With the adoption of the digital strategy on 31 August 2022, the German government set itself the goal of making Germany one of the top ten countries in Europe in the field of digitalization by 2025. The digital strategy therefore comprises 18 lighthouse projects and contains 135 targets.
This includes, for example, equipping half of all households and companies with fiber optic connections as part of the gigabit strategy. The German government also wants to be judged on whether it has been able to achieve its ambitions by 2025. Two components are needed to respond to this: quantifiable targets and their continuous review. The former were established with the formulation of the digital strategy, the latter have now been initiated. At the start of the “Einfach.Gemeinsam.Digital” event series on November 30, he presented three pillars of a comprehensive monitoring system. This will make it possible to determine the progress of digitalization and to make adjustments if action is required.
Three pillars of monitoring
The first pillar is the establishment of the “Digital Strategy Germany Advisory Board”. This consists of 19 experts from business, science and civil society and is chaired by Professor Dr. Louisa Specht-Riemenschneider, University of Bonn, and Dr. Thomas Koenen, Federation of German Industries. The advisory board will meet ten times a year and focus on the lighthouse projects of the digital strategy. The advisory board will then provide comprehensive feedback to ensure the best possible implementation of the projects. As a second pillar, a database is to be set up at the beginning of 2023 to record and transparently document the interim status of the 135 targets. All departments involved will be responsible for providing it with information on the progress made. With the help of the database, the departments can keep a clear overview of their goals, network better with each other and share knowledge more easily. The third pillar addresses the question of effectiveness: do the implemented digitalization projects have a positive impact on the lives of citizens? The “Agora Digitale Transformation” research project will address this question and publish its findings at the end of 2023. The evaluations can be used beyond the current projects to enable more evidence-based project planning in the future.
Read more about this topic on the BMDV website.