This sounds like a fundamental criticism: “Our central recommendation to the federal government is: Germany needs a digital strategy that is worthy of the name.” That’s what the executive branch’s Bits and Bytes Roadmap Advisory Board wrote in its final report after nearly two years of work in collaboration with the Federal Digital Service. The focus was on critical monitoring and evaluation of the 19 lighthouse projects outlined in the strategy. Their range extends from ecosystems for mobility data and digital identity to electronic patient records (EPAs) and digital battlefields to software modules for administrative services based on open source. But according to insiders, the future will require only one lighthouse: “a target image that provides orientation and connects ambitions.”
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Advisory board member Ann-Catherine Riedel points out that the digital strategy presented by the government at the end of summer 2022 “is not one yet”. The few months that the executive got to write the plan were very short. The future executive should no longer view digitalization as a side issue, as it is the foundation of administrative change.
Based on the necessary “bold” target image, “concrete, measurable measures should be drawn up, supported by transparent indicators,” the report continues. Which will be published on WednesdayThese should then be “developed, prioritized, interlinked and translated into realistic implementation plans”. Furthermore, “robust mechanisms for assessment and adaptation” are needed.
Success stories are rare and not consistent
“A digital strategy can only be successful if there is a clear controlling authority,” he said, emphasizing the advisory board and the digital service. It “must be able to work across departments and be equipped with a central digital budget” that acts as a central compass. The implementation of digital projects is in the hands of specialized organizations because ministries do not have enough “expertise in IT, project management and agile methods”. So is there a need for a clear digital ministry? Riedel knows everyone has an opinion on this. However, Alexander Rabe, managing director of the Echo Association of the Internet Industry, another advisory board member, emphasizes: There should not be a round of essential body discussions. There is a need for a strong, capable, co-ordinating unit “which has to take responsibility”.
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In previous lighthouse projects, which the Advisory Board 2023 has already published different reportsChristina Lang, head of digital services, complains that the value added for users is sometimes not obvious. In some cases, manufacturers could not specify who the target groups should be. She considers the Parenting Allowance Calculator and Family Assistant as success stories. But it remains to be seen whether these will also be funded next year.
Apart from the Justice Project for online civil law processes, experts also praise the overseas portal for digital visa applications. But here too an error is typical, explains Stefan Heumann, Managing Director of Agora Digital Transformation. Everything will have to be re-submitted in paper form to the immigration authorities of local authorities, as the Foreign Office has not taken the initiative forward together with the Ministry of the Interior and the federal states. The Department for Digital and Transport drew more positive conclusions in its second progress report on the digital strategy.
(FDS)
