Germany index
Digitization: Hamburg in front – work on data security
Some federal states are further along in digitization than others. photo
© Sebastian Gollnow/dpa
Compared to other European countries, Germany still has a lot of catching up to do in terms of digitization. The traffic light coalition is now coming with a push for data protection in public administration.
Hamburg has defended its leading position in terms of digitization compared to the other federal states. This is the result of a current Germany index of digitization created by the Fraunhofer Institute FOKUS.
For this purpose, data on mobile phone coverage and internet use by citizens were analyzed. The index, which is created every two years, also includes data on digitally available administrative services and the number of newly founded IT companies in the respective federal state.
The rankings
The Germany Index currently sees the city states of Berlin and Bremen in second and third place, followed by North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse. North Rhine-Westphalia has improved by two places, mainly because of good values in digital administration and in the topic “digital life”. Under “Digital Life”, the researchers summarize data on the use of online learning opportunities and telemedicine as well as online shopping.
According to the current index, Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony are above average. According to the information, Saarland, Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate are just below average, which according to the index are struggling with deficits in the digital infrastructure.
The stragglers include Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Thuringia. Saxony-Anhalt brings up the rear this time. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, which came last two years earlier, has moved up two places, largely due to advances in infrastructure, the report says.
According to the evaluation, 53 percent of the ten administrative services examined for the index could be processed online via the web portals of the municipalities – around 28 percentage points more than two years previously. Overall, however, “a significant gap” remains, which is also reflected in Germany’s 18th place in the e-government category among the 27 EU states.
target missed
According to the Germany Index, the strongest increase was in business registrations. These were available online in 84 percent of the 302 municipalities examined. There have also been significant increases in vehicle registrations and applications for housing benefit. When it comes to building permits and information from the register of residents, progress is slower in terms of online availability.
The federal and state governments had five years to digitize their services. The Online Access Act (OZG), which was passed by the Bundestag in August 2017, should serve this purpose. It gave countries until the end of 2022 to offer all 575 administrative services online. But the target was missed by far.
In order to advance digitization, an OZG 2.0 should remedy the situation. From the point of view of the parliamentarians of the traffic light groups, however, this is not possible without improving aspects of the register modernization law again. This was passed in 2021 under the black-red coalition.
The law regulates the exchange of data on citizens between different authorities, which is intended to reduce the bureaucratic effort. The tax identification number should be used for the clear allocation of personal data in administrative procedures. In order for those affected to retain control, there should be a “data protection cockpit” through which citizens can see which data has been transmitted to where.
More safety
In a joint motion for a resolution that the parliamentary groups of the Greens, FDP and SPD are presenting today, they call on the federal government to examine “where additional, effective, in particular criminal and administrative sanctions for abusive and illegal data retrieval should be created or tightened up”. . In addition, those affected should be able to report potentially abusive data transfers directly to the responsible authority from the data protection cockpit.
The website of the Federal Ministry of the Interior states: “Due to the ongoing development and implementation work (e.g. with the data protection cockpit, the identity retrieval procedure, etc.)” no specific date can currently be given for the entry into force of the Register Modernization Act.