CDU on digital affairs

The CDU wants to give all schools a learning management system and a digital classroom for learning at home. Students whose families cannot provide a device are to receive one.

All schools will get an online learning platform. Students can use it to learn at home too. Some families cannot buy a device. Those students will be given one.

Through the "Schulportal SH" cloud, teachers and students are to have a single login for online office tools, file storage, messaging and email; all schools get the SCHOOL SH administration software. Digital diagnostics and grading are to be developed further, and online access to grades is to be examined. A broader experimentation clause is meant to give schools room to try new digitally supported teaching formats. Reading, spelling and handwriting are to stay an essential part of schooling, and printed textbooks will remain available to borrow.

The CDU wants to expand schools' digital infrastructure as a high priority and secure its funding for the long term. At the federal level, it will push for a second Digitalpakt (digital pact for schools) that starts in 2025 and becomes permanent.

The CDU wants to keep expanding technology in schools. All schools should get fast internet. The federal government should keep paying for this after 2025. The state and towns should agree on who pays for what.

The last remaining schools are to get a fiber-optic connection, and all schools are to be connected quickly to the school cloud. The state wants to fund school operators hiring system administrators or contracting outside providers. An agreement with the municipal associations is to reorganize responsibilities and costs for infrastructure and equipment. The CDU wants to use the leeway in data protection law as fully as possible, and the school law is to reflect digitalization more strongly.

The CDU wants to keep artificial intelligence a priority of digitalization and expand the state's AI cluster. Small and medium-sized companies are to be able to try out AI applications easily. In the platform's view, data protection must not become an obstacle to innovation.

AI means artificial intelligence. The CDU wants to strongly support AI in the state. Small companies should be able to test AI without risk. There should be a new degree for further training in AI. The CDU says overly strict data protection must not slow new ideas.

The platform sees AI as a key technology for growth and jobs and points to strengths in health, the maritime economy, renewable energy, and agriculture. Small and municipal companies are to get a platform for testing AI in a protected setting; the AI transfer hub and the application centers play an important part. A continuing-education master's degree in AI is planned. The dialogue in the expert council on AI use is to continue so that concerns are heard.

The CDU wants to make more public data available because it regards data as a factor of production and a locational advantage. It plans to discuss with business how unused private-sector data could be included as well. Data infrastructure and data skills are to be expanded.

The CDU wants to open up more government data. Companies and researchers should be able to use this data. The technology for data should get better. Students should learn how to handle data. Small companies should get advice on this.

According to the platform, AI in business and science needs widely available data. It calls for more powerful data infrastructure, data spaces, and shared standards. The state is to become a front-runner in handling data, and data skills are to become part of school and vocational curricula. The CDU wants to develop an advisory program for small and medium-sized companies. The use of data for scientific and industrial research is also to be strengthened.

The CDU wants to further develop the state's digital strategy and continue the fiber-optic broadband rollout, especially in rural areas. Artificial intelligence is to remain a priority, and digitalization is to become a guiding principle in all policy areas.

The CDU wants to make the state more digital. There should be fast fiber internet everywhere. This matters most in rural areas. Artificial intelligence should stay an important topic. Schools should teach computer science.

The platform sees digitalization as an opportunity for well-paid jobs and for rural areas, provided connectivity is good. The state administration is to be digitalized throughout and its staff given mobile equipment, explicitly including the courts and police. For schools and universities, the CDU cites new digital teaching concepts, a digital pact for universities, and the gradual introduction of computer science as a compulsory subject at secondary schools. Economic potential is to be tapped through AI, digital competence centers, and rural start-ups. A green IT strategy is meant to contribute to climate neutrality.

The CDU wants to help all groups in society use digital technology confidently and thereby ease fears about the transition. It plans new services, digital counseling, and better use of data while maintaining data protection.

Some people are afraid of digital change. The CDU wants to help everyone use computers and the internet. There should be new services for this. State counseling should also be available online. Protecting data stays important.

Support is to go to children at school, mid-sized businesses, and older people. Virtual multigenerational centers and digitalization labs are planned. State counseling services, such as family counseling, health prevention, and language and integration courses, are to be expanded digitally. The platform treats data protection as the basis for trust; at the same time, data is to be used more in administration, health care, and AI. The CDU wants to examine a "data vault" that securely bundles important documents digitally, and it stresses digital accessibility.

The CDU wants to keep promoting gaming and e-sports as part of youth culture and as an economic factor. It plans an e-sports academy and major events in the state, accompanied by addiction and violence prevention.

The CDU wants to support video games and e-sports. E-sports means people compete against each other in video games. There should be an academy for e-sports. Big events should take place in the state. There should also be protection against addiction.

According to the platform, the focus of this support is on media literacy, addiction prevention, and health promotion. The e-sports academy is to be developed with the FH Westküste (West Coast University of Applied Sciences) through its target and performance agreement. At the federal level, the CDU advocates that sports clubs with an e-sports section keep their nonprofit status. Independent institutions are to receive appropriate funding for addiction and violence prevention.

The CDU wants to fully digitize public administration at every level and make it reachable around the clock. The state administration is to lead the way in using artificial intelligence and base its decisions more strongly on data.

The CDU wants all public offices to work digitally. People should be able to reach them at any time. The offices should also use artificial intelligence. These are computer programs that solve tasks on their own. In-person advice should still be available.

Processes are to run without switching between paper and computer. Chatbots and speech and image recognition are to become standard. Every new law that creates paperwork is to be checked for whether it can be handled entirely digitally. Agencies are to use social media more, and digital pick-up terminals are to be supported. Digital skills are to be anchored in administrative training, including through the degree program "Digitales Verwaltungsmanagement" (digital public management). In-person contact is to remain available.

The CDU wants to continue the fiber-optic rollout and achieve complete mobile coverage in the state. The platform regards digital infrastructure as just as important for rural areas as a highway connection, in order to prevent people from moving away.

The CDU wants fast internet across the whole state. Cell phone service should work everywhere too. Places with no fast internet come first. This should make people want to live and work in the countryside.

In funding, areas without service (white spots) are to take priority over areas with only moderate service (gray spots). The goal is 100 percent mobile coverage. The state's digitalization strategy is to be carried out consistently to relieve municipal administrations and make them more citizen-friendly.

The CDU wants to develop the state's Green IT strategy further so that digital technology uses less energy and fewer resources. It also backs a rule requiring that phone and laptop batteries be user-replaceable and that spare parts stay available for five years.

Computers and networks need a lot of power. The CDU wants digital technology to be easier on the environment. Data centers should save energy and pass on their heat. People should be able to swap phone and laptop batteries themselves.

Data centers are to run efficiently and at full capacity, and their waste heat is to be used, which the state wants to support specifically; the CDU also wants to attract new data centers and start-ups. In the state administration, business trips are to decrease and video conferences be used more often. A workplace check is to measure energy use and identify savings. Procurement of hardware and software is to take the ecological and social life cycle into account. The platform justifies this by saying the digital economy could account for about eight percent of CO2 emissions by 2025.