Bundesbank keynote: Renew, research, digitalise Germany's fitness programme

Fritzi Köhler-Geib of the Deutsche Bundesbank delivered a keynote at the Bundesbank.connected evening reception in Wiesbaden on 23 April 2026 outlining a “fitness programme” for Germany and the Bundesbank focused on renewing, researching and digitalising the economy and public institutions.

• Main announcement/action: The Bundesbank presented a three-part programme to boost Germany’s growth via structural reforms, digitalisation and strategic reduction of technological dependencies; concrete items mentioned include a shift in cloud strategy toward an EU-owned sovereign public cloud (medium-term goal), the Bundesbank’s move of its integrated data & analysis platform (IDA) into a hyperscaler Public Cloud, and Bundesbank initiatives in quantum computing, DLT, AI, and RPA.
• Background and key details: The speech referenced fiscal impulses from additional defence and infrastructure spending (estimated cumulative growth effect of 1.3 percentage points to 2028), the Deutschlandfonds (stated 30 billion euro public funds and guarantees aiming to mobilise 130 billion euro total investment), and survey/statistical sources on AI adoption (e.g., 54% of firms using AI expect large productivity gains), VC investment shares (Germany 0.24% of GDP vs USA 0.87%) and other empirical references (DESI, Global Innovation Index, Bundesbank Online Panel).