Representatives of the Organisation for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Regional Innovation and the Japan External Trade Organisation met with Dr Christian Schröder, Dr Jonas Löher und Dr Sebastian Schneider at the end of November to discuss the progress of digital transformation in Germany.
The discussion revealed that family businesses in Japan are facing similar problems to those in Germany: Small and medium-sized enterprises in particular lack qualified employees to accelerate digitization processes and take full advantage of the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence. Due to demographic developments, Japan is also facing an increasing shortage of skilled workers and an aging workforce. Consequently both sides agreed that learning opportunities and willingness to learn must be expanded in small and medium-sized enterprises.
