Almost a year ago, Olaf Scholz made a big promise. In the event of an election victory, said the candidate for chancellor at the time, he would personally take care of Germany’s digitization: “It can only be done as a matter for the boss.” The topic needs “leadership”.
The coalition agreement then actually spoke of a “digital awakening”. The term digitization appears even more frequently than the word climate protection. In concrete terms: fiber optic expansion, digital administration, mobile phone reception everywhere. Big promises.
But instead of high-speed Internet, modem speed has dominated since then.
Instead of orchestrating the country’s digital transformation, the topic was banned from the Chancellery, and the relevant staff was cut or distributed to the ministries. So far, Scholz has not reactivated the Digital Council set up by Angela Merkel, who talked a lot but also always gave good impetus.
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Even the grand coalition under Angela Merkel had no real idea for the digital future of this country. This lack of planning continues now. The digital dawn hangs like an old Windows 95 computer.
There should be a real digital administration, but the question of the necessary cloud infrastructure is already sticking. Schools are still in the Cretaceous Period in many places, and there is no sign of convincing digital equipment. Not to mention a modernized education system that not only prepares young people for life in an increasingly digital world, but also helps professionals to continue their education.
The nationwide expansion of high-speed Internet was already promised by the previous federal government. But the project has been delayed because of the dispute between the federal and state governments about funding modalities. The nationwide fiber optic expansion by 2025 has long since been canceled. Now there is talk of 2030. And the traffic light coalition does not yet have a comprehensive digital strategy with clear goals to which all departments have been committed.
Digitization is also a risk for Europe
The figures show how great the need for action is: Europe-wide, Germany only comes eleventh in the Desi ranking for digital competitiveness, and only seventeenth in digital administration.
Of course not everything goes wrong. Economics Minister Robert Habeck’s start-up plans sound promising. And on the Govtech Campus in Berlin, the federal government, states, start-ups and investors are networking to advance the digitization of administrations. Some ministries are also fine-tuning their digital strategies. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, for example, takes the issue seriously. And there are now also remarkable efforts to improve Germany’s cyber security.
When it comes to digital issues, Germany is missing exactly what Scholz promised a year ago: “Leadership”. Sebastian Mathes
But all this is not yet a big hit. In the end it remains piecemeal.
When it comes to digital issues, Germany is missing exactly what Scholz promised a year ago: “Leadership”. A head is missing, a driver who first develops a target image, then a strategy – and ultimately commits all ministries to make their contribution.
This has never been more necessary than now. Not only the green conversion of the industry will cause upheavals in the next few years. The digitization of industry and business processes creates completely new business models. This new wave of digitization is a huge opportunity for Europe. But also a risk because it creates new attackers. The big tech companies, for example.
All the more important is not only an excellent digital infrastructure, but also a digitally empowered society.
Transport and Digital Minister Volker Wissing should actually take care of much of this. So far, however, he has been a king without a kingdom: he does not even have his own budget for the much-heralded digital awakening, not to mention the right to intervene in other ministries. In addition, Wissing actually has enough to do with renovating bridges and regulating the chaos on the railway.
And so Germany is threatened with another four years of digital standstill.
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