According to a recent survey, over one third of big businesses in Germany consider blockchain technology as revolutionary as the Internet, Cointelegraph auf Deutsch reported, Dec. 4.

In addition to artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of things (IoT), blockchain technology is one of the current three areas of development with “tremendous potential,” the survey reports.

Conducted by the German Federal Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media (Bitkom), the survey revealed that overall, 15 percent of German companies think blockchain will “change society and the economy as much as the Internet.” Larger companies, with 500 or more employees, were more than twice as likely to hold that opinion, at 36 percent.

At the same time, about 46 percent of the surveyed companies classified Germany a “latecomer” in blockchain adoption, lagging behind other nations. A large swathe of respondents, 40 percent, said they see the country not as a leader, but somewhere in the middle, in terms of blockchain development.

Bitkom has conducted extensive polls of businesses and the German public in regard to cryptocurrencies, blockchain, and how they are perceived. In late November, a Bitkom survey revealed that about 60 percent of local companies are hesitant about approaching the topic of blockchain, mainly due to a perceived lack of practical applications.

In February 2018, another Bitkom survey found that 64 percent of Germans were aware of Bitcoin (BTC). Per the report, awareness had doubled since 2016. 4 percent of respondents actually held Bitcoin coin, while 19 percent they have an idea of how to purchase the seminal cryptocurrency and 72 percent stated that they had no interest in digital currency.

Regarding the economic significance of cryptocurrencies and Blockchain, Bitkom CEO Bernhard Rohleder said: