“No digital progress with miniature infrastructures”

Technology to stay healthy or get healthy again more quickly: That is Deutsche Telekom's credo at DMEA 2025. Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly important, says Gottfried Ludewig, head of the global T-Systems health division. However, Europe must take significant countermeasures in order to catch up with the USA and the rest of the world.

How is Telekom advancing healthcare with AI?

AI makes a difference when it reduces people’s workload and significantly accelerates processes. At DMEA 2025, we are making exactly this tangible, for example in the form of a mobile patient file for hospitals that can be used to measure wounds using AI - including automated wound documentation. We will also show how processes at health insurance companies can be completely digitalized - for example, dealing with handwritten objections by writing AI response letters that are created end-to-end fully automatically. These are technologies that make a difference in everyday life and that bring real benefits to patients, doctors, nursing staff, administrative staff in clinics and health insurance companies.

A new federal government is in the starting blocks: What has to happen politically so that the AI is turbocharged in the healthcare system?

We need a much better IT infrastructure. In the basements of the clinics and elsewhere, we are still too often stuck in the 1990s. A powerful infrastructure is the backbone of AI. This also includes cloud infrastructures. Politically, we need a Hospital Future Act 2.0 so that we can enable at least the large clinics to offer modern, AI-supported medicine. The most important lesson from the first German Hospital Future Act funding is to modernize the IT infrastructure. Without a high-performance infrastructure, there can be no modern patient care.

The implementation of the hospital reform will be one of the major health policy issues of the new legislature. Why can this only be achieved with digitalization?

Because in times of demographic change, we don't have the staff to do it without digitalization. Today, nurses and doctors sit in front of their computer for hours and document stuff. This enormous waste of highly trained specialists must come to an end. In addition, modern, personalized healthcare can only be delivered digitally. Everything else is extremely inefficient and yesterday's medicine.

On the patient side, the electronic patient record (ePA) is intended to make citizens fit for digital healthcare. How do you see the role of the ePA?

The ePA is a good data vault. The trick is to also use this data in care and prevention. We will show application examples in the field of prevention at DMEA. In the end, the success of the ePA will also largely depend on how easy it is to use. Telekom is creating an important foundation here with its digital identities. It makes a huge difference whether I constantly have to hold an insurance card up to my smartphone and enter a PIN, or whether I can use the ePA safely and easily biometrically thanks to my digital identity. I consider this to be one of the decisive success factors: If I cannot authenticate myself securely and conveniently, I will not use digital applications. At DMEA, we will be showing how easy digital applications can be with the TI Messenger and other offerings.

Change of topic: research. A lot has been done politically to advance medical research. What is Deutsche Telekom doing?

Anything that promotes the use of health data ultimately also helps research. That is the core motivation for getting involved in this topic. We do this, among other things, with software that supports clinical trials - in phase 1 and, in the future, also in phase 2. Simple and secure data collection and data linking are important. This is based on dataspace technology that we also use successfully in the automotive industry. If digitally supported medical research is to take off in Germany, we must also go further politically. A few steps in the right direction are not enough.

What are your expectations of the new federal government when it comes to medical research?

Again: infrastructures. The new US government is investing hundreds of billions of dollars in AI infrastructure, and in Germany, every research project is building its own miniature infrastructure with government funding. How can that be? This is not scientifically expedient, and Germany can no longer afford it financially, either. The responsible ministries would have to work hand in hand here. That doesn't mean we should do everything with a single infrastructure. But the infrastructures for research and for patient care must be compatible with one another. This would not least help AI research. We need to think much bigger to get insights faster and make better use of the data. The world is definitely not waiting for us. These are fundamental structural questions that need to be answered. As Telekom, we are always ready to support.

Young IT talent is few and far between, even in health IT. Why should young people who want to pursue an IT career come to your stand at DMEA?

Because our work makes a difference every day and we demonstrate what that looks like. For citizens, hospitals, health insurance companies and many more. We show how technology can help you stay healthy or get well again faster. Deutsche Telekom is not only a global company that connects devices and data flows all over the world, but also the most valuable brand in Europe. We implement high-tech and help companies worldwide to integrate the most modern technologies end-to-end into existing systems so that they function smoothly. In short: if you want to experience less PowerPoint and more real impact for better, digitally supported health, our stand is the right place for you.