Apply for an identity card, change your place of residence: The majority of German government services cannot be used completely online. A lack of uniformity and a lack of digital training are slowing down digitalization.
The digitalization of administration in Germany is still making little progress, as a current evaluation by the consumer portal Verivox shows. Of a total of 581 government services, citizens nationwide can only use 81 completely online. The administrative services listed in the Online Access Act (OZG) were evaluated in mid-December.
According to this evaluation, 96 official services are at least partially available online. However, more than two thirds of the services, 404, have not yet been digitized. These include 198 services that only provide an online service description and 194 services that do not provide any online information. Twelve services have not yet been classified and are still open.
Big gaps in the digitalization and lack uniformity
A key problem is the lack of uniform solutions based on standardized software, explained Verivox telecommunications expert Jens-Uwe Theurer. According to the federal government, numerous online services have been developed, but they are often only available in individual states or municipalities.
“The German bureaucracy – as in the education system – requires the development of complex and therefore vulnerable individual solutions,” says Theurer. There are also “glaring gaps” in the digital training of public sector personnel.
Although the Online Access Act, which came into force in 2017, aimed to digitize almost 600 administrative services, the specified deadline of five years by the end of 2022 could not be met.
Coalition agreement and new prioritization
The digitalization of administration is a central element of the coalition agreement between the SPD, the Greens and the FDP. In May 2023, 16 administrative services were prioritized in the OZG Amendment Act in order to digitalize them across the board. This includes frequently used services such as changing your place of residence or applying for an identity card. As of mid-December 2023, according to Verivox, 15 of these so-called focus services were at least partially digital.
Despite the general problems, some services can already be used online, including applications for unemployment benefit, care allowance or driving licenses. Tax returns can also be submitted completely online nationwide.