Ladies and gentlemen,

Honoured guests at Startup Autobahn’s EXPO 8!

And to you, dear Hannah, many thanks for the invitation to say a few words of welcome.

Nothing’s quite as sure as change! This may be a truism, but it definitely applies to businesses in the technology sector. Such companies have always been subject to changes driven predominantly by technological progress. This of course remains the case during the digital transformation, and perhaps it can now be said that if innovation is the engine, digitisation is the fuel!

The digital transformation is powering changes in many companies. Processes within companies are altering. But it is not always easy for established firms to introduce the necessary changes immediately. Sometimes the changes needed are of a specialised nature and only of temporary significance, because they relate to specific projects. In such cases, it can be a good solution for the established firm to collaborate with innovative start-ups. These can provide the specialised technological know-how and, at least as importantly, contribute to business success by assisting with innovative structures and working methods.

Start-ups are drivers of digital innovation. They are predestined to develop new products, services or digital business models. Sometimes it is better for a large, well-established company to pursue its business activities in cooperation with one or more start-ups rather than building up and maintaining the same know-how within its own organisation.

It is in my opinion important to promote exchange between the various players in the business community, so that ultimately both sides – established firms and new enterprises – benefit from collaborating with each other. It is through exchange that companies become aware of innovative solutions, and knowledge and experience can be transferred. Exchange advances the digital transformation as a whole and makes a key contribution to shaping our digital future. I am thus very glad that there are events such as this, which support cooperation between agile young tech firms and established industrial concerns. It is by working in concert with one another that we can add a new dimension to Germany’s image as a location for technological progress.

I wish you all an interesting event and many stimulating insights on our joint path to a digital future.

Dorothee Bär