The BIGS was commissioned by the Expertenkommission Forschung und Innovation (Expert Commission for Research and Innovation (EFI)) to conduct a study on the connection between cyber security and economic growth. In this study, Wolfgang Bretschneider, Johannes Rieckmann, Tim Stuchtey and Alexander Szanto examine, on the one hand, whether a lack of cybersecurity is an obstacle to general economic growth, since possible productivity gains associated with digitization are not fully exploited. On the other hand, the authors outline how the IT security industry itself can increasingly become a driver for economic growth in the economy. We can now finally publish this study. It should make a contribution,

• adapt market regulation so that there is an incentive for more protection in cyberspace for all market participants,
• the state with its demand makes a stronger contribution to the market success of innovative digital solutions and
• at the same time German IT security companies become more competitive internationally.

However, all this can only succeed if the lack of human capital in the area of cyber security in Germany is effectively countered.

This study was commissioned by the EFI. The results and interpretations are the sole responsibility of the institutes conducting the study. The EFI has not influenced the drafting of the report.

in: Expertenkommission Forschung und Innovation (EFI)(Ed.), Studien zum deutschen Innovationssystem, No. 11-2020