WHO AM I? A curious and optimistic person. If you want a good future, you have to create it.

WHAT DO I DO FOR A LIVING? WHAT AM I RESPONSIBLE FOR? Actually, I’m a founder and investor in the deep-tech Internet environment. Last year I was appointed the founding director of SPRIND, the newly founded German Agency for Disruptive Innovation. Our mission is to turn research results and inventions into new companies or even industries that will secure our prosperity in Germany and Europe. Yes, that’s all ;)

HOW I BELIEVE WE WILL LIVE IN 10 YEARS… As an optimist and reader of Factfulness, I want to help ensure that the trend of recent decades toward improving the quality of life for the vast majority of people continues into the future. As a global community, we should and will continue along this path. The UN Millennium Development Goals are a good compass for this. In my view, the greatest challenges facing Germany and Europe are to stake out our role and position in the face of all-encompassing digitalization, climate change and demographic trends.

HERE’S WHAT I’D LIKE TO CHANGE IN GERMANY RIGHT NOW… I would replace the German fear gene with a courage gene. We have achieved so much in Germany and Europe in the last 75 years. 120 years ago, the physics and chemistry books were written in German. We invented entire industries and were the world’s pharmacy. I’d wish we all had more courage and desire to work together on a future that is viable for us, our children and all other living things on the planet.

WHAT DO COHESION AND INNOVATIONS MEAN TO ME? At the moment, the Black Lives Matter movement offers a dramatic reminder that it is essential for a healthy society to be fair and governed by the rule of law – and that people should enjoy the same opportunities and the same living conditions wherever possible. That’s the glue that holds together the kind of society in which I want to live. Only if we can create this equal treatment can we also tap the full potential of society. If there are parts you exclude, then you’re not running at full power. Technical and social innovations are the engine that improves the quality of our lives and extends our lifespans. I am not concealing the fact that climate change is the result of the combustion of coal, oil and gas that goes hand-in-hand with our modern lives. But as I said a moment ago: It is within our grasp to pull ourselves out of this mess by our own bootstraps. The only way to solve the problems of progress is through more progress. All we have to do is make that happen!

WHAT LESSONS SHOULD WE DRAW FROM THE CORONAVIRUS CRISES?
As we have seen, we have come through the crisis well with the social market economy and a strong state. The passage of the latest stimulus package gives the government an opportunity to highlight its capacity to act – and hopefully to make a decisive contribution to alleviating the economic hardships of the crisis. If, as I assume, we emerge from this crisis intact, we should always remind one another that an active and (in moderation) regulatory state is a bulwark for social peace, and hence for a viable society. I feel extremely privileged to be living in such a great country. This is not something to be taken for granted.