Administrative procedures don't always necessitate digital transformation, according to the Minister. - Administrative processes not being digitized intentionally by the Minister.
Minister Steffen Schuetz, Digital Minister of Thuringia, has expressed concerns about the blind digitization of administrative processes. In an interview, he argued that not all work steps within administration need to be digitalized. According to Schuetz, if a company has inefficient processes, they should either be fundamentally revamped or scrapped. However, he notes that in the public sector, such processes are often clung to and even attempted to be digitalized.
Schuetz believes that the focus during the digitization process should primarily be on the work processes themselves. He suggests the need to clarify which regulations and reporting obligations are essential, what the state must provide, and what it should not.
Thuringia has been lagging behind several other federal states in terms of digitization, as revealed by reports such as the Bitkom State Index 2024. In the index, Thuringia ranked last with a score of 49.6 points, while the leading city-state of Hamburg achieved 73.5 points. Thuringia also performed relatively poorly in the Germany Index of Digitization 2023 from the Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems.
While the details of Schuetz's proposed improvements for Thuringia's digitization process are not specified in the available data, common measures advocated by regional ministers in Germany often include enhancing digital infrastructure, increasing funding for digital education, streamlining digital administrative services, promoting innovation, and implementing better data security protections. For concrete suggestions from Minister Steffen Schuetz, checking official statements or government press releases from Thuringia would be necessary.
- Minister Schuetz proposes a shift in the community policy for Thuringia's digitization, focusing on analyzing essential regulations and necessary state provisions, while also prioritizing business-specific vocational training to cater to the digital era.
- In light of Thuringia's lagging position in digitization and the need for improvement, Schuetz emphasizes the importance of leveraging technology and finance to enhance digital infrastructure, promote vocational training in technology, and support streamlined digital administrative services, with a strong emphasis on data security.
