Position Paper: Germany's AI Strategy in 2018

"Germany can only be a strong player on the global stage of AI if politics understands that it is necessary to be bold, determined, and optimistic - now."
Dr. Andreas Liebl, Managing Director of the appliedAI Initiative.

The German government will publish Germany's AI strategy in the fall of 2018. The position paper is a response to the government's analysis from June. It is intended to serve as a blueprint and call to action for politics and the public on how Germany should use AI to keep pace with the world in the AI race.

The key points are:

  • Create a positive vision for AI in Germany and Europe
  • Focus funding on a few AI centers in Germany to pool resources
  • Pursue a holistic approach to the application of AI (economy, science, society, politics)
  • Train professionals and users in AI
  • Support German AI startups
  • Enable AI research and transformation in companies
  • Introduce AI in schools and universities
  • Improve the exchange and dialogue between research and industry
  • Create legal frameworks for open data sources and test labs

The appliedAI initiative is the initiator, but the position paper is the result of many contributors. appliedAI has discussed, analyzed, and planned the future of AI in the German economy and society with a whole network of decision-makers and forward-thinking personalities.


The supporters are:

  • Markus Löffler, Group Chief Technology Officer at Allianz SE
  • Thomas Kremer, Board Member for Data Privacy, Legal Affairs, and Compliance at Deutsche Telekom AG
  • Stefan Läufer, Head of Digitization at GC Gruppe
  • Ralf Wintergerst, CEO at Giesecke+Devrient GmbH
  • Wieland Holfelder, Vice President of Engineering & Site Lead Google Munich at Google
  • Hoffmann GmbH Quality Tools
  • Reinhard Ploss, CEO at Infineon Technologies AG
  • Christian Bruch, Member of the Executive Board at Linde AG
  • Wolfgang Hauner, Chief Data Officer at Munich Reinsurance Company
  • Walter Mundt-Blum, VP Strategic Alliance / EMEA at NVIDIA
  • Eberhard Weiblen, CEO at Porsche Consulting
  • Carl McQuillan, VP Technical Services EMEA at Pure Storage
  • Bernd Leukert, Member of Executive Board, Products & Innovation at SAP SE
  • Matthias Weber, CFO; Piero Sciotto, Head Supply Chain and Procurist at Sandoz Deutschland / HEXAL AG
  • Norbert Lütke-Entrup, Head of Technology & Innovation Management at Siemens AG
  • Dirk Ramhorst, CIO/CDO at Wacker Chemie AG