CDU on digital affairs

The CDU wants administrative procedures to run digitally from application to decision, supported by artificial intelligence. Staff are to be relieved of routine work and have more time for citizens and businesses.

Applications to public offices should be fully digital. This goes from the request to the answer. Computer programs with artificial intelligence should help. Staff then have to type in less data. They have more time for people.

The basis is the "Verwaltungscloud.saarland" platform, where specialist departments are to build and adjust their own processes using low-code tools. For administrative acts with no room for discretion, the CDU wants to introduce AI-supported decision systems; where discretion exists, AI systems are to make suggestions to case workers. The party calls on the federal government to stay engaged after the Onlinezugangsgesetz (Online Access Act) deadline of December 31, 2022 and to set transparent rules for reusing services built under the act. It wants to push for this in the IT Planning Council, at the states' digital ministers' meetings and with the federal government.

The CDU wants to create a central cyber agency that brings together the state's IT units. It is to develop services for digital modernization of the administration and be available to state and municipal authorities on a voluntary basis.

The CDU wants to set up a cyber agency. This is a central office for the state's computer technology. It should bring all IT units together. State and town offices can use its services. This is voluntary.

The agency is to combine innovation and project management, operations and IT security under one roof. Joint procurement is meant to increase the authorities' market power, and effort for operations, service and maintenance is to go down. The agency is to tie in with the statewide platform strategy of "Verwaltungscloud.saarland".

The CDU wants to reduce the administration's dependence on outside IT providers and calls for a sovereign cloud for public-sector workplaces. Open-source software and open standards can contribute, but the party rejects a ban on proprietary software.

Public offices often depend on big computer companies. The CDU wants to change that. The administration should get its own secure cloud. A cloud is storage on the internet. Freely available software can help with this. But the CDU does not want to ban other software.

The aim is to safeguard the confidentiality, availability and integrity of data in public administration. The platform names open-source software and open standards as one possible pillar. Together with other German states, the CDU wants to press the federal government for a joint solution, especially for cloud technologies.

The CDU wants to use digital tools to turn villages, municipalities and mid-sized towns into "smart regions." It cites the "Smart Wendeler Land" project as the model. The goal is equal living conditions across all municipalities.

The CDU wants to make villages and towns more digital. A project in the St. Wendel area is the model. People in the countryside should live as well as people in cities.

The program names equal living conditions in municipalities as a central goal. The "Smart Wendeler Land" project is meant to show how basic services, participation, mobility and citizen services can be reshaped. Digital tools are to spread information, match supply and demand, and organize low-carbon delivery chains. Village life is also to get an additional digital platform.

The CDU wants to strengthen eGo-Saar, the joint IT association of Saarland's municipalities. Shared standards are meant to cut operating and maintenance effort and improve IT security.

Towns in Saarland share an IT association. It is called eGo-Saar. The CDU wants to make it stronger. This should save work and make computers safer.

eGo-Saar has existed since 2004 and is, according to the program, the only statewide municipal IT association in Germany. The CDU points to 17 million euros provided as start-up funding for municipal digital projects. In the future, purchasing, operations and service are to be pooled more. The party wants to continue this transformation together with the municipalities.

The CDU wants gigabit fiber-optic networks to become the standard throughout Saarland. Network operators are to build most of it; where that fails, the state would spend 100 million euros in subsidies.

The CDU wants very fast internet everywhere. That needs fiber-optic cables. Companies should build them first. Where that does not work, the state will add money.

In 2022, schools are to be connected to the fiber network first. The CDU wants to support operators' self-financed rollout with lean permitting, active cooperation and an upgraded Breitbandbüro Saar (state broadband office). For areas where the market does not deliver, 100 million euros in state funds are planned. Support programs for companies that need a fiber line at short notice are to continue.

The CDU wants to close the remaining mobile dead zones in Saarland and roll out 5G quickly across the whole state. It plans to do this together with the federal government and network operators.

Some places have no cell phone signal. The CDU wants to close these gaps. The new fast 5G network should soon work everywhere.

According to the program, LTE networks already reach 99.6 percent of Saarland households. The CDU credits the state government it leads for the expansion so far. The last gaps and the 5G rollout are to be tackled jointly with the federal government and mobile carriers.

The CDU wants to proactively release non-personal government data free of charge for research and business. Saarland is to become an "open government data state." Protection of personal data is to apply without compromise.

Government offices collect a lot of data. Some data is not about single persons. The CDU wants to open this data to everyone for free. Researchers and companies should be able to use it. Personal data stays protected.

