SPD on digital affairs

The SPD wants to speed up the fiber-optic rollout across Berlin and increase subsidies where companies do not build at their own expense. Berlin businesses are also to get more free advice on digitalization and more digital government services.

The SPD wants fast internet all over Berlin. For this, fiber-optic lines should be everywhere. Where companies do not build on their own, the state should help with money. Businesses should also get free advice on digital topics.

By the end of the next term, Berlin is to have a high-performing digital infrastructure in which startups, tech companies, AI and open data form a cluster as important as the health sector. The Digitalagentur Berlin is to expand its free advice, especially on cybersecurity and resilience. The districts' business development offices are to get permanent digitalization guides who offer initial advice on site. The digital business service DIWI is to be put in place, and procurement law is to be modernized with digital tools.

The SPD wants to make digital government services easy to use, for example with a Berlin app, while keeping in-person advice. The administration is to act on its own initiative rather than wait for applications. The state's IT is to be steered centrally and rely more on open software.

The SPD wants people to handle official matters easily online. There should be a Berlin app for this. People who need help can still get advice in person. Offices should reach out on their own, for example when an ID expires.

Digital guides, chatbots and courses in libraries and adult education centers are to help people use the services, and mobile services in neighborhoods will be expanded. Through a portal called “Berlin besser machen,” residents can suggest improvements. Data is to be collected only once under the once-only principle. The central digital budget is to cover all IT spending by the state and districts, and a “digital twin” of the city is to support planning with simulations. AI is to be used within clear guardrails. The SPD also backs open-source software, European payment services and a capable public IT provider that also protects against cyberattacks.