“Ways of communication are changing at an unbelievable speed. Soon people will communicate at all times and all places,” Telekom boss René Obermann believes, due to two important current developments: namely the internet becoming mobile and faster. EU commissioner Viviane Reding agrees: “Our world will become wireless and online markets will grow dramatically.”

For the politician the primary task is to standardize the European market: “We cannot have 27 different policies. What we need is a continent without limitations. Consumers mustn’t be punished for crossing borders.” A key to this is providing Europe-wide, reasonable flat rates.

On Monday, Obermann and Reding discussed about mobile telecommunications markets at the DLD conference with Tero Ojanperä of Nokia, Pro7 board member Marcus Englert and Burda board member Paul-Bernhard Kallen who considers technological expertise just as important as content: “For the first time, technology matters in our publishing company. Staff need to be trained accordingly.”

Social networks are another trend in the fast spreading web. Communities are growing at a steady rate and portals like Facebook are starting up in Europe. A factor of success for the Web 2.0: Companies can let their users do the work for them, something that Facebook manager Matt Coher is banking on for his company’s European launch.

At the panel discussion “Getting Social” the biggest players in the field reported about their own success stories and predicted bright prospects. The crucial question, however, is: How can networks establish themselves outside their respective homelands? Europe is a fiercely contested market. XING founder Lars Hinrichs emphasizes the role of localism: “To be successful in Europe, it does not suffice to set up company headquarters in London,“ as every country has its own unique identity and different ways of communicating.

Biology and human genetics were the core issues of “Life—a gene-centric view of life” headed by Craig Venter and Richard Dawkins. Genetics have been part of information technology for quite some time: “That’s the real revolution,” stated biologist Richard Dawkins. Genetic scientist Craig Venter would like to see research directed towards renewable energies: “A lot of organisms could be put to use for the conversion of natural gases,” believes Venter who was the first to decode the entire human DNA. “Right now we are pumping 4.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. We simply must substitute those by using renewable energies.”

To set an example, the DLD Conference is climate neutral for the second year in a row. All emissions caused by travel were compensated by investments in climate protection projects. Consulting group 3C calculated the emission total and identified a compensation project at an Indian sugar factory.