<p><b>For business leaders in Europe’s bellwether economy, tech, talent and sustainability have emerged as the cornerstones of resilience.</b></p>

<p>Every kilowatt&nbsp;matters. That’s the message to German citizens and businesses as the country prepares for a tough winter. After two years of pandemic-induced disruptions, Europe's largest economy finds itself tackling multiple critical challenges all at once. A historically high&nbsp;<a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/german-industry-is-grinding-to-a-halt" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">trade deficit</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2022/05/21/due-to-supply-chain-issues-german-companies-have-extended-their-delivery-times-to-an-unprecedented-level\_5984252\_4.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">prolonged</a>&nbsp;order delivery times and, perhaps most tellingly,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/29/russia-ukraine-war-germany-concerned-amid-deepening-energy-crisis.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">an energy crisis</a>&nbsp;induced by the geopolitical upheaval in eastern Europe all highlight the urgency to move on from fossil fuel.</p> <p>For one of the world’s most innovative economies, the mandate is clear: prioritize environment, social and governance concerns (ESG) in the modernization of operations and business models as big change unfolds. Closing the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/big-business-joins-forces-bridge-germanys-growing-skills-gap-2022-04-22/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">digital skills gap</a>&nbsp;will be a key step in that direction. Digital technologies hold the promise of both reducing environmental impacts and increasing employee engagement.</p> <p>In our work to define what it takes to be future-ready—and how close businesses are to reaching a future-ready state—Cognizant commissioned Economist Impact to conduct a&nbsp;survey of 2,000 senior executives from across industries and geographies — including 135 from Germany — as well as create a future-ready benchmarking tool (see our full report, “<a href="https://www.cognizant.com/us/en/insights/perspectives/how-to-be-fit-for-the-future-wf1140900" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ready for anything: what it means to be a modern business</a>”).</p> <p>Our own analysis of this data underscores what executives in Germany and globally need to do now to prepare.</p>

<p><i><br> For more, visit the <a href="/content/cognizant-dot-com/us/en/insights/modern-business.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Modern Business</a>&nbsp;section of our website, or <a href="/content/cognizant-dot-com/us/en/about-cognizant/contact-us.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">contact us</a>.</i></p>