Digitalization is making slow progress. Government representatives should listen carefully at their summit. And not just the industrial lobby.
No insight into digitalization? Minister Wissing with VR glasses at the digital summit in Jena Photo: Martin Schutt/dpa
What happened in Jena at the beginning of this week is as much a promotional event as it is self-assurance. The federal government wants to send the signal that digitalization is great and she takes great care of it. That’s why she’s bringing together all kinds of high-profile people from politics and the industry on stages at her digital summit in Jena for two days and at the same time wants to inspire local people about digitalization with publicly accessible events.
She has even learned from last year’s criticism – actors from civil society are finally represented on the stages, albeit in relatively small numbers. The presenters are the representatives of the industry – so much for advertising.
But the event should not hide the fact that the traffic light’s interim results when it comes to digital policy are rather mediocre. This is a tradition, although not a good one: the previous governments also had difficulty dealing with the issue. But the traffic light had announced improvement and seemed so ambitious that there was some hope.
And the practice? The digitalization The administration, which is supposed to make life easier for citizens, continues to make slow progress. The goal of offering all administrative services online by the end of 2022 has already been achieved. The situation in schools is so disastrous that relevant ambitions seem pretty far away – and no, tablets in lessons are not yet a digitalization concept.
The coalition is divided on important legislative procedures that affect citizens’ rights, such as chat control at EU level. There are too many dead spots, but too few broadband connections, and in all of this we forget that more digitization must not lead to less consumer protection: for example, when Transport Minister Wissing insists on a digital 49-euro ticket. So hopefully the government representatives will listen carefully at their own summit. And not just the industrial lobby.
