BSW on digital affairs

The BSW wants to create a statewide online portal through which companies can handle all important dealings with public authorities. Saxony-Anhalt is meant to become a front-runner in digitalizing public administration, and permits should be issued faster.

The BSW wants a web portal for companies across the state. Companies can file applications there and write to public offices. They can see how far along their application is. People who do not want to work digitally can still use paper.

The portal would bundle applications, notifications and permits in one place; companies could upload documents and communicate with authorities there. An English version and fixed contact persons at state level are planned, especially for international firms. The processing status would be visible online, which according to the program creates planning certainty and reduces follow-up questions. Permits are to be sped up through clear responsibilities and deadlines. A non-digital way of access would remain available.

The BSW wants fiber connections to every home and a mobile network without gaps across the state. Network operators are to be required to close all coverage gaps.

Every home should get fast internet through fiber. The cell phone network should also work everywhere. Network companies should have to close all dead zones. The BSW sees this as a task for the state.

The program counts fast internet and mobile coverage among basic public services. The BSW regards digital access as a precondition for local services, new ways of working and community development. Network operators are to be obliged to serve areas that currently lack coverage.

The BSW wants strict compliance with high data protection standards and, at the same time, a revision of the General Data Protection Regulation. The protection of civil rights is to be better reconciled with practicality and legal certainty.

The BSW wants to protect people's data well. People should decide about their own data. The EU rules on data protection should become simpler. But they should still protect people well.

According to the program, citizens should always keep control of their data, and digitalization must not enable surveillance or data misuse. Data protection experts, municipalities, small businesses and critics of the current rules are to be more involved in revising the GDPR. Data protection should be understandable and close to citizens rather than a bureaucratic obstacle. Existing requirements such as the IT Security Act and the NIS 2 Directive are to be implemented and monitored more consistently.

The BSW wants to better protect public institutions against cyberattacks and reduce dependence on closed software. Data that authorities process about citizens is to be stored within the EU.

The BSW wants to protect offices, schools and hospitals better against online attacks. Authorities should use more open software. Anyone can check open software. Citizens' data should be kept on computers in the EU.

For IT security, the program calls for qualified staff, modern technology and clear responsibilities. Authorities are to check where they can cut back contracts for closed solutions, especially with non-European vendors, and exchange experience with open-source efforts such as "Do-FOSS" or Schleswig-Holstein's strategy; the BSW names a statewide open-source project as a goal. Where no open software is used, contracts should allow inspection of the source code. The BSW also wants more education about cybercrime, especially for children, young people and older people, and training on how to deal with artificial intelligence.

The BSW wants to secure a right to an analog life. Important services and dealings with authorities are to remain possible without digital devices so that no one is excluded from taking part in society.

Not everyone wants or is able to use a smartphone. The BSW wants important things to work without the internet too. This includes banks, buses and trains, parcels and public offices. Digital services should be voluntary.

The program gives as examples a bank account, travel by bus and train, picking up parcels and access to public offices. The state is to remain obliged to offer conventional in-person dealings with authorities. No one should lose state services because they cannot or do not want to use digital channels. The BSW sees digitalization as an offer, not an obligation.

The BSW wants to modernize public administration, simplify procedures and expand digital services. Digitalization projects are to be coordinated statewide so that incompatible stand-alone solutions do not arise.

The BSW wants to make public administration simpler and faster. Public offices should offer more digital services. The state should set uniform software for all. Staff should get training.

Administrative services are to be reachable centrally through secure portals, and mobile services, for example for vehicle registration or appointments, are to be expanded. Central software requirements and a legal basis are meant to ensure that projects are checked early for quality, security and statewide usability. Staff are to receive training in digital applications and artificial intelligence. For AI in administration, the program demands binding concepts and a clear legal framework so that traceability, data protection and accountability are preserved.

The BSW wants all municipalities in Saxony-Anhalt to use the same standardized application forms. Municipalities would no longer design their own. This is meant to avoid duplicate applications and speed up processing.

Today many towns have their own forms. The BSW wants the same forms across the state. People should be able to fill them out on a computer. Then they can send them straight to the office. This should make things faster.

The state government is to issue binding rules on which forms must be used. A central digital platform could provide the forms and keep them up to date. They are to be fillable on screen and sendable directly to the authority. The platform names simpler and more transparent procedures, shorter processing times, and less duplicated data as its goals.