adesso: Digitization does not belong on election posters, but at the cabinet table

Whether it’s “digital checks”, the “Germany app” or the “re-industrialization of the country through digitalization”: it’s election time and the parties are discovering their passion for digital topics. Wish lists are called election manifestos at this time of year and politicians are dreaming of being the digital world leader. At the same time, the authorities are still ordering toner for their fax machines by hand.

If everyone can make a wish now, then I’m happy to join in. My wish list is realistic and short. It simply says: “a real digital ministry”. And by “real” I mean that this ministry should not just be a symbolic PR department, but should have a budget, staff, clear responsibilities and competencies and the support of the Chancellor. It is in the nature of things that there will be conflicts and then the cabinet will need backing from the very top.

A digital ministry of this kind could then finally modernize the digital infrastructure of the administration. The authorities need IT equipment that doesn’t date back to the 1990s. It should also create administrative services that can really be used online and no longer contain forms that can only be filled out via a printer. That would be an e-government worthy of the name.

The Digital Ministry must make cyber security a top priority. It must no longer be a patchwork of individual measures, but should be based on a well thought-out and consistent security concept. The ministry must also combine digitalization with sustainability: digital infrastructures are energy guzzlers, but AI, smart grids and data-based solutions help to reduce emissions.

The digitalization of federal cooperation is also an urgent construction site. Instead of 16 different solutions for the same problem, the Ministry of Digital Affairs should create uniform standards for federal states and municipalities – and make them binding and not just recommendations. Last but not least, the ministry must centralize digital responsibilities. IT units and bodies such as the BSI, the IT of the Bundesdruckerei, the ITZBund and the federal IT cooperation all belong under one roof.

Instead of a confusion of competencies, we would then have centralized control of the digital transformation. And it’s not about catching up with the world’s digital leaders in one leap, but about gradually removing the obstacles. Take registers, for example: Germany currently manages its data in countless isolated solutions, from the Flensburg motor vehicle register to the population register and the fisheries register. All of these registers could be operated on one architecture, with the same authorization systems and an interoperable structure. We wouldn’t immediately have conditions like those in Estonia, one of Europe’s digital model countries. But we could simplify many processes in one fell swoop. And there are dozens of such examples.

Digital competitiveness is not an issue for the months before the election. It is an issue for the years of government work. The government just has to want it. A real digital ministry would be a strong signal for this.

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Further links

👉 www.adesso.de 

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