How can Europe secure its digital infrastructure while fostering innovation and competitiveness? This question lies at the heart of this DLD26 expert panel discussion with Melanie Kehr (KfW Bankengruppe), Mallik Rao (Telefonica Germany), and Clemens Fuest (ifo Institute), moderated by Gordon Repinski (Politico Germany).
“If you fall back in digital, yes, you do have a problem”, Clemens Fuest says, pointing to a striking infrastructure gap: Europe has 4,000 satellites in orbit or planned, compared to China’s 20,000 and the United States’ 40,000. “This means we will fall behind further in infrastructure”, Fuest warns.
Melanie Kehr highlights KfW’s investments in 150 European funds covering roughly 2,900 portfolio companies – about half working on AI. “This shows that there is something going on”, she says. “We can do something – but it’s not enough yet.” She calls for a dual strategy: partnering with U.S. hyperscalers now while cultivating European champions for future growth.
Mallik Rao notes that “the quality of fundamental engineering” in Europe is “by far the best”, but application engineering is stifled by fragmentation and risk aversion. “Why can’t we have a single market for telecom?”, he asks. “Why can’t we have a single market for finance?”
