-source solutions from the IT industry could be used on such platform infrastructure.

However, all approaches must prioritise digital sovereignty – ensuring the state's and economy's scope for design and innovation in an international context while avoiding lock-in effects and dependencies on individual providers.

Uniformly used, digitally compliant legal terms are essential for functioning data exchange.

Data is a key economic factor and the foundation for new, innovative business models. The availability of quantitative and qualitative data as well as opportunities for collaborative processing should be promoted by policymakers together with businesses and academia. This requires trust, legal certainty, and transparency.

Moreover, public authorities are urged to make their economically usable data comprehensively available to companies in standardized machine-readable formats so that new business models can be developed by the market.

This requires an innovation-friendly legal framework. Regulations should balance legitimate protection interests of customers and consumers with not excessively restricting entrepreneurial freedoms.

In addition to legal frameworks, companies need mechanisms for collaborative data usage, standards, interfaces, and the establishment of an open, transparent, and trustworthy data infrastructure in Europe. Particularly in the area of AI, policymakers should support companies in accessing AI-relevant data, such as from public authorities.

Shared data spaces can drive innovation and enable innovative business models, for example in mobility, health, or environmental sectors. Data trustees can be a means to strengthen trustworthy data exchange (see chapter "Privacy"). Data protection should always be harmonized with the data economy.

It is essential to consider digital applications like AI within a European framework while making them accessible to smaller businesses. European efforts should focus on establishing common rules and standards that ensure more innovation, transparency, data and information security, and clarification of liability issues. On a national level, a forward-looking, comprehensive, and coordinated digital policy is necessary to fully capitalize on the opportunities presented by digitization. This requires ambitious milestones and clearly defined responsibilities for implementation goals. Additionally, future technologies, such as quantum computing, need to be researched and applied in practice. Building a robust ecosystem where startups and established companies can emerge and grow is necessary. Favorable and innovation-friendly conditions should be created, such as streamlined, digitized founding processes, collaboration between business and science, or improved growth financing opportunities. Especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, demand-oriented digitalization support must be guaranteed.

The application possibilities of digital technologies should be presented to the public in a SME-friendly, positive, and comprehensible manner, using concrete examples. Transfer centers, such as Mittelstand-4.0 Competence Centers, should be further developed. This includes greater visibility, enhanced networking with companies, and more efficient organization. Funding and research projects should be adequately dimensioned, quickly and straightforwardly accessible, and more targeted to businesses (see chapter "Research and Innovation"). 

Moreover, norms and standards can provide companies with the assurance that system functionality is guaranteed under reliable conditions. National and European standards need to be established internationally. Technical standards for applying future technologies should be developed with direct involvement from companies, including SMEs.

Intellectual property rights should be reviewed for digital suitability, and new antitrust and regulatory instruments should be applied, evaluated, and adjusted as necessary. Generally applicable principles for data exchange, processing, and archiving should be developed to allow appropriate use while not being detrimental to innovation. Additionally, judges and administrative personnel familiar with digitalization are essential. 

Testing and experimenting with new technological possibilities, such as AI technologies—for instance, through real laboratories within the framework of the AI regulation—should be facilitated.

The EU's AI regulation must be implemented in a legally secure, streamlined, comprehensible, uniform, and innovation-friendly manner. 

The German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK) emphasizes that consolidation of existing laws and the interrelation of rules across different legislations should be prioritized at the EU level. Instead of introducing new regulatory initiatives, businesses need legal certainty, easily comprehensible rules, and support for implementing EU law.

It is essential to achieve consistency and coherence with existing legislation to prevent companies from facing irreconcilable conflicting legal requirements or being burdened twice. For instance, obligations under the AI Act should align closely with other horizontal (GDPR, Data Act, etc.) and sectoral (machinery, medical technology) frameworks. Data economy and data protection should be harmonized.

Special attention should be given to national-level implementation and collaboration between responsible authorities to avoid inefficient rule implementation (refer to the chapter "Reducing Bureaucracy and Better Law"). To identify legal hurdles posed by new technology early on, experimental spaces with industry participation should be supported.

From the perspective of the domestic economy, it should be ensured that equal and fair competition conditions apply to all market participants in the European single market.

Strengthening Europe's digital sovereignty is becoming increasingly important. In the global economic framework, dependencies on external actors should be reduced, and the innovation and economic strength of European companies should be enhanced.

Digital technologies can contribute to addressing structural and environmental challenges in the economy. The potentials arising from the interplay between digitalisation and sustainability for the entire economy should be emphasised more prominently in current and future legislative processes and noticeably contrasted with the potential risks. 

Digitalisation is also likely to have positive impacts on sustainability, as it enables forward-looking solutions for progress in climate protection, resource efficiency, and fair conditions. However, digitalisation also has a sustainability-straining "side" effect, such as waste heat in data centres. The question of the climate effects of digitalisation, including emission intensity, which remains insufficiently researched in contrast to conventional alternative models and therefore inconsistently interpreted, should be actively addressed. A more objective picture can help counteract one-sided criticism constructively and, where appropriate, increase acceptance of digital technologies.

To fully leverage the opportunities of digitalisation for sustainability and minimise risks, a comprehensive strategy and collaboration on various levels are required. Governments, businesses, and civil society should work together on solutions to ensure the digital transformation is sustainable while simultaneously accelerating the opportunities for the transformation of the economy towards lower greenhouse gas emissions.