Survey
Skepticism about the digitization strategy of the traffic light coalition
Network cable in a high-performance data center. The majority of people in Germany do not expect a future traffic light coalition to make effective progress in the digitization of public administration in Germany. Photo: Marijan Murat / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
People in Germany expect a new federal government to provide impetus for digitization. However, the majority is unsure whether the goals of the potential traffic light coalition will actually be achieved.
The majority of people in Germany do not expect a future traffic light coalition to make effective progress in the digitization of public administration in Germany.
That is the central result of a survey by the Civey Institute on behalf of the authors of the book “Corona – Germany’s digital desaster”. According to this, 39.7 percent expect that a government made up of the SPD, Greens and FDP can push ahead with digitization. 42.8 percent do not trust the potential traffic light coalitionists to do this. 17.5 percent of those questioned are undecided.
Bitkom comes to similar results
A survey by the industry association Bitkom, which was also published on Monday, comes to a similar conclusion. Almost half (43 percent) said that politicians are able to advance and shape digitization. 72 percent of those eligible to vote were of the opinion that Germany’s politicians have too little knowledge of digitization. Only 28 percent attest that politicians have a clear strategy for this task.
In the Bitkom survey, many people also expressed their dissatisfaction with the federal structures and the unclear distribution of competencies in the federal cabinet. 70 percent judge that the federal, state and local governments are not working together sufficiently to advance digitization. 61 percent have the impression that the various ministries often block each other in digital policy.
Confidence depends heavily on party preferences
In the survey of the book authors, the level of confidence depended heavily on party preferences. Supporters of the Greens rate the chances of an agreement on this issue particularly positive (72 percent agreement). They are followed by the supporters of the Social Democrats with 64.5 percent. With 46.8 percent approval and 35.4 percent rejection, the FDP supporters are significantly less optimistic. Supporters of the Union fear 63.5 percent that no effective progress will be achieved in digitization. Among AfD supporters, the value is highest at 82 percent.
When it comes to the causes of slow digitization, the respondents refer to the different ideas that the possible coalition partners have. “Different opinions on specific steps” are named as an obstacle with 41.2 percent. But even when it comes to defining a common goal, many respondents do not have much confidence in a traffic light coalition. 40 percent say that effective digitization advances could fail because the three parties have different ideas about the goals.
Doubts about financial feasibility
Many respondents are also not sure whether the necessary financial resources will be available. 39.4 percent of those surveyed believe that digitization could fail due to a lack of money. 25 percent believe that the international gap in digitization is too great.
“There is justified dissatisfaction among the population with regard to the political strategy and the speed of digitization,” said Bitkom President Achim Berg. “The future government should give digitization a political head in a strong digital ministry and a permanent place at the cabinet table.”