A German trade union, the BDA, is urging the establishment of a standalone digital ministry, as proposed by the CDU during the election campaign, before the hot phase of coalition talks between the Union and the SPD. In a position paper addressed to the coalition negotiators, the BDA’s Digital Council criticizes the previous approaches of the federal government as insufficient and inefficient. According to T-Online, the paper states that “all previous constructs to anchor the steering of digitalization within the federal government were not successful.”
The BDA’s president, Rainer Dulger, emphasized the need for a new approach, saying, “If a digital ministry comes, it must be done right. We need the political ambition to establish a slim, assertive ministry that, with competences, budget and a new mindset, takes on the digitalization of our authorities, steers it and consistently pushes it forward.” The union believes that a central digital ministry would be essential for the success of digital projects, requiring clear competencies, comprehensive oversight and a separate budget.
The BDA argues that the current approach of the federal government, where various ministries often work uncoordinated on projects, leads to delays, inefficiency and duplicate structures. A central digital ministry could prioritize and implement digital projects more efficiently, the union claims. The paper cites the Hessian digital ministry as an example, which has a two-part budget for coordinating digital projects in other ministries and for its own tasks.