Manfred Reitenspiess, owner of in4com.de, has provided extensive comments on the greenbook „Digital Platforms“ (Grünbuch „Digitale Plattformen“) as published by the German Government (we had pointed out the opportunity to contribute in „Digital Sovereignty - Participate! Contribute!). The received comments were summarised by the German Ministry of Economy and Energy BMWE. In4com.de comments were cited a number of times and are completely available for download. In a follow-up step (beginning of 2017) a whitebook is to be published as a step toward a German digital agenda. The whitebook shall come up with specific recommendations and calls for action with respect to the evolution of digital platforms (see the official webpages of the BMWE).

The ”Greenbook Digital Platforms (Grünbuch Digitale Plattformen)”, published by the German government in May 2016, is a clear proof that digital sovereignty is recognized as a necessary requirement for a successful digital transformation in Germany and Europe. Important issues with particular reference to the use of data, their economic value and the protection of individual users’ rights are explicitly addressed, looking for solution proposals. A call for action is sent to the public (see https://gruenbuch.de.digital/de/kommentieren/ to contribute and participate actively in the ongoing discussion).Resulting recommendations for follow-up actions are planned for 2017.

Digital Sovereignty is in the list of topics of Germany’s Digital Strategy 2025 … however, more implementation details are required.

Update 2016-06-08: Digital Sovereignty comes in focus on de.digital (in German), see also "Digital Sovereignty - Participate! Contribute!"

The growing powers and influence of Internet monopolies during the ongoing digital transformation threatens democratic societies - WE HAVE TO ACT.

Conference Summary: GIC@CeBIT 2016
European Cyber Security Conference at CeBIT 2016

Organized by the Global Industry Club GIC, March 14, 2016, Hannover, Germany

„Cyber Security is a societal debate“ or „The glass is always half full…“

The multi-facets of cyber security became obvious during the first day of CeBIT 2016 in Hannover, Germany during the well attended European Cyber Security Conference, organized by the Global Industry Club. The participants could listen to five high-profile keynote presentations and contribute during four parallel workshops. A lively podium finalized the event. Gabriele Rittinghaus, the event initiator, was very satisfied with the results: “Being present on the first day of CeBIT with such an important topic is a huge opportunity and obligation at the same time.”

Our digital sovereignty is jeopardized by potential monopolies of big Internet companies such as Google and Apple.

(SZ: Johannes Kuhn: Letzte Ausfahrt Zukunft/Last Exit: the Future; in German: SZ #11, 2016-01-15; URL: http://www.sueddeutsche.de/digital/mozilla-letzte-ausfahrt-zukunft-1.2818241, accessed on 2016-01-16, 11:01 UTC)