SPD on digital affairs

The SPD wants fast fiber internet reaching every home and full mobile coverage with 5G. