SPD on digital affairs

The SPD wants to supply all of Hesse with fiber-optic internet and eliminate mobile dead zones. To do so, municipalities are to receive support and permits are to become simpler and faster.

The SPD wants fast internet all over Hesse. There should be fiber-optic lines everywhere. Mobile dead zones should disappear. Permits for cell towers should come faster.

Towns and counties are to get organizational help with the rollout, and in financially weak municipalities subsidized expansion should not fail for lack of money. If simplified procedures do not work, the SPD wants to consider setting up a fiber infrastructure company. For missing cell sites, deemed approval is to apply for 24 months, meaning an application counts as approved once a deadline passes; a task force is to speed up tower construction. The state will systematically check coverage obligations and mobile pacts. Around the internet exchange in Hesse, digital companies are to be attracted and energy-efficient data centers funded.

The SPD wants to conduct a fundamental survey of how secure public IT systems are and permanently strengthen the state's ability to fend off cyberattacks. Municipalities in particular are to benefit. Cooperation with other security agencies is also to improve.

The SPD wants to protect the state's computer systems better. The state should spot and stop internet attacks faster. This should also help towns and cities. Citizens should get help with using digital technology.

A review of how secure public-sector IT is has been planned. Citizens with low digital skills are to be supported through easily accessible training and digital guides and made aware of the risks. The cybersecurity cluster around the Athene center in Darmstadt is to be strengthened, with long-term and higher funding in coordination with the federal government. Locations that matter in a disaster are to get Wi-Fi hotspots with satellite links that also work during power outages. Cooperation with the federal government, other states and European and international security agencies is to be improved.

The SPD wants people to have an overview of and control over their personal data. At the same time, government data is to become freely accessible in order to build trust and benefit researchers and start-ups. The data protection authority is to get more staff for advice.

The SPD wants to protect personal data better. Everyone should know what happens with their data. Government offices should publish their data openly. Personal data stays private. The data protection office should get more staff to advise small companies and clubs.

The platform promises to implement an open data strategy quickly. Since, according to the SPD, 70 percent of data sits with municipalities, they are to get help publishing it and drafting freedom-of-information bylaws. Personal data and data on critical infrastructure remain protected, and it must not be possible to identify individuals. The office of the state data protection commissioner is to be staffed so that it can advise small businesses, the self-employed, daycare centers, schools and associations without long waits. One reason given is the data power of large digital corporations.

The SPD wants every government service to be available online by the end of the legislative term. Visiting an office in person is to remain possible but no longer necessary. To that end, signature and written-form requirements are to be largely dropped.

The SPD wants people to do all government paperwork online. This should be done within five years. Anyone who wants can still go to the office in person. A signature should only rarely be needed.

The state is to digitalize its own administration and give municipalities more support in doing so. All responsible offices are to review and improve their internal processes. For electronic applications, a signature is to be required only where a law explicitly demands it. The written-form requirement is to stay only where it serves a specific protective purpose. The civil service is to work more flexibly, use agile methods, allow working from home and offer regular training.