Many companies are planning positions for Chief Digital Officers

• One in five companies has a CDO - and just as many want to establish the position anew
• But: One in eight companies has no digital strategy

The number of Chief Digital Officers in the German economy is likely to rise sharply in the near future. Almost one in five companies (18 percent) say they want to fill or create a CDO position. Such a position already exists in 19 percent of companies. This is the result of a survey of 604 companies with 20 or more employees commissioned by the digital association Bitkom. "Digital transformation needs clear responsibilities and competencies," says Bitkom President Achim Berg. "Medium-sized companies should also bundle digital know-how. Successful digitalization is not just a question of technology, software and hardware, it needs a driver and that driver can be a CDO."

In principle, the vast majority of companies are now approaching digitalization strategically. But 13 percent still do not have a digital strategy. A year ago, 16 percent and in 2019, as many as 26 percent of companies were strategy-free when it came to digitalization. Around one in three companies (34 percent) currently has a central digital strategy, while a further 52 percent have digitalization strategies in individual divisions.