digitalization
Civil society representatives criticize digital summits
Participants at the Federal Government’s Digital Summit 2022. photo
© Britta Pedersen/dpa
“Far too often, economic interests are in the foreground,” is just one criticism of the federal government’s digital summit. A well-known online journalist describes the format as out of date.
Representatives of digital civil society have criticized the content and composition of the digital summit of the federal government. Christian Humborg, CEO of Wikimedia Germany, said that what can be observed in general in digital politics in recent years applies to the summit: “Far too often, economic interests are in the foreground.” The association Wikimedia Germany supports voluntary authors of the digital knowledge project Wikipedia.
In addition to Wikimedia Germany, only a few civil society organizations were invited, criticized Humborg. “And the program is even bleaker.” Digital and data policy should not only benefit a few.
Markus Beckedahl, founder of the online platform Netzpolitik.org, said that the traffic light coalition agreement gave hope that digitization would finally be shaped by society. “In reality, there is still not enough of this to be seen – the digital summit shows this clearly. Many representatives from business are prominently seated on the stages of the summit. A committed digital civil society with its perspectives can watch the audience at the tea table.” The summit was not up to date, said Beckedahl.
The Chaos Computer Club also complained: “We are already used to not receiving an invitation to the digital summit from CDU governments – contrary to our hopes, nothing has changed under the traffic lights,” said club spokesman Linus Neumann. In the program of the summit, it is noticeable that IT security only occurs once in a participant’s job title. It is not considered in the program itself.
This year’s two-day meeting of the federal government will focus on the economic and social opportunities of evaluating large databases. On the second day, along with Chancellor Olaf Scholz, six ministers from the coalition will speak, including Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck and Digital Minister Volker Wissing.