The majority of top executives from politics and business expect progress in digitization as a result of the change of government – the population as a whole is significantly more skeptical, as a survey published on Monday showed.
Entrepreneurs optimistic, population skeptical
According to the survey by the Allensbach opinion research institute, 82 percent of the approximately 500 managers surveyed were convinced that the new federal government made up of the SPD, Greens and FDP will push digitalization more decisively than the last cabinet of Angela Merkel (CDU). 17 percent of decision-makers do not believe that. Only one percent answered undecided.
A representative survey of citizens aged 16 and over yielded completely different results. Here, 37 percent of the participants in the survey were optimistic about a possible boost to digitization by the new government. 32 percent of them expressed negative, 31 percent were undecided.
Digitization competence? CDU/CSU crash, FDP wins
The population’s assessment of the digital competence of the individual parties has changed dramatically. While the FDP, which has made the issue the focus of its election campaign, can score points here, the CDU and CSU downright collapsed.
In an earlier survey in 2020, 23 percent of citizens still took the view that the Union parties had the most convincing concept for helping to shape the framework conditions for digital change and driving digitization forward. When the pollsters asked the same question again between the beginning of December 2021 and the beginning of January 2022, only 7 percent of those surveyed saw digital competence most likely in the CDU and CSU.
The FDP was able to increase this question from three to 18 percent. The value for the SPD rose slightly from a low level: by three percentage points to eight percent. The Greens lost two percentage points and are now at six percent. Respondents rated the digital competence of the left (one percent) and the AfD (two percent) as significantly lower.
The digital report, which the ESCP Business School Berlin compiles with the Institute for Demoscopy Allensbach, is being published for the third time this year.
On behalf of the European Center for Digital Competitiveness at the ESCP Business School Berlin, the Institut für Demoskopie Allensbach surveyed 1069 people between December 1, 2021 and January 4, 2022, orally in personal interviews with a representative cross-section of the population aged 16 and over. In addition, the report is based on the results of a survey of around 500 top executives from politics and business, including managing directors, board members, ministers, state secretaries and parliamentary group leaders.
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