German
Bundestag, September 30, 2020, Plenarprotokoll 19/179, p. 22556.
Herr
President. Worthy colleagues.
Today
we again have heard in epic breadth how important digitalization is to the
government and of all that it has ostensibly learned from Corona. All the slogans
have been put to use. Declarations of intent and promises have ensued. Funds have
been budgeted. The chapter will be closed until next year. Honestly for once:
Who still takes seriously what the Frau Chancellor has said here?
Harald Weinberg (Linke): It is always so during
budget week.
Yet
let us look for once at the facts of digital Germany, away from Merkel’s story
hour, and at the digital truth! The portion of fiberglass connections to all
stationary broadband connections in the OECD countries: South Korea leads with
82.8 percent, followed by Japan, Lithuania and Sweden. Germany lies in the
fifth to last place with a ridiculous 4.1 percent. Even Mexico and Colombia are
ahead of us.
4-G
mobile phone: Germany last year in international comparison was in place 70.
The internet area coverage came to 65.5
percent. The United States, the Benelux countries, Scandinavia and parts of
eastern Europe obtain a coverage of more than 80 percent. In the availability
of 4-G and LTE, we rank behind countries like Lebanon, Vietnam and Senegal.
Let
us remain with mobile telephony: In Switzerland, the median download speed
comes to 30 mbits per second, in Austria it is 24 mbs, in Germany 14. Yet, for
that, the mobile internet costs us very much more. We in Germany pay an average
of 3.60 euros for one gigabyte of data, yet the Austrians only 96 cents. In the
IMD Top Ten ranking of countries with the most competitive digitalization, we
are far surpassed. We are in place 17. In the 2020 Digital Quality of Life
Index, in place 16.
Let
us look at the schools – Frau Merkel mentioned them – : Only 26 percent of
German schools have a functioning WLAN connection. In Denmark, it is 100
percent; in Kazakhstan, it is 58 percent. The ICILS study shows: A third of
young people in Germany can barely open and work with e-mail. Computer knowledge
is rudimentary. In the schools in Estonia, ten year olds are learning to
program.
In
the EU Commission’s current E-Government ranking – that is, for digital
administration – in the utilization of these services, Germany has subsided
into the 26th rank of these 28 countries. Bulgaria, the Czech
Republic, Cyprus – all are ahead of us.
And
our country is losing contact with the new technologies. Among the top 50 of
the world’s most innovative companies, the first German one is in 21st
place; it is Siemens. At the top are Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Samsung,
Facebook.
A
firm like Apple? In Germany, impossible. The firm’s founding took place in a
garage.
For
once demonstrate that you are the officials here! The ceiling heights are not
right, there is no concept of fire prevention, no parking places and
gender-specific toilets are completely lacking. Rejected! Das is Deutschland 2020!
Of
the most powerful of the world’s super-computers, 226 are in China, 114 in the
U.S.A. and only 16 in Germany.
Investments
in artificial intelligence: The Chinese city of Tianjin alone plans 12.8
billion euros for AI promotion, all of China 300 billion, and we are proud of 5
billion, ladies and gentlemen.
Dear
Federal government, thus nothing will come of AI and thus nothing will come of
digitalization. On the contrary: You have put Germany into a digital coma and
thereby put into play the future of our country. We can simply no longer live
only on der Substanz. Finally wake up
and put some horsepower on the street! Down shift the bureaucratization, put
more areas at the disposal of those who experiment, invest more, and please
take care that the money can also be recalled. Accelerate the net construction,
close the dead zones, unleash the real skilled labor with lower taxes and
appropriate salaries, make our kids fit for the future! Finally drive forward the
themes of E-Government and E-Health structures, finally take cyber security
seriously and bundle up the responsibilities for this!
Corona
has made clear how important digital solutions are for Germany. Other countries
for years have shown what these could look like. Take an example, copy anything
at all from me! But finally do something for this country!
Many thanks.
[trans: tem]
