With the Online Access Act (OZG) of 2017, the federal government set itself the goal of extensively digitising public administration. Specifically, citizens should be able to access 575 administrative services by the end of 2022. A study by the German Economic Institute has now documented the status of e-government in Germany at the target date of the OZG.
At the beginning of 2022, the IT Planning Council formulated 115 particularly important nationwide administrative services that should have been offered online by the end of 2022 in view of the slow progress in implementing the OZG. However, even this minimum target was missed by the OZG’s target date. As of March 2023, only 105 of the 575 services provided for in the OZG had been implemented on time. According to the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), this puts Germany in 18th place among the 27 European member states in terms of the status of e-government.
Institutional challenges in particular can be identified as the reasons for the complete failure to achieve the goals set out in the OZG. For example, a standardised nationwide solution, such as a central platform for digital government services, requires interference in the self-administration of local authorities. Accordingly, a legal instrument that would oblige local authorities to use standardised nationwide solutions has not yet been introduced.
As a result, the 105 administrative services now offered online still largely conceal analogue processes. Instead of a fundamental, standardised reorganisation of public administration, the status quo of internal processes is largely maintained and only accessible online at user level.
According to the study, this means that the benefits of digitalisation cannot be exploited. Instead of an increase in efficiency, this may even result in additional time and personnel costs.
