Berlin/Bonn May 19, 2021 The German Broadband Association (BREKO) is launching its “Fiber for Future” initiative with this clear message in the super election year 2021. The aim of the initiative, which starts today, is to highlight the importance of digital policy and digital infrastructure. As part of this, the association is recognizing politicians for their digital policy work.

Digitalization is high on the political agenda in the year of the federal elections. The coronavirus pandemic and the climate crisis have shown that Germany needs to become faster and more digital in many areas. Whether it’s digital education, digital administration, digital healthcare solutions or the use of digital applications for sustainable development. Germany still has a lot of catching up to do in all of these areas. In order to exploit the potential of digitalization in all areas and enable the development of innovative technologies, Germany needs the best digital infrastructure, i.e. fiber optic networks that are available nationwide.

With the initiative launched today, BREKO wants to emphasize the importance of digital policy and digital infrastructure for all policy areas in the 2021 election year. In order to promote even more digital policy expertise in federal, state and local politics and thus at all political levels in Germany, the association is recognizing selected politicians for their digital policy work as part of the campaign. These are intended to serve as role models for politicians to get involved in digital policy. In addition, interested politicians receive information and inspiration on important digital policy topics in virtual event formats. As part of the campaign, (potential) members of the Bundestag and state parliaments will be offered opportunities to find out about the opportunities of digital change in their constituencies, in particular the challenges and solutions for fibre optic expansion as an important basis for digitalization, and to campaign for digital policy issues during the election campaign. This should help to shape digitalization in Germany in the long term and sustainably for the benefit of citizens and companies.

Digital policy pioneers honored

North Rhine-Westphalia’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Digital Affairs, Prof. Dr. Andreas Pinkwart, was the first digital politician to receive an award at the Glasfaserforum in NRW at the beginning of May. Andreas Pinkwart received the award for his commitment to the digital strategy of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and his support for cities and districts in expanding the digital infrastructure. A total of nine politicians were selected for the award at the start of the campaign. The official award ceremony will follow.

An overview of the politicians who have received awards as part of the initiative:

Hansjörg Durz, Member of the Bundestag, Member of the Bundestag Committee on the Digital Agenda, CSU
Gustav Herzog, Member of the Bundestag, Rapporteur of the SPD parliamentary group for digital infrastructure, SPD
Manuel Höferlin, Member of the Bundestag, Chairman of the Bundestag Committee on the Digital Agenda, FDP
Thomas Jarzombek, Member of the Bundestag, BMWi Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Start-ups and Federal Government Coordinator for Aerospace, CDU
Lars Klingbeil, Member of the Bundestag, Secretary General of the SPD
Falko Mohrs, Member of the Bundestag, Member of the Bundestag Committee on the Digital Agenda, SPD
Christian Pegel, Minister for Energy, Infrastructure and Digitalization of the State of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, SPD
Prof. Dr. Andreas Pinkwart, Minister for Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalization and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, FDP Andreas Pinkwart, Minister for Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalization and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, FDP
Margit Stumpp, Member of the Bundestag, Spokesperson for Education Policy, Media Policy and Expert on Digital Infrastructure, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen parliamentary group
The campaign met with a positive response in the political arena at the start. Here are some of the voices of the award-winning politicians:

“I am delighted to receive this award as a digital politician! It is both a motivation and an incentive for me. The corona pandemic shows under the magnifying glass how much our everyday lives depend on a modern digital infrastructure in Germany. We must continue to work hard to upgrade our networks.” Thomas Jarzombek, BMWi Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Start-ups and Federal Government Coordinator for Aerospace, Member of the Bundestag, CDU

“I have always been committed to seeing digitalization as an opportunity and putting the positive side first. As an opportunity to make people in our country better off, to create new jobs and to make our economy even stronger. With our great diversity of small and medium-sized enterprises, we have the best prerequisites to make Germany the world champion in the application of artificial intelligence and thus become a global role model for digitalization. Unfortunately, digital policy ambitions have been repeatedly thwarted in key areas in recent years. The coronavirus crisis has shown just how much digital catching up there is to do. I am therefore all the more pleased about this award and BREKO’s initiative. I am convinced that anyone who wants to successfully shape Germany’s future must be competent in digital policy.” Lars Klingbeil, Secretary General of the SPD, Member of the Bundestag

“I am delighted to receive the BREKO association’s award for digital policy. The coronavirus pandemic is not the only thing that has shown how important digital processes and procedures are – and that Germany still has some catching up to do in some areas. This also includes digitalization in education and the teaching of IT and media skills. The past year has shown that only with fast and broadband Internet access can people participate in social, increasingly digitalized life and use home office, distance learning or digital administrative services. Nationwide, reliable broadband internet access is part of public services and an important building block for creating equal living conditions. I will continue to work towards this with the utmost commitment in the future.” Margit Stumpp, spokesperson for education policy, media policy and expert for digital infrastructure, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen parliamentary group in the Bundestag

Event formats relating to digital policy

Whether you are a politician, entrepreneur or citizen – digital policy affects everyone. The initiative’s virtual events in the run-up to the federal and state elections will address the challenges of future-oriented digital policy for various target groups. The plan is to actively involve the award-winning digital politicians in the events in order to report on the challenges and success factors of digital policy.

Find out more about the initiative, the award-winning politicians and the digital policy impetus they have provided at fiber-for-future.de, digitalpolitikerin.de and on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About the BREKO

As the leading fiber optic association with more than 380 member companies, the Bundesverband Breitbandkommunikation e.V. (BREKO) successfully promotes competition in the German telecommunications market. Its members are clearly committed to future-proof fiber optics and are currently responsible for almost 75 percent of the competitive expansion of fiber optic connections to buildings and homes. The more than 220 telecommunications network operators organized in the association supply both metropolitan areas and rural areas with future-proof fibre optic connections. In 2019, they invested EUR 2.5 billion and generated a turnover of EUR 7.8 billion. Further information can be found at www.brekoverband.de.