Introdution to and IT Infrustructure of Germany!

Germany is located on the Western side of the Eurasian continent. It used to be called Prussia, but durring the 1880's and 1890's, the many different kingdoms were beginning to be united, which facilitated the rapid industrialization of the country. In the early 1900's, Germany formed an alliance with neighboring Austria/Hungry empire. With the assassination of King Ferdinand, the alliance caused a chain reaction which led to the involvement of Germany in World War I. The defeat of Germany led to large payments of reparation for the war's costs to the victors. These payments and other damages from the war led to a massive depression in the 1930's. These adverse conditions led to the rise of the Nazi political power with its infamous leader Adolf Hitler. Ignoring treaties and limitations placed by other European countries, Hitler conducted a successful campaign resulting in Germany's re-emergence as a global power. The aggressive moves however, led to World War II. Once again, Germany's defeat caused conflict within the country. Divided by the two major Allies of United States and Russia, Germany became the focal point of the Cold War. After being divided for over 40 years, Germany was once again re-united in the early 1990's. Since then Germany has risen again with a formidable economy, and a leader within the European Union.

As far as the GIIC is concerned, Infrastructure is one of the most important contributing factors to a good technology oriented society. Unfortunately, according to an article in Times magazine, they are severely lagging behind. This is due to a high speed internet monopoly called deutsche telekom. About the monopoly, the Times states: "Deutsche Telekom, which has a de facto monopoly on high- speed Internet connections, costs about €28 per month, or 65 percent more than in the Netherlands". However, the fifth supporting element to a well tech oriented society on GIIC's list is entrepreneurship, which is demonstrated in CIO's article "Germany Boasts Fully Automated Supermarket." In a Metro AG's Extra supermarket located outside Rheinburg, Germany a automated market has been created. This market features shopping carts which are equipped with wireless laptops w/bar code scanners. The shopper simply takes a cart and starts shopping, swiping each item in front of the barcode scanner. The scanner keeps a running tab of the shoppers charges, and is also equipped to take credit cards, which makes checkout very easy. The laptop also has the ability to tell a shopper where an item is, what sales are taking place that day, and other useful information. A system of webcams and scales make shopping for produce very easy. This has resulted in a 30 percent increase in new customers which has increased overall sales.


sources:
NYTimes, "Dutch found to be the most computer literate in the world." http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/21/technology/21iht-pew.html
CIOMagazine "Germany Boasts Fully Automated Supermarket." http://www.cio.com/article/32038/Germany_Boast_Fully_Automated_Supermarket