July 21, 2022 in Wiesbaden, the capital of the state of Hesse, was all about gigabit expansion. The Gigabit Summit was conceived and organizsd by Hessen Trade & Invest GmbH on behalf of the Minister for Digital Strategy and Development. The opening speech by Hesse’s Minister for Digitalisation, Prof. Dr. Kristina Sinemus, on the digital networks of the future was the prelude and thus also the thematic signpost of the summit.
Digital Minister Prof. Dr. Kristina Sinemus emphasised at the beginning: “Digitalisation must benefit people and not the other way around”. She underlined the importance of a cooperative approach to the digital networks of the future in order to achieve nationwide fibre optic expansion by 2030. In Hesse, the expansion of fibre optics is progressing, in particular thanks to the self-sufficient expansion. Where this does not take place, local authorities are being supported as part of the Grey-Spot Funding Programme.
At a gigabit summit where the private sector, federal government and federal states come together, the recently adopted gigabit strategy of the Federal Ministry of Digital and Transport (BMDV) naturally comes into focus. In the second presentation of the day, Ministerial Director Gertrud Husch, Head of the Digital Connectivity Department at the BMDV, emphasised that investments by TKU would be accompanied by funding at federal level in order to support the self-sufficient expansion and then only intervene if this did not work.
aconium Managing Director Tim Brauckmüller also referred to the potential of the incentive effect of federal funding: “The gigabit expansion is progressing steadily, self-sufficient and subsidised expansion must be coordinated in order to effectively enable nationwide expansion.”
All participants agreed that the mission has been completed and that the focus is now on the concrete, rapid and efficient implementation of the gigabit expansion.
Another special highlight of the day was the live demonstration of an application for an expansion project via the Hessian broadband portal GigaMaP. The control and information platform digitises the application and approval process. As a basis for planning decisions, the GIS module developed by aconium GmbH supports regional and local planners in making well-founded decisions using data, information and analyses. In order to support stakeholders and train them in its use, the state of Hesse and the aconium Academy are offering a free, wide-ranging series of training courses.
The all-day event was divided into panel discussions and keynotes in the morning and workshops on fixed and mobile networks in the afternoon.
All in all, the Gigabit Summit was a successful and highly informative event and an important meeting place for business and the public sector.
Further impressions of the Gigabit Summit:
