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Hollywood knew it.

The film “Contagion”, released in 2011, is about a global pandemic: a deadly virus spreading from Asia to the whole world.

It's about scientists who become heroes.

About R values.

To the distribution of vaccine.

To people in quarantine.

About death and suffering.

Even about conspiracy mystics who live - and die - in their very own reality.

Everything is even more dramatic than we are currently experiencing.

But still strikingly close to it.

And with a happy ending.

So Hollywood knew.

And we all knew it too.

It was never about “if”, just “when”.

And yet we were shockingly unprepared in many places in Germany and Europe: in education and administration, both of which are far from digital;

in our supply chains and processes;

in production, which is largely located in Asia.

And partly in our business models, which are also less digital than elsewhere.

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Even if the crisis has not yet been overcome, we can now see light at the end of the tunnel.

But what then follows?

Will we pat each other on the shoulders for what we shouldered?

Yes, we survived the first wave of the pandemic in the spring of 2020 halfway lightly.

Because people showed solidarity with one another.

Because they tackled.

Because home office was possible thanks to stable communication networks.

Because the state has cushioned a lot with extensive aids such as short-time work benefits.

And also thanks to outstanding German research that tells an encouraging story about immigration.

The beginning of a renewal process

But after the crisis, we shouldn't fall into a “sleep of the satisfied”, as sometimes happened after the first wave.

What has been substantially improved in schools since then?

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My impression is: We have made ourselves comfortable in our systems.

In a double federalism of the European Union and 16 federal states.

In our institutions.

In our processes.

Furnished in part because most of it - often reasonably - worked.

So good, anyway, that it was easier to block out some of the reality than to fight the battles.

The development of the vaccine opens up great opportunities for us.

It can mean the end - the end of the pandemic.

But it must also mean the beginning - the beginning of a renewal process.

In Germany and Europe.

It starts with an honest analysis: what went well?

What went wrong

So what are we changing?

This also applies to Telekom;

we are happy to participate.

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For example in education.

The Ifo Institute found that 45 percent of all students had no individual contact with their teachers during the first lockdown.

57 percent had less than once a week online lessons.

There is a lack of hardware, software and education servers.

Every household will have a fiber optic connection by 2030

Telekom could immediately assign 1,000 employees to develop future concepts, provide technical support and much more.

But it cannot be that such offers are only called up if they are free of charge.

The second topic is of course the expansion of the infrastructure.

Not only the broadband networks, but also the rail networks, electricity networks for the energy transition, charging networks for e-mobility, etc. Telekom invests over five billion euros per year in Germany - more than any other competitor.

My goal is also: by 2030 every household will have a fiber optic connection.

Part of it comes from us.

Part of our competitors.

That costs a lot of money.

How do we do it?

Ten digital corporations cause 80 percent of the Internet traffic on our infrastructure, on which they generate their profits.

However, they do not contribute to the costs.

But it would be good if billions from the Valley could also be used for fiber optics in Germany.

Third, we need to further develop the European internal market.

Because so far we have not been able to consistently use economies of scale.

Antitrust law should not be based on 27 member states, but on one Europe.

It has to be: "What can we all win?"

That would help create providers that can compete with the giants from America and China.

These include mergers in the banking, manufacturing and telecommunications sectors.

Without the same economies of scale, we will never achieve the same sovereignty.

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Fourth, I believe that all of this will only be possible if we reform our decision-making structures and administrations.

Structures are not laws of nature.

You can change it.

Here politics has its own task, responsibility and unrestricted influence, so to speak "on their own farm".

The aim should be to reduce bureaucracy.

We don't have a crisis of knowledge.

But an implementation crisis.

In our multi-layered decision-making structures, the individual certainly has good intentions.

But the lowest common denominator achieved is often neither communicable nor problem-solving.

And we should no longer have to discuss the rule of law as the core of the European idea.

All of this presupposes a kind of cultural change in our society.

The question must not be: “What do I have to lose?” It has to be: “What can we all gain?” And what specific contribution do I make?

We can tackle some points directly:

1. A new antitrust law that allows size and protects European interests.

That facilitates European cooperation and ensures open and fair markets

2. Consistent expansion of the infrastructure and suitable framework conditions for those who invest.

3. Transformation of the European economy.

Including European cloud that needs demand.

That means: priority in public tenders.

4. An administrative reform at all levels, which ensures greater efficiency and positions the state as a customer for digital applications as a driver of innovation.

And please don't forget the schools!

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And please don't pat on the back.

But look ahead with optimism and tackle it.

It should be "a matter of honor" for each of us.

Not like in Hollywood.

But with a happy ending.

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