Economic Giants under Pressure and New Opportunities

00:07 We have heard many great examples, but what if we are not in Estonia or the Netherlands? Is there something you need to catch up on or something you need to do? What could that be, if it is? First, consider that maybe some countries don't have the right infrastructure, such as broadband expansion, fiber-optic networks, and mobile Internet everywhere – like Estonia, where it's a basic right – for 5G to be available everywhere in the next few years. That would be a great motto.

00:37 For example, Germany, which is seen as a leader in technology, is at best average compared to the other EU countries, which shouldn't be the case.

00:47 They should be in charge instead, and I could ask you the same thing.

00:51 You might work for a small to medium-sized business (SME), where people often say things like, "Yes, we have our business model, but it's analog and we can't digitalize everything," or "Yes, those are new paths we haven't gone down yet, and we're not ready." So, we have some doubts about new technologies, and I hear the same thing from the workers. You might be one of those employees who sometimes has doubts.

01:16 Every time I hear a story, I hear both sides.

01:20 One is, "Man, what I'm doing could be digitalized.

01:23 You could use this software, or you could use algorithms to make it happen automatically. If this were done digitally, it would help me." On the other hand, I hear, "Yes, but what will happen to me?" How will my job change? Do they still need me, or will digitization take my place?" That's a kind of schizophrenia—they are both excited and afraid at the same time.

01:47 This is a problem in many companies.

01:49 Another important point is that the financial and economic crisis of 2008 and 2009 was followed by an incredible boom, great economic growth, and many companies doing very, very well.

02:02 I've heard that this is the sixth record-setting year in a row.

02:05 The problem is that if things are going well, why change anything, especially when things are going so well? You have money and maybe even the resources to invest, try things out, and give new technologies a chance to grow in the organization, but you haven't done any of those things. So, I've heard a lot of people say, "Yes, we should build up storage instead of investing in new ideas." And here you could have hedged for the future.

02:29 Maybe that's what you should learn from this time and do differently next time.

02:34 So, when times are good, we prepare for bad times, and one way to do this is to come up with new ideas.

02:42 Starting with Industry 4.0, there are a lot of opportunities that we need to look into and then use. In Europe, there is a strong medium-sized sector.

02:52 All of the industries in this sector can use Industry 4.0 to get to the next level, and the market will grow to be worth many billions of dollars.

03:01 If we look ahead, digital healthcare will also bring about big changes in the healthcare field. That means that not only will the medical record be made digital, with all of our information that will make us healthier and help us find the right doctor faster when we need to, but also that medical technology will change a lot.

03:20 There will be brand-new business models, and people will live longer and be much healthier. People in the auto industry talk a lot about artificial intelligence and self-driving cars, which makes sense since we will soon have these cars.

03:33 When we don't have to drive ourselves anymore, we can just sit back and relax.

03:38 Then, of course, this will also change a lot.

03:42 Because you don't just sell a car, you sell mobility, and while we're being driven from point A to point B, we can do things we couldn't do before.

03:54 Then, maybe Daimler, BMW, Volkswagen, Renault, Fiat, and others will be able to sell to Google, Amazon, Netflix, and so on.

04:03 This will lead to synergies, cooperation, and completely new business models.

04:10 This example shows that there will be some overlap between industries and that ideas and innovations will come from across industries.

04:18 For example, in Tübingen, which is in the south of Germany, there is a research facility called a "cyber valley" where companies from different industries come together to think about the future of AI and do research.

04:37 There are e-commerce companies that make cars and medium-sized companies that work with aluminum and steel, and they all wonder, "How can we make artificial intelligence?" How can we work together to come up with shared business models?" This is going on everywhere, not just there.