The German administration is facing a major problem: it is too slow and too complex to meet the requirements of the digital world.
This is not only hampering the economy, but also slowing down innovation.
Added to this are demographic change, the growing density of regulation and the slow pace of digitalization, which make efficient and agile administrative action more difficult.
In order to meet these challenges, acatech – the National Academy of Science and Engineering – has published the study “Innovation System Germany: Increasing the efficiency and agility of public administration”.
The study shows how administration can be modernized and made fit for the future through targeted measures in the areas of employees, structures and technologies.
The figures speak for themselves
- In a European comparison of digital administrative services(DESI index), Germany is only in 18th place out of 27.
- The Online Access Act (OZG), which was intended to drive forward the digitization of administrative services, has fallen far short of its goals. Only a quarter of the planned services are currently available online.
This inefficiency has consequences: Citizens and companies are frustrated because they are confronted with complicated processes and long waiting times. The German economy suffers from the bureaucratic burden and innovative companies are reluctant to invest in Germany.
However, there are possible solutions:
Employees
We need qualified staff who can handle the new technologies.
- Germany has the highest proportion of lawyers in central positions in Europe. Their job is to apply the regulations correctly and not make any mistakes. However, innovations require a leap into the unknown.
- Compared to other European countries, too few employees or civil servants in the German administration have gained previous experience in the private sector.
- Strategic personnel planning is necessary in order to meet the demand for skilled workers.
Specifically, the following points are mentioned:
- Competency-based job descriptions: Job descriptions should be more focused on the skills needed and mention fewer specific educational requirements. (S. 13-14)
- Recognition of external professional experience: Scope under collective agreements to recognize external professional experience should be used to bring more people with new perspectives and cultures of innovation into the administration. (S. 18)
- More flexible grouping: Better use should be made of the collective agreement’s options for recognizing external professional experience in the context of grouping and for granting bonuses for skilled workers. (S. 18-19)
- Addition of competence profiles: Job-based job descriptions should be supplemented with competence profiles to facilitate the appropriate consideration of externally acquired occupational competences. (S. 19)
Structures
Static structures must be broken up. Inter-municipal cooperation must be promoted and the federal distribution of tasks adapted.
We need a culture of trial and error and a greater tolerance for mistakes.
Technologies
The end-to-end digitization of administrative processes must be driven forward.
Register modernization must be accelerated and a cloud-first strategy pursued.
The use of cloud computing is particularly important.
Cloud solutions make it possible to flexibly adapt IT resources to requirements and save costs. They create the basis for innovative administrative technologies (GovTech) that can make administration more efficient and citizen-friendly. The modernization of the German administration is a mammoth task.
According to the study, a clear political vision, close cooperation between the federal, state and local governments and bold investment in new technologies, especially open source, are needed. Only in this way can the German administration meet the challenges of the digital world and become a driver of innovation and growth.
Summary
The acatech study shows that a comprehensive modernization of public administration is necessary in order to increase efficiency and agility and thereby strengthen Germany’s innovative capacity. Targeted measures in the areas of employees, structures and technologies can make the administration fit for the future.
The study argues that opening up to career changers and making recruitment processes more flexible can help to bring urgently needed skills into the administration and increase the ability to innovate.
The rigid focus on formal qualifications is seen as an obstacle to the modernization of administration.
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Call to Action
The results of the acatech study highlight the urgent need for action in public administration. It is now up to the political decision-makers and those responsible in the administrations to implement the proposed measures and make the administration fit for the future.
Link to the study: Innovation System Germany
Link to our thinking space: Integrated in our AI compass