Digital Technologies, incl. Blockchain, in the German Economy

Tasks

Digital technologies, in particular AI, Cloud Computing and Blockchain, are penetrating more and more central economic sectors and are becoming increasingly relevant for a growing number of economic actors, including consumers, companies, administration and finance authorities, politicians, and international organizations. However, economic research on digital technologies, especially empirical research, is still at its very beginnings. Blockchain technology remains largely unexplored in the German economy, despite its significance for future political and economic decisions. In the ifo survey June 2023, companies were surveyed for the first time on their use of digital technologies, including blockchain, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing.

Ifo Institute's central service is the collection, analysis, and interpretation of business data. As a result, business surveys are one of the Ifo Institute's central services. A special question on how businesses are using digital technologies, including blockchain technology, was included in the ifo surveys to research web3 penetration in the German economy.

Data and Other Sources

ifo Business Surveys, June 2023.

Results

Artificial intelligence, blockchain, and cloud computing are digital technologies that pro-vide companies with significant cost, time, and process advantages and can thus drive a variety of economically relevant ecosystems. Their economic impact, however, goes beyond cost and process optimization, since they enable completely new business models and business processes, creating new opportunities for value creation. The digital transformation, therefore, is undergoing a rapid pace and posing significant challenges to companies and policymakers alike. While a binding European law for the use and application of digital technologies has yet to emerge, the German economy has already began a digital transformation, which puts it in global competition to gain technology leadership.