Be it the bus ticket on your smartphone, an online appointment at the Citizens’ Registration Office, or streaming music, movies, and TV shows: Countless processes from our everyday life are digital and are as natural to us as if there had never been anything else. The significant changes in everyday life through the use of digital technologies, both in the economy as well as in society, are referred to as digital transformation or digital change. Social media, big data, cloud services, smart devices, the internet of things, and blockchain are with us every day and sometimes we are aware of it and sometimes we aren’t. It is also impossible for companies today not to get involved with digitalization in order to be efficient and to offer the best possible service to employees and customers. Database applications have a crucial role to play here and we are often not even aware of what is actually going on behind the programs and apps that we use in both our professional and private lives.
How German companies are dealing with digitalization
How is the digital transformation progressing at German companies specifically? According to the study “Digitalization of the Economy” from 2019, published by the President of the digital association Bitkom, Achim Berg, more moderately rather than in full swing. Awareness of the need for digital processes in Germany is increasing however, but there is still a great need for action. The study makes it clear that 60 percent of all the companies surveyed are suddenly beginning to perceive other companies in various industries as direct competitors as a result of digitalization. 42 percent report that competitors in their own industry are ahead of them because they opted for digitalization at an early stage. Both numbers rose slightly compared to the previous year. At 72 percent, the number of companies adjusting products and services for the first time due to digitalization has also developed positively (63 percent in 2018). For the first time, more than half of the companies are offering completely new products and services (53 percent, 2018: 48 Percent).
Only one in five German companies are investing in digitalization
According to the Bitkom study however, German companies still need to take action when it comes to concrete measures. Just 22 percent, or one in five companies, plan on investing in the development of new digital processes in 2020. The same number of respondents (21 percent) have never invested in the digitalization of their company. At just 26 percent, the number of companies that are not pursuing any strategy to face the digital transformation is also worrying. Only 15 percent of those surveyed currently employ a Chief Digital Officer (CDO) or head of digitalization at their companies.
Why are so many companies reluctant to use new digital technologies? They are actually indispensable, because the business of tomorrow is digital.
74 percent and thus three quarters of the respondents view data protection as the biggest hurdle when it comes to digitalization. This is followed by the requirements for technical security (57 percent), the shortage of skilled workers (48 percent), too little time (37 percent), lengthy decision-making processes (21 percent), and a lack of financial resources (20 percent).
By international comparison, Germany’s digitalization is somewhere in the middle, but has been overtaken by some countries when compared to 2019. The American networking equipment supplier Cisco, along with the US analyst Gartner, publishes the Digital Readiness Index every year. Germany is currently ranked 14th in an international comparison of 118 countries. Previously we were in sixth place. This does not mean that the maturity level in terms of digitalization is worse, but rather that other countries have caught up significantly within the past year (source: ©Cisco).
Advancing digitalization with Low-Code applications
Database applications are used in almost every economic sector and advance the digital transformation. Where file folders were previously stacked up and data was manually transferred to Excel lists, programs are now in use that automatically record and manage data. Using Low-Code technology, such applications are created quickly, efficiently, and individually, whether for public administration, at large German Federal authorities, in industry, or even for NGOs. Precise role and rights systems, the possibility of both offline and online use, compliance with security regulations, and the possibility of use by multiple users at the same time make it possible to work with the customized applications in a manner that is both time and cost-saving. A selection of applications created with SCOPELAND shows you what the digital transformation looks like in reality.
A fire department’s digital office
How are investigations actually carried out at the fire department, what costs arise during operations, and how are these paid? Official acts of the fire department are generally subject to fees or charges. Exceptions include measures to rescue people and animals from emergencies or to combat disasters. Fees and costs need to be identified, set, and communicated.
Before the application was created, each deployment had to be recorded and processed manually, cost notices created and sent manually, and incoming payments checked. With SCOPELAND, the Hamburg Fire Department is now working with a completely paperless administration system. This is used for the creation and administration of fee and reimbursement notices after operations, with the exception of operations by the emergency services. Since then, the processing rate has increased significantly and the error rate has been minimized.
Automatic underwater sound measurements to protect the oceans
If new offshore wind turbines are built, underwater sound measurements must be taken in order to protect the maritime habitat. This data is expected to be automatically collected, processed, and made available for research purposes. Before using the SCOPELAND application, the German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) had to manually transfer and manage the enormous amount of data to the workstation and a lot of data remained unprocessed. Thanks to the agile Low-Code application, these data are now automatically recorded at the push of a button and made available for research. The data are collected by external measuring institutes and converted into usable data via signal-analytical evaluations. They are used to verify results and impact forecasts, to answer specific questions, or to process data queries from external entities. The overarching goal of these evaluations is to protect marine life and to initiate appropriate measures.
Administrative solution for immigration
Even if the refugee crisis in Germany is considered over, a reliable administration system is still needed to record the data relating to the issues of foreigners and the handling of asylum procedures. Thus an extensive administration system realized with SCOPELAND for the State of Lower Saxony and the State Reception Authority of Lower Saxony is created. The software will be used as a web application by a thousand users at 11 current and future locations. This creates a powerful specialist application that ensures that all data are managed correctly and that future decisions are thus significantly influenced.
Due to the coronavirus crisis in the current situation, it is becoming clear how important digital progress is: Events and trade fairs are now taking place online, working from home is an integral part of everyday working life, and digital tools are enjoying a large number of users. In addition, numerous working groups have already been formed that will lead to business and government placing more focus on future digital strategies.