FDP on digital affairs

The FDP wants to make government data that does not relate to individuals or companies freely available in machine-readable form. According to the platform, this would bring more transparency and participation and benefit both businesses and the administration.

Government offices hold a lot of data. The FDP wants to make such data free for everyone to use. Data about single people or firms is not included. Companies can plan better with the data. The administration also has less work.

Data from public enterprises is to be included as well; for publicly owned firms such as transit associations the FDP wants to examine this. The platform gives heavy-load transport as an example: if state and local information on roads, bridges and construction sites were combined digitally, haulers could plan routes and permits could be issued much faster. Documents submitted digitally could also be checked digitally.

The FDP sees data centers as a locational advantage and wants to enable their growth through faster grid expansion in the Rhine-Main area. Because land is scarce and energy demand is high, new sites should be actively guided by planning. Waste heat from the facilities should be fed into local heating networks.

Data centers are large buildings full of computers. The FDP wants more of them to be built in Hesse. For that, power grids should grow faster. Heat from the data centers should warm nearby homes.

The program calls data centers the heart of digitalization and a future opportunity for Hesse and Germany. Because land in the metropolitan area is scarce and the facilities need a lot of energy, planning should actively steer new sites. The FDP wants a fair balance of interests over the scarce land. For reasons of energy efficiency, the waste heat produced should be fed into local heating networks and thus serve neighborhood development.

The FDP demands that people control their personal data much as they control property. On social networks, default settings are to offer the highest protection, and users are to actively decide who may see their data. The party also wants to reconcile data protection with technological progress.

The FDP says: My data belongs to me. Everyone should decide about their own data. On social networks, protection should be highest at the start. Users then decide who may see their data.

As an example, the platform names patient data such as X-rays or blood counts, which are to belong to patients rather than doctors. For social networks, the FDP calls for a legally required opt-in procedure. It regards data protection standards above a minimum level as part of competition, which competition law can monitor. The party rejects banning the police and other authorities from using Facebook, but information is also to be published on their own websites.

The FDP wants people to remain able to act anonymously or under a pseudonym on the internet. It rejects sweeping monitoring of private chats. Violations of the law are still to be prosecutable.

The FDP wants this: People may stay anonymous on the internet. Everyone decides whether to give their name. The state should not broadly monitor private chats. Crimes should still be prosecuted.

Citizens are to decide for themselves whether to reveal their identity, apart from special, unavoidable cases. In enforcement, conditions are to be created so that legal violations can be pursued successfully. The FDP rejects comprehensive "chat controls."

The FDP wants to give Hesse's digital ministry considerably more responsibilities. Areas such as IT security and digitalization of the administration are to move there from the interior ministry, as is the state's central data processing agency (HZD). In the party's view, the current ministry has too few tasks and too little influence.

Hesse has a ministry for digital matters. The FDP says it has too few tasks. It should take over more tasks from the interior ministry. This includes computer security for the state. It should also steer digital government offices.

The ministry is to centrally steer implementation of the Online Access Act (OZG) and the "Digital Model Agency" project and be responsible for an education platform. It is to direct recruitment and training of digital specialists in the state administration and, through a steering group with municipal IT providers such as ekom21, advance digitalization in local government. The FDP envisions a project-oriented organization with innovation labs and digital hubs. Also planned are a "public sector" platform for private providers and an e-government incubator to test ideas for modernizing the administration.

For fiber rollout, the FDP relies primarily on private companies and wants to use public money only where rollout is not commercially viable. Gigabit vouchers for households, businesses and institutions are planned for this. By the end of the legislative term, fiber and 5G should be available everywhere in Hesse.

The FDP wants fast internet everywhere in Hesse. Companies should mostly build the lines themselves. The state only helps where it does not pay off for companies. Then people and businesses get a voucher for the connection. The voucher pays part of the cost.

The vouchers support customers rather than providers and are described in the platform as low in red tape and cost-efficient; the United Kingdom and Greece are cited as models. The FDP wants all market participants to use open access, meaning shared use of existing fiber at market prices, to avoid duplicate rollout. Bureaucratic hurdles in planning law are to be reduced further. Alternative laying methods, empty conduits and co-laying during other construction projects are to be made easier and permitted.

The FDP wants to advance mobile network rollout through faster permits and new technology. Cell sites are to count as approved automatically once a deadline has passed. The party also wants to promote OpenRAN technology and support national roaming organized by the private sector.

