Making the web work for Germany

When our Vice President Matt Brittin first visited Berlin it was 1985 and he was a competitor in the Rowing World Championships. The city, then divided, is now reunited as the capital of one of the world’s most prosperous countries and Matt was delighted to return to give a keynote speech today in front of 700 distinguished guests at an exciting conference called Kompetenzzentrum Wirtschaftsrat.

This year’s conference focuses on the significant economic opportunities offered by the Internet. If Germany is going to keep up with its remarkable economic record, Matt told the audience that the country will need to win on the Internet. The good news, he added, is that German business has already started to use the web well, in fact a 2011 study by Bitkom found that 11% of German GDP and jobs depended on businesses using the web.

Matt Brittin speaks in Berlin

Matt greets German Minister of Economics and Technology Philipp Rosler

Small businesses are leading the way. a bakery from Dresden that sells Christmas cakes, has used web advertising to expand beyond its one local shop - and export to Japan, Mexico, Canada and more. Large industrial businesses are also waking up to the opportunity. Matt spoke about how he recently visited Wolfsburg, home to Volkswagen, where 2.1 million people visited its showroom last year. Around the world people searched Google for VW and their models over five billion times, and viewed the company’s videos on YouTube more than 170 million times.

German industry is also proving adept at experimenting with new business models that take advantage of digital possibilities. A good illustration is “Drive Now”, the car-sharing business that’s a partnership between BMW and Sixt. Berlin is now considered to be home to among the world’s most vibrant and fastest growing startup scenes, and no wonder when you look at some of the businesses emerging: SoundCloud, launched in 2008, now claims to be world’s largest online community of artists, bands, podcasters and anyone creating music and audio content.

The potential for making the web work for growth, innovation and culture are tremendous and the Internet would be a poorer place if Germany were not to take up these opportunities. We at Google have recently called for more moonshot thinking - proposals that address huge problems by suggesting radical solutions that use breakthrough technology to make it happen. With a rich history of innovation from renowned carmaker Karl Benz to telecommunications pioneer Werner von Siemens it is about time for the next moonshot made in Germany, powered by the web.

Posted by Sandro Gianella, Public Policy & Government Relations Analyst, Berlin