... the development towards Industry 4.0. "We have a good command of the 'Internet of Things' in Germany, but not yet of the 'services'," said Dr. Mittelbach. "Overall, we need to pick up speed. The USA, but also other regions, are catching up fast." It is worrying that, as studies repeatedly point out, Industry 4.0 has not yet been properly adopted by many SMEs in particular. This needs to change quickly. Mittelbach sees the German electrical industry as playing a key role in the implementation of Industry 4.0: its expertise, devices and systems are a prerequisite for the transition to digital value creation.