Germany's foremost leader in digital retail, Karsten Wildberger, secures a new role as the country's first Minister for Digital Affairs.
Here's the Rewritten Article:
Digital Minister Appointment Stirs the Pot
It's no secret that the digital world has been buzzing about a potential Digital Minister, tossing around a slew of exciting and worthy candidates - only for Friedrich Merz to appoint a bloke: Karsten Wildberger. And Y'all thought it was all talk, eh? According to "Bild", Wildberger will be the first Federal Digital Minister.
Fresh off his stint as the CEO of the MediaMarkt/Saturn group, Wildberger's resume boasts leadership roles at T-Mobile, Vodafone, EON, and more, while also serving on boards and spearheading departments like decentralized energy infrastructure, energy procurement, electric mobility, marketing, digital transformation, and IT. The guy's a jack-of-all-trades, isn't he? He even managed to squeeze in a bit of physics study at the Technical University of Munich and RWTH Aachen, followed by an MBA from INSEAD.
The New Ministry on the Block
The first German Digital Ministry is all set to focus on administrative digitalization and modernization. Insiders like Fedor Rose (SPD), head of the State Chancellery of Rhineland-Palatinate, who were apparently involved in coalition negotiations on digitalization, have been chatterboxes about this. According to these insiders, Wildberger and his team will focus on "establishing technological sovereignty with a European focus, which should be anchored in all projects and instruments." In simpler terms, they're aiming to bring Germany to the digital frontline.
All Women in the Running, or So It Seemed
In recent weeks, the gossip mill has been churning out names of potential candidates for the position. Noteworthy among them was Verena Pausder, who earned the startup scene's nod. Christian Miele, GP of the VC Headline, even penned a glowing LinkedIn post touting Pausder as the "ideal choice" for the position. Investors and industry figures agreed, but alas, politics ain't decided on social media.
Verena Pausder, however, had her say in a chat with Gründerszene. She clarified that Miele's post wasn't coordinated and maintained that appointed positions aren't determined on LinkedIn. Politics, she argued, is no walk in the park. After all, it requires undivided attention and allegiance, taking a toll on personal and family life.
Other names in the mix included computer science professor and AI expert Verena Wolf, former Bavarian digital minister Judith Gerlach, former Gruner and Jahr publishing house board member Julia Jäkel, and Kristina Sinemus, a Hessian Minister for Digitalization and Innovation since 2019.
The Grudge Match: Will There Be a Digital Ministry or Not?
For quite some time now, most parties and the public have agreed that digitalization demands a minister of its own. A Bitkom survey even revealed that 71 percent of Germans clamor for the creation of an independent Digital Ministry.
Verena Pausder, the Chairwoman of the German Startup Association, has been advocating for such a ministry since day one. She opined that the ministry should focus exclusively on digitalization and modernization of the administration, making user experience and speed top priorities.
The creation of the Digital Ministry faced criticism over costs and concerns that digitalization is a cross-sectional issue, requiring attention across all ministries. However, with the appointment of Karsten Wildberger, the future will tell if the criticism was warranted or not.
- What was initially speculated to be a gender-diverse lineup of potential candidates for the Digital Minister role turned out to be dominated by men, as Friedrich Merz appointed Karsten Wildberger.
- The establishment of the first German Digital Ministry, with Karsten Wildberger at the helm, has a focus on administrative digitalization and modernization, striving for "technological sovereignty with a European focus."
- Despite Verena Pausder, the Chairwoman of the German Startup Association, and many others advocating for an independent Digital Ministry, the appointment of Karsten Wildberger has sparked debates regarding the necessity of such a ministry and the crossing of departmental boundaries in digitalization efforts.
- As the Digital Minister, Karsten Wildberger, with his extensive background in telecommunications, energy, and digital transformation, seems an unlikely choice in comparison to some of the other high-profile candidates, such as Verena Pausder, who had been gaining support from the startup scene.
