Data Protection Concerns Hamper Digitisation of German Administrative Systems
In the European Digital Economy and Society Index, Germany ranks 13th – out of 27 EU member states, says guest author Frank Schmiedle.
Volker Wissing, Federal Minister of Digital Affairs and Transport, now wants to at least make it into the top 10. In the media, the development on the part of the administration is criticized above all, because there is still something Kafkaesque about the German administrative apparatus. Bureaucracy is a rigid system of rule, and bureaucratization alienates people. Technological transformation and digitisation could pave the way out of the rigid system of the civil service state and into modernism. However, there are major obstacles in the way: skepticism and fear of sensitive data being made public, for example.
Modernising document management through technolog
Technological transformation sounds abstract. In practice, however, it is a helpful means of counteracting organizational complexity and paper and administrative chaos. The fact that citizens in Germany still approach this progress with a fear mentality is often based on a lack of transparency or on an unclear, massive flood of information surrounding the “e-” myth.
In order to remain in their mental comfort zone, many fellow citizens decide not to bother with technological innovations, preferring instead to reach for the old familiar, “the good old analog” – even if it means long waiting times and complicated work processes in the office. In politics and administration, or more precisely in internal document management, strict data protection regulations stand in the way of digital modernisation. The traffic light coalition wants to clear this decades-long backlog in digitisation. “Digital must become the new normal,” is Wissing’s demand.
Paper becomes PDF, files become e-files
Document management is the management and organization of electronic data with the help of databases, i.e. information carriers originally in paper form are transferred to electronic storage. In concrete terms, this means that document management is transformed from analog to digital. Paper becomes PDF, files become e-files, patient cards become electronic directories, and archives become the cloud. The digitization process not only simplifies contract work, but also brings process optimisation.
The centralized storage of e-data solves complex organizational difficulties that civil servants face on a daily basis. These include mountains of paper, for example, but also careless errors that happen when data is entered manually. At the same time, however, this also leads to data protection difficulties. Through technology and practical digital solutions in implementation and application, simpler, clearer and faster access to information and data forms is possible, and this means faster and simpler processing of the public’s concerns in the office.
Compromise between administration and skeptical citizens
Data protection and digitization are often seen as incompatible in this country. This can be attributed to a vast amount of data caused by digitization, while data protection wants to counteract the emergence of a Big Data pool.
Both views hold their justification and legitimacy. If the decision between digital panopticon or analog paper chaos in the personal sphere is up to everyone, the authorities must find a compromise with which both parties are at ease. Simplification of the contract cycle, management of personal data and information, clear presentations and analyses, as well as optimization and faster solution paths for customers are arguments in favor of digitizing the administrative apparatus. A trip to the government office would no longer be associated with stress, but with user-friendliness. In fact, digitization opens up new opportunities for public administration, but it also brings with it critical voices and skeptical citizens.
Dr. Frank Schmiedle
is Enterprise Account Executive DACH at CONGA