The FDP wants better cell phone coverage in Hesse. Offices should decide faster on new cell towers. If an office takes too long, the tower counts as allowed. Applications should be handled digitally. Old towers should stay usable with new software.

According to the platform, OpenRAN saves costs and allows old masts to be used for new mobile standards by swapping software. On national roaming, meaning use of other operators' networks within the country, the FDP prefers incentives for voluntary solutions by operators so that their willingness to invest is preserved. The party welcomes the Bundesrat's discussion of alternative spectrum allocation procedures. Application and permit procedures are to be fully digital.

The FDP calls for a 6G research center in Hesse where business and academia work together. It also wants to fund communications infrastructure for the Internet of Things and make Hesse a model state for this technology. Municipal services are meant to improve as a result.

The FDP wants a research center for 6G in Hesse. 6G is the next technology for cell phone networks. Companies and researchers should work together there. The FDP also wants to fund networks for connected sensors. Sensors can measure free parking spots or the air, for example.

The platform expects 5G to reach its capacity limit around 2030 and be replaced by 6G, and points to research centers in Oulu and Seoul. For the Internet of Things, secure and energy-efficient data transmission over long distances is to be funded, for example using the LoRaWAN protocol. The FDP names traffic and parking management, monitoring of air and water quality, smart lighting and waste collection as applications. A best-practice network is to give municipalities ideas and advice for their own projects.

The FDP wants everyone in Hesse to be able to use a digital identity (eID), for example for payments, health applications and online contracts. The eID is to offer strong data protection, and each person is to decide which data to release.

The FDP wants a digital ID for everyone in Hesse. It is called eID. People can use it to pay and sign contracts online. They can also use it for prescriptions from the doctor. Each person decides which data others may see.

The platform names retail payments, the health card, electronic prescriptions and contracts in online retail as areas of use. The eID is to meet the strictest data protection standard in Europe. Under the FDP's plan, control over the data stays with the individual. The digital identity is also to serve as the gateway to administrative services of the state and municipalities.

The FDP wants the state, counties, cities and towns to be more closely connected digitally. Under the name "smartHessen," existing smart city and smart region projects would be brought together.

The FDP wants public offices in Hesse to be better connected. The state, counties and cities should work together digitally. The project is called smartHessen. A report every two years should show the progress.

A report every two years would record how far the state, counties, cities and towns have come with digitalization. Hessian cities should rank near the top in comparisons such as the Bitkom index. In the FDP's view, a modern administration involves citizens, business, associations and clubs.

The FDP wants Hesse's public administration to work fully digitally and without paper by 2028. Not only citizens' applications but also the agencies' internal processes are to be digitized and redesigned.

The FDP wants government offices to work without paper. This should happen by 2028. Applying for something should be as easy as ordering online. The work inside the offices should also become digital.

All state bodies would be required to keep electronic files, and requirements for written form would be reviewed. Citizens should have to submit their data only once (the once-only principle). Municipalities would receive earmarked funding to adapt standardized procedures to local conditions and would be relieved of tasks that are not their own. Policymakers would set standards for security, data protection and compatibility, while the market supplies the software. The state IT agency (Hessische Zentrale für Datenverarbeitung) and ekom21 would remain, but private companies should be able to compete with them on fair terms.

The FDP wants to strengthen Frankfurt's internet exchange and make Hesse Germany's leading location for data centers. In addition, a Hessian data protection seal would let companies demonstrate how they handle data.

The FDP wants more data centers in Hesse. These are big halls with many computers for the internet. The heat from the data centers should be put to use. Companies should be able to get a seal for good data protection.

A data center infrastructure would be built up around the internet exchange in Frankfurt as a basis for cloud services, big data and connected industry. New data centers would be steered through state development planning. Municipalities, energy suppliers and operators would have to present plans for using waste heat. With the data protection seal, companies could show that their data protection complies with the law and that they undergo regular security checks.

The FDP wants to create on-demand digital services in rural areas for health care, security, education and retail in order to ensure equal living conditions. Municipalities would get help with their digital strategies.

The FDP wants more digital services in the countryside. For example, doctor visits by video and online marketplaces for local products. This should keep the countryside attractive for young families. Towns should get help with going digital.

The platform mentions platforms that connect customers with suppliers and producers of regional goods, self-driving vehicles in local transit and more telemedicine. For municipalities, the FDP plans training, a digital atlas of best practices and regular networking meetings for decision-makers. Scientific monitoring would also evaluate data from smart city sensors. Software for rural areas should be based on open standards.