4.1 The merging of different competences
Digital integration no longer gives rise to innovation only in individual, isolated
fields and sectors, but increasingly also in the respective open (programming)
interfaces. In future, the competence and experience of a single player in
protected markets will no longer be the important factor, but instead the smart
links between diverse infrastructures, skills and abilities offered by various
market participants. At the end of the day, the respective collaboration efforts
will also benefit consumers. This development grants them maximum utility,
because the diverse strategic alliances provide them with a much more varied
supply of products, services and processes than before. The use of uniform and
jointly agreed standards as well as of compatible and interoperable systems and
IT structures enables the linking and/or exchange of hardware and software via