Germany has long had a reputation for manufacturing quality products. But most recently, Germany has been holding their own against cheaper markets such as China, due to the fact that Germany is making use of cutting-edge technology.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at Germany’s approach and what the US could potentially learn from it in order to bolster their own tech industry.
1. The German tech industry is extremely innovative
Germany has a really long history of manufacturing and engineering excellence, going back to the 1800s. These days, this culture of providing top-level work and effort has led to a strong startup philosophy, with the German government encouraging entrepreneurship among its young professionals.
Startups are so commonplace in Germany nowadays that the likes of Amazon, Google and other tech juggernauts have set up shop there, with local headquarters. They aim to tap Germany’s young and eager talent pool of skilled workers to work on the newest tech such as AI, electric cars and even robotics.
Germany is even beginning to shine in the area of app development and creating online games. As the popularity of online casino games in the German market grows, more and more games emerge from German developers that are being played through popular German websites where players can play casino games from any smartphone device or laptop.
These sites are just some examples of the many German-made apps, games and sites that have become very popular among gamblers and game players. And these players are not just from Germany – they’re logging in from all over the globe.
2. Germany invests heavily in research and development
Germany supports risk-taking through publicly funded grants and subsidies that pay for innovators to get involved. This allows people to explore ideas, try out new inventions and attempt to solve problems using government funds or even private contributions.
German invests nearly 3% of its GDP into research, encompassing all types of technological projects. This provides the budget needed to pursue exciting new ideas that otherwise may have gone unexplored. This budget paves the way to new possibilities.
This is a major advantage over the US for entrepreneurs and startups with big ideas that need funding. If the US could offer the same, it could foster a lot of innovation. However, programs like those needed for such policies don’t come cheap – the US would need to take a closer look at how it gets money for grants around the country and in each state.
3. Germany emphasizes engineering in education
If there’s any country in the world that you could point to and say that it is engineering focused, then that country would of course be Germany. It’s at the point where you could say that engineering is a part of Germany’s culture. There is a strong emphasis on the importance of engineering and this is evident in their level of achievements in engineering.
This emphasis on engineering carries over to the tech industry, where innovation is not only encouraged but is necessary. The tech industry requires individuals who are forward thinkers to solve problems by coming up with solutions that did not previously exist.
Germany’s education system supports this focus on engineering and technology, and that’s why Germany has so many skilled and highly qualified workers in this field. That’s not to say that Germany has an overall better quality of education than the United States, though. Some of the best universities in the world are located in the United States, so it’s not as if the United States is at a disadvantage in terms of education. Germany’s advantage seems to lie in simply having a much stronger emphasis on the importance of engineering and technology.
This is something new, as Germany has been a country full of innovators, going back over 100 years and even before that. In today’s world economy, this has paid off for Germany, and their commitment to innovation has led them to where they are today as the world’s leading country in terms of innovation.
Germany’s main focus has been on transportation
Germany has been focusing on driverless vehicles and electric vehicles but that’s just part of what they’ve been up to. It seems only logical that Germany would concentrate a lot of their efforts on vehicles, considering that this has long been a focus of theirs, with multiple major car manufacturers in the country.
Recently, BMW has been working on their electric vehicles and bringing a luxury touch to the electric vehicle industry in Europe. The US, of course, has Tesla and others to compete with this. Elon Musk even left the schematics of his Tesla vehicles open to the public to ensure innovation elsewhere – no doubt German vehicle innovators have had a look at them.
Conclusion
Germany is the number one country in the world in terms of innovation. They are even ahead of the United States, which can learn a thing or two about the way this European power does things. If the US can heed the strategies that Germany uses as outlined above, it can likely boost its level of innovation even more.
