SPD on digital affairs

The SPD wants a comprehensive state AI strategy with clear rules for the public sector and more say for employees. The state should also become less dependent on non-European tech corporations. Companies would get access to quantum computers and high-performance computing.

The SPD wants a plan for artificial intelligence, or AI. There should be clear AI rules for agencies, police and schools. Workers should have a say on AI at work. The state should depend less on big foreign tech companies.

Decisions affecting people should not be left to opaque algorithms; open-source systems are preferred. Works councils and employees would have a say in selecting AI systems and setting their goals. A training drive for AI skills is planned at vocational schools, universities and adult education centers, with higher funding for companies bound by collective agreements. Sites such as CyberValley and the AI park in Heilbronn should benefit the whole state. The quantum computing center in Ehningen would be expanded and opened to small and medium-sized businesses as well. Their IT should become more secure and independent.

The SPD wants to expand telemedicine services and make sure they are accessible. Health data is to be shared more securely. A digital platform is to help match people with available care places.

The SPD wants more doctor visits over the internet. Everyone should be able to use these services. Care workers should keep records digitally. A website should show free places in care homes.

Telemedicine is to be strengthened and designed to be accessible to everyone. Data sharing between health care providers is to become more secure. To relieve nursing staff, the SPD supports the switch to digital documentation. The state is also to build a platform through which open care places can be arranged.

The SPD wants every household and business to have access to a fiber connection by 2030 and to treat fiber as a basic public service. For mobile service, 4G is to be available everywhere, and statewide 5G is the aim.

The SPD wants fast internet for everyone. By 2030 every home should be able to get fiber. Fiber is a very fast cable for the internet. Cell phone service should also work everywhere. People in rural areas should no longer be worse off.

Building duplicate networks where fiber already exists is rejected. The SPD wants to monitor the commercial rollout more closely and continue subsidized expansion. Coverage obligations of mobile carriers are to be strictly checked and measured against actual user experience. A state-owned digital infrastructure company is to build cell towers, including on state-owned properties.

The SPD wants to put the most-used government services online within five years and enforce uniform digital standards across state and municipal administrations. Digital sovereignty is to become a guiding principle, and a separate ministry for digital affairs and municipalities is planned.

The SPD wants people to handle government errands online. For example, ID cards, driver's licenses or parental benefits. This should work within five years. Anyone who needs help gets it in person. The state should not depend on single software companies.

Examples named include ID cards, driver's licenses, resident registration, building permits and parental allowance; ministries supply the procedures and municipalities switch them on. Statewide "digital citizen offices" are to digitize paper forms and help with online applications. Plans include electronic files, paperless work, compatible systems and implementation of the Online Access Act 2.0. The state is to use open source where it offers clear added value and generally publish software it develops itself. State and municipal IT providers are to cooperate with mid-sized firms, provide open interfaces and require vendors to return data and support platform switches.

The SPD wants to set up a dedicated Ministry for Digital Affairs and Municipalities to coordinate digitalization across the state government. It also wants to permanently reserve two percent of the state budget for digital projects.

The SPD wants a new ministry. It will handle digital matters and local governments. The state should spend a fixed amount on digital projects every year. That amount should be two percent of the state budget.

The new ministry would bundle responsibility for and coordination of digitalization across all departments. According to the platform, this would help expand infrastructure and modernize public administration. The digital budget would be set permanently at two percent of the state budget. A yearly progress report would measure rollout, service quality and user satisfaction.