With the International Day of Education on January 24, the United Nations is underscoring the importance of lifelong learning to the continuous development of individuals and sustainable development of societies.

Global supply chains are increasingly in the public eye – not just due to their vulnerability, which was clearly revealed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the war of aggression against Ukraine.

Over the last couple of years, the research field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has made impressive progress. Automated translation services, voice-controlled digital assistants, self-driving cars, world-class algorithms and other novelties have long made it to headlines – and our homes.

Nothing is more important than ensuring that our employees return home safe and sound every day. As a member of the Executive Board of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, I take this responsibility very seriously.

Global pandemics, supply chain bottlenecks, a war in Europe – previously unimaginable worst-case scenarios have become reality. Our politicians are talking about the dawn of a new era. History is at a turning point.

Effective treatments already exist for many diseases today. However, in many cases patients still have to live with inadequate treatment or endure severe side effects. Just think of chronic inflammatory diseases.

The role of the customer used to be limited to buying. To make sure they continue to buy in the future, today, customers are being increasingly directly involved in the development of products.

The digital transformation is vigorously shaking up well-established occupations. Not least, the importance of IT expertise as well as communication, interdisciplinary collaboration and independent responsibility is growing.

When it comes to the digital world, Silicon Valley is defining the present. But the future of the digital world is being created in China.

Digital technologies have fundamentally changed the way we communicate and collaborate. And the transformation is continuing.