Nachhaltigkeit und Verantwortung

The initiative

DIGITAL X is Europe’s leading digitalization initiative. It brings together company groups, SMEs, start-ups, politicians, visionaries, and top experts as one community—to ensure that digitalization is sustainable and our country becomes more competitive.

DIGITAL X initiative – Success stories

“What is the role of digitalization in companies and how can we help to make them more digital and future-proof?” It all kicked off with this question in 2017. Established in 2017 by Deutsche Telekom, DIGITAL X is an initiative which helps companies on their path to digitalization. Over 200 partners from Germany and beyond are now involved in the cross-industry initiative, with more than 50,000 decision-makers taking part in the live digital events hosted between 2018-2020 by the DIGITAL X community. Representatives from business, politics, companies, and associations all benefit from the opportunity to learn from each other, share digital best practice, and network with each other. The motto is “network, share, learn from each other.”

What ist the DIGITAL X ecosystem?

DIGITAL X was deliberately created as an open initiative – a platform for all those looking to speed up digitalization in Germany and Europe. DIGITAL X has now become a fully developed ecosystem which drives forward digitalization in German SMEs using a wide range of different channels and formats. With its strong partner network, the initiative has been supporting companies since 2018 and now provides over fifteen live formats with valuable best practice cases, innovations and inspiring experts – all over Germany. The 2020 pandemic has made us aware of just how important and necessary this mission is. To this end, this year has seen a further addition to the DIGITAL X initiative: New editorial content, daily updates on the key digitalization topics, and even better networking of members of the initiative.

A Quick look back at the development of DIGITAL X

2023

Two days of innovations and visions of the future. Two days of inspiration, new perspectives and touchable technology. Around 50,000 visitors will experience DIGITAL X 2023 on September 20 and 21, 2023 – with 6 stages, 250 speakers and 300 partners on an area of 2 million square meters in downtown Cologne.

The event will feature prominent guests such as Oscar-winning actor and human rights activist George Clooney, ABBA icon Björn Ulvaeus, futurist Amy Webb, entrepreneur Dr. Wladimir Klitschko and cyborg activist Neil Harbisson.

2022

DIGITAL X 2022 is history and has made history. We once again transformed Cologne into the city of the future and celebrated the world exhibition of digitization together with you. New in 2022: For the first time, DIGITAL X was not only open to trade visitors from the B2B sector. With a Highlight Ticket, the event was also open to private visitors. We thank all visitors, partners and speakers for two days of pure digitization!

2021

Breathtaking indoor and outdoor stages, numerous brandhouses, marketplaces and the most relevant topics & speakers. Together with you, we transformed the city of Cologne into a world exhibition of digitalization - decentralized, agile and innovative. In addition to concentrated, content-related power, you experienced numerous entertainment highlights as usual. Whether networking during the Cologne Night or celebrating together at the after-show party - DIGITAL X 2021 was two unforgettable days in the most beautiful city on the Rhine!

2020

What is the best thing to do when everything is turned on its head? We faced this challenge by transforming DIGITAL X into a live digital platform. We have provided the perfect answer to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic in the form of DIGITAL X DIGITAL EDITIONS as an online-only format. And what does it mean, when we see the crisis as an opportunity? We exploit its potential – with the integration of our own DIGITAL X content platform, kicking off the largest best practice and knowledge network in the B2B sector. In this way, we are responding to the ever greater necessity of digital solutions. Available to everyone 24/7, 365 days a year.

2019

Just one year later, the community had amassed over 35,000 participants. With six regional events and the DIGITAL X finale at the Koelnmesse, the initiative became one of the leading digitalization initiatives in just its second year. Experts and visionaries such as Sir Richard Branson, inventor of the World Wide Web Sir Tim Berners-Lee, and Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales were just some of 2019’s top speakers. Attendees were able to experience digitalization up close across a mix of six stages, the partner marketplace, the start-up square, and the innovation area.

2018

Over 15,000 people attended the six regional and national DIGITAL X live events across Germany. The events featured top speakers like Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, and the first year of DIGITAL X was rounded off with a performance by the Black Eyed Peas at the Koelnmesse.