Germany: Digitization of administrative services delayed

Compared to other countries, Germany still feels stuck in the dark ages when it comes to digitization. To change this, the new German government has set itself the goal of quickly digitizing administrative services and thus greatly simplifying them. Now, however, the realization of this self-imposed goal seems to be coming much later than originally planned.

Priority: digitization of the state

If you take a look at the coalition agreement between the SPD, the Greens and the FDP, it quickly becomes clear what is important to the three parties. First and foremost is the digitization of the state. However, reality now seems to be throwing a spanner in the works for the coalition parties. While they originally wanted to have ensured extensive digitization of administrative services by the end of 2022, this goal now appears to be unattainable. This not really good news has now been announced by the federal CIO Markus Richter. It is simply impossible to ensure this comprehensive restructuring within such a short time, he said. “That’s not how administration ticks,” Richter said in this regard. Instead, he said, he wanted to focus on the sustainable creation of effective structures.

Defaults of the OZG not possible

How did the “end of 2022” deadline actually come about? The fact that administrative services in Germany are in need of a makeover is, of course, also clear to politicians. For this reason, the Online Access Act (OZG) was brought into being. Here, it was already stipulated in 2017 that the federal and state governments should also offer their government services digitally by the end of 2022. To this end, Richter said:

“We will not succeed in having everything digitally across the board in every municipality.”

What the CIO of the Federal Republic now openly expresses, experts have already predicted for some time. Given the current status, it is simply utopian to build the necessary infrastructure within a year.

Slow steps toward digitization

The federal government itself is setting a good example in the digitization of administrative services. It is now possible to request 90 administrative services digitally. Since the federal government provides a total of 115 administrative services, this is a good average. However, if we take a look at the federal states, the picture is unfortunately not all that rosy. At the state level, a total of 460 administrative services can be claimed. So far, however, only 50 of these can be claimed digitally. And this is by no means true for the entire country.

So-called “reference implementations” are already counted when a municipality in the state offers them online. At the moment, however, they are already meticulously planning to launch 100 more digital administrative services. All in all, however, it will take years before digitization really reaches all municipalities and states. And even then, not everything will be possible at the click of a mouse. Certain forms still have to be submitted in paper form or sent by mail.

A developing country in digitization

The newly governing traffic light coalition, meanwhile, is itself shocked by the shortcomings when it comes to the digitization of the administration. In particular, Nancy Faeser (SPD), freshly minted Minister of the Interior, made the following comments:

“I am sometimes amazed that we have not yet got some things off the ground and in some fields of work are not yet up to speed.”

To address these issues, the minister promises a comprehensive review of the current situation. First of all, she says, one must determine how far digitization has already progressed. Only then can one specifically ensure extensive modernization of the administration.