Initiative D21 has been monitoring digital administrative services in Germany since 2010 in collaboration with the Technical University of Munich and the market research company Kantar. The latest report was presented today. In a long-term comparison, the development of digital administrative services is positive and usage has risen from 40% in 2010 to 54% this year. However, in the past two years, citizens’ acceptance of the services has stagnated. There are significant differences between the individual services and slight differences between individual federal states. Overall, citizens are interested in digital services provided by the state, but the state must increase the visibility of its services and the quality of individual services.
Digital administration includes information and services offered by public authorities and public institutions, ranging from online appointments to electronic tax returns. For the eGovernment Monitor 2022, over 8,000 households in Germany were surveyed online from April 19 to May 11 to determine the benefits and acceptance of digital administrative services. The study shows, for example, that 70 percent of those surveyed use online appointments and as many as 73 percent submit their tax returns online. A third of those surveyed have applied for child benefit online, 37% for certificates of good conduct and 34% for student grants. The current situation is somewhat less digital when applying for unemployment benefit (32%). The figures are even lower for registering, changing or deregistering a place of residence (21%). A key finding of the study is that politicians and administrations must make it their task to make their services even better known, e.g. through search engine optimization and better website design. This is also the aim of the Online Access Act.
Room for improvement – utilization gap shows potential
While the above figures provide an initial insight into the use of digital administrative services, a newly calculated figure shows the untapped potential of eGovernment: the usage gap. This newly introduced key figure enables a differentiated view of the individual services, as different target groups have different needs. For example, Bafög is usually only applied for once and by a narrowly defined group of people. Overall, the digital usage gap in Germany is 57% and gives the state a lot of homework to do. These range from better awareness of its services to a more positive user experience when using digital administrative processes.
Those who are satisfied will come back
It’s a truism, but it gets to the heart of the matter: if you’re satisfied, you’ll come back. The success stories of ordering a certificate (85 percent satisfaction) and electronic tax returns (80 percent) show what the state can achieve. Citizens had less positive user experiences when re-registering (70 percent) and applying for student loans (66 percent). Overall, they would like simpler and more intuitive processes, automated procedures and faster provision. Satisfaction also varies depending on the federal state, with Bremen leading the ranking with 69 percent and Berlin bringing up the rear with 60 percent. What all administrations have in common is the task of removing barriers to use. Here, the respondents see the complicated processing and the opaque structure as the biggest hurdles. All results of the study can be found here: https://initiatived21.de/egovernment-monitor/