The data is to be published in standardized, machine-readable formats with clear licenses such as the "Datenlizenz Deutschland" so it can be reused as widely as possible. The CDU also wants to use the leeway in current data protection law to put data to work for research, business and public planning. Rules and practical implementation are meant to give everyone involved legal certainty.

The CDU wants data in digital government to be stored only once, in a decentralized way, at the responsible agency. Citizens should be able to see which agency has accessed their data.

Government offices should store data only once. Each office stores only its own data. Other offices ask for the data there. Citizens should see who looked at their data.

It is to be clearly defined which agency holds which data. Other offices would retrieve it automatically through interfaces when needed. The CDU expects more transparency and better protection against unauthorized access. Citizens should be able to check regularly who accessed data, when and why, and to file a complaint if they suspect misuse.

The CDU wants to create a "Cyberwehr" (cyber response unit) that also includes volunteer IT security experts. It would support security agencies and operators of critical infrastructure in major incidents.

The CDU wants to start a cyber response unit. It is a group of computer experts. Volunteers should also take part. They help when there are big attacks from the internet.

The unit is meant to be deployable at short notice and to reinforce the state's IT staff and security agencies during attacks as needed. The state administration is also to get a central mobile device management system to manage mobile devices more securely. The CDU also points to cooperation with federal and state cybersecurity agencies.

The CDU supports the call for a nationwide DigitalPaktKita (digital pact for daycare). It is to cover not only technical equipment for daycare centers but also child-appropriate concepts for using digital media.

The CDU wants a program for digital technology in daycare. Daycare centers should get devices. There should also be plans for how children learn well with them. Staff should get training for this.

According to the platform, even young children should learn to use digital media competently, reflectively, safely and responsibly. The party assigns a key role to early childhood educators because they accompany children in learning. They are to be prepared through a pedagogically grounded qualification concept.

The CDU wants to push ahead with digitizing the justice system using significantly more staff and resources. Citizens are to get online access to the courts through a virtual legal application office and a virtual service point.

The CDU wants to make the courts digital. There should be more staff and more money for this. People should be able to file requests with a court online. There should also be an online help desk.

Under federal law, all courts and prosecutors' offices must have introduced electronic case files by January 1, 2026; Saarland is working on this in a multi-state alliance. The CDU considers additional resources necessary that clearly exceed current levels. The new online contact points are to have their own staff and an appointment booking portal. Cooperation between the judiciary and the university's law faculty in research projects such as Amtsgericht 4.0 is to continue. The CDU also wants to preserve and strengthen the law faculty itself.

The CDU wants to limit the power of large media corporations and set clear legal requirements for internet platforms. Deletions and blocks are to follow media law rather than the operators' discretion. Services should also be usable with little personal data.

The CDU wants to limit the power of big media companies. There should be clear rules for internet platforms. Operators should not decide alone what to delete or block. Users should have to give up only little personal data.

The CDU supports European rules for platforms' community standards. At the same time, European law must not weaken the enforcement of existing rules online, for example on copyright, youth protection and consumer protection. The CDU wants to fight targeted political disinformation consistently. The option to use platform services with minimal data is to be written into law.

The CDU wants criminal hate speech online to be prosecuted, not just deleted. Age-restricted content is to require secure age verification. In addition, media literacy among children and adults is to grow.

The CDU wants to prosecute hate on the internet when it is a crime. The people behind it should be found. For some content, age should be checked securely. Children and adults should learn to use media well.

The CDU supports the project “Verfolgen statt nur Löschen/Courage im Netz” (prosecute instead of just deleting), which involves the state media authority, police, prosecutors and youth authorities. Oversight by state media authorities, voluntary self-regulation bodies and “Jugendschutz.net” is to be strengthened. Age verification is to be built into services through technical safety-by-design solutions. Training by the state media authority is to range from daycare to adult education and also cover topics such as cyberbullying, addiction risks and diversity of opinion. Projects in schools and clubs that promote critical media use receive support.

The CDU wants to turn the Landesamt für Soziales (State Office for Social Affairs) into a front-runner for digital administration. Application procedures are to be redesigned so that people with disabilities get their benefits simply and quickly.

The State Office for Social Affairs should work digitally. Applications should become easier. People with disabilities should get their support faster. Staff at the office should have more time for advice.

The project is called the Digital State Office lighthouse project. Procedures are to run fully digitally without switching between paper and computer, which the CDU says supports the independence of people with disabilities. The office is to be strengthened in its tasks and test digital administration as a pilot. Simpler processes are meant to give staff more room for guidance and counseling.