Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger (CDU) announced plans for another “relief package” aimed at supporting businesses. Speaking to the Pro-Newsletter Technologie of the Politico news portal, Wildberger stated that the goal is to convene a second cabinet focused on economic relief before the summer break. He elaborated that several measures are being developed to ease bureaucratic costs for the economy by billions of euros. As an example of such a measure, he cited the introduction of building type E, which is intended to simplify construction with more affordable standards; discussions are currently underway with other ministries regarding this.
Furthermore, Wildberger is advancing with European companies the development of an alternative to the controversial data analysis software provided by the US corporation Palantir. “My preference is that we develop our own products and companies in Europe that can compete on the world market” Wildberger noted, emphasizing a long-term commitment to European alternatives. He pointed out that suitable providers already exist within Europe and that “we can support European companies with the necessary capabilities”. However, establishing these kinds of solutions will require time, possibly two to three years.
Wildberger views the state as having a responsibility to accelerate this development process. He indicated that this means collaborating with companies that currently lack sufficient reputation or scale, stating, “We must send them the signal that we trust them with such tasks”. To facilitate this, he suggested pioneering new methods. “When the state and authorities collaborate with smaller firms during the development phase, this is not the traditional path, but we need exactly this shift in thinking”.
Despite advocating for alternatives, Wildberger did not rule out the use of Palantir in the meantime. He confirmed that it is fundamentally possible to employ the technology in a way that meets certain sovereignty requirements, asserting that “emergency hazard prevention is the priority”. He concluded by saying that if no comparable alternative solution is available, security remains the paramount concern.
