A critical impasse threatens Germany’s ambitious plans for public sector modernization, as concerns over data protection risks stifling necessary digital transformation, according to a joint statement by Andrea Nahles, head of the Federal Employment Agency (BA) and BA CIO Stefan Latuski. Published in the Handelsblatt, the statement highlights a growing tension between the imperative for enhanced citizen services and the legally mandated safeguards designed to protect individual data.
Nahles and Latuski express concern that data sovereignty, while crucial, is increasingly invoked as a convenient excuse to resist genuine administrative digitalization. They argue that the focus should shift to harnessing technological possibilities in a way that serves the interests of citizens, facilitating secure and legally compliant data linkage across traditional administrative boundaries. The current system, they contend, forces individuals to navigate a fragmented bureaucracy, effectively “wandering from authority to authority.
The statement calls for a comprehensive and coordinated digital overhaul of German public administration, moving beyond piecemeal improvements towards a holistic approach. Numerous government commissions are currently preparing key decisions and the authors urge a “digital shoulder-to-shoulder” alignment to ensure that data flows effectively, rather than requiring citizens to repeat information.
At the heart of the proposal is the “Once-Only” principle: citizens should only need to submit data to the state once, with the assurance that state bodies will then be enabled to securely and legitimately reuse that information. The infrastructure to achieve this – particularly leveraging the existing tax identification number – is reportedly already in place. However, legal hurdles are actively hindering progress, creating a bottleneck for modernization.
The published commentary raises pertinent questions about the balance between necessary modernization and overzealous data protection, suggesting that the current framework risks paralyzing essential improvements to public services. The debate underscores a larger challenge for governments worldwide: how to embrace digital transformation while maintaining public trust and safeguarding individual rights.
