180 entrepreneurs discussed challenges and prospects for print and media companies in Germany at the central industry event organised by the German Printing and Media Industries Federation. The focus was on artificial intelligence and its application for print and media companies.
After a welcome and introduction by the President of the BVDM, Wolfgang Poppen, the Federal Minister of Justice, Dr Marco Buschmann, explained that entrepreneurs should above all be relieved of bureaucracy so that they can focus on their core business. For him, Germany is in a real bureaucracy burn-out that needs to be resolved as quickly as possible. The Meseburg relief package alone, which will apply from 1 January 2025, is expected to reduce compliance costs by 3.5 billion.
The Managing Director of the BVDM, Kirsten Hommelhoff, emphasised that the BVDM is working hard to achieve significant relief for companies in the print and media industry. ‘The framework conditions for our industry are not easy. Excessive bureaucracy and impractical decisions at European level are major challenges for the predominantly small and medium-sized print and media companies,’ she criticised. Other economic challenges for the printing industry include transformation, the shortage of skilled labour and sustainability. The transformation of the industry also includes the main theme of the German Print and Media Day, artificial intelligence. ‘The manufacturing sector, which includes the printing industry, is a pioneer in Germany when it comes to the use of artificial intelligence,’ emphasised Kirsten Hommelhoff. According to the Ifo Institute, the number of companies in the manufacturing sector using AI has almost doubled from 2023 to 2024.
Presentations by renowned experts on the topic of AI rounded off the German Print and Media Day 2024. Tobias Kaase, Managing Director of mediaprint solutions GmbH, showed how companies can be made fit for artificial intelligence. His credo was that it takes three stages of digitalisation to achieve AI.
Prof. Dr Thomas Thiessen, Head of Mittelstand-Digital Zentrum Zukunftskultur Berlin, broke new ground for the print and media industry with the help of AI. Finally, Michael Ehrmantrtaut, Chief Technology Officer and AI for the public sector at IBM Technology, presented the successful project of the Norwegian daily newspaper iTromsø to show how AI can be used successfully in practice.
Kirsten Hommelhoff draws a positive conclusion from the German Print and Media Day: ‘After stimulating discussions, presentations and practical examples on artificial intelligence and the resulting challenges and opportunities, the participants take away a lot of inspiration. From practice for practice. ‘From practice for practice is also the motto of the BVDM Executive Committee. On 20 September 2024, the Executive Committee was confirmed for a further term of office.
BVDM
The Bundesverband Druck und Medien e. V. (bvdm) is the umbrella organisation of the German printing industry. As an employers’ association, political business association and technical trade association, it represents the positions and objectives of the printing industry vis-à-vis politicians, administration, trade unions and the supplier industry. The bvdm is supported by eight regional associations. Internationally, it is organised through its membership of Intergraf and FESPA. The printing industry currently comprises around 6,500 predominantly small and medium-sized companies with more than 106,000 employees subject to social security contributions.
