The digitalization of Germany's cities and municipalities is making progress.
At the same time, citizens' expectations of their authorities and offices are also growing: almost 9 out of 10 Germans (88 percent) are now demanding that their city or municipal administration pursue the topic of digitalization with more vigor. In 2020 it was 78 percent and 69 percent in 2019. Digital processing is particularly in demand for common administrative services: 89 percent of Germans would like to apply for or extend their ID card online or would have liked to have done so before. 69 percent say this about residence registration and 65 percent would like to apply for confirmation of registration online instead of going to the office.
These are the results of a representative survey of 1,004 people in Germany aged 18 and over, which was presented this Tuesday at the Smart Country Convention in Berlin. Accordingly, there are many other administrative matters that citizens want to take care of online: applying for a birth certificate (56 percent), applying for family benefits such as child benefit (54 percent) or registering a vehicle (52 percent).
“Cities and municipalities are continuing to push digitalization forward. The more digital the offices and authorities operate, the more citizen-friendly they are perceived - and the more they help the local economy," says Bitkom Managing Director Dr. Bernhard Rohleder.
“During the Corona pandemic, people experienced what is possible digitally and how easy and often playful things are. Your expectations of digital offerings from administrations, cities and municipalities have increased - rightly so. The public sector now has to move up a gear and massively accelerate its digital transformation. The Smart Country Convention shows how the digitalization of administrations, cities and communities can be promoted.”

More than 10,000 representatives from politics, business, cities and municipalities will come together at the Smart Country Convention in Berlin from October 18th to 20th. Their common goal is to accelerate the digitalization of Germany and to implement it locally in a way that is citizen-friendly and close to people. Martin Ecknig, CEO of Messe Berlin says: “The Smart Country Convention as a face-to-face event is back – with a visibly expanded offering in our halls, highly topical topics and state and federal political participation like never before. In addition to the interest of our state government, five federal ministries are represented at SCCON for the first time. This shows us how great the desire for exchange on topics such as e-government, smart cities and smart regions is.
But as important as digitalization may be - for the public sector, but of course also for us in the trade fair industry - in order to make contacts and develop ideas together, we need a personal, face-to-face conversation. And the Smart Country Convention offers the ideal platform for this.”
As a smart country role model and partner country, Austria is a guest at the Smart Country Convention this year. Florian Tursky, State Secretary for Digitalization and Telecommunications in Austria: “My principle is to simplify administration through digitalization and e-government and to make the opportunities of digitalization usable for everyone. The best technological innovation is worthless if it cannot be used by the population.
To do this you have to bring the administration where the people are. We will therefore offer almost all administrative procedures digitally by 2024. We are on the right track, but it is also clear that there is still a lot of room for improvement. A big milestone will be the digital driving license. It is based on the eID and will be Austria’s first digital ID card.”
64 percent currently rate their city as digitally backward
More than three quarters of Germans (77 percent) are convinced that digital administrative procedures save time. However, many are currently struggling with the offers from their authorities and offices. 84 percent agree with the statement that the authorities in their area seem overburdened. And 86 percent say: Authorities generally take too long to process my concerns. 85 percent find it difficult to get an appointment with an authority at short notice. Only one in three (33 percent) rates the level of digitization in their own city or municipality as advanced (10 percent very advanced, 23 percent rather advanced). However, 64 percent rate them as backward (37 percent somewhat backward, 27 percent completely backward).
“Most people in Germany are fed up with paperwork, waiting times and cumbersome processes,” says Rohleder. “Digital pioneering cities and smart city initiatives in Germany are already showing how it can be done easily, quickly and digitally.” Especially with a view to the latest challenges, it becomes clear: “Whether it’s an energy shortage, a pandemic or a flood disaster: cities, communities and the entire state came and get through the current crises better if they are well positioned digitally.”
The majority sees the OZG as a long-term project
According to the Online Access Act (OZG), all almost 600 administrative services should be available digitally by the end of 2022. However, only around 80 individual services are currently available to citizens nationwide. Word of these delays seems to have gotten around. Around a third (34 percent) believe that it will only be fully implemented in 2 to 5 years and a majority of 56 percent believe that it will take longer than 5 years until the OZG is fully implemented. “Administrative services and processes must be digitized across the board and the implementation of the OZG must be accelerated, that is completely clear,” says Bitkom Managing Director Dr. Bernhard Rohleder.
“Other countries like Austria are moving much more quickly. The citizen service has been taking place online there for a long time and is used by people as a matter of course. Digital administrative offerings are a central location factor and we need to develop this location factor more emphatically in Germany.”
Smart Country Convention shows digital solutions for the public sector
The digitalization of administrations, cities and communities is the central topic of the Smart Country Convention. Along the key themes of “Sovereignty. Sustainability. Resilience” will show the opportunities and possibilities of digitalization in the public sector on four stages and the Expo. The program opens with a keynote speech by Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser. Other speakers include Federal Construction Minister Klara Geywitz, Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir, Federal Digital and Transport Minister Volker Wissing and Berlin's Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey.
source
Bitkom
Also read: Guide: Counter conspiracy narratives!
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