9. German-Japanese Economic Forum, 2015

With a record of over 350 participants - more than half were Japanese - the German-Japanese Economic Forum at the Hannover Messe was the starting point for bilateral dialogue on the top current issues. The presentations and discussions made it clear that “Industry 4.0”, the digitalization of industry and the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) in production and complete product life cycles, is growing in Germany. Japanese companies are closely following this development but also reacting cautiously. On the other hand, Japan largely hides its national “Platform Industry 4.0”.Nevertheless, the possibilities for cooperation are numerous.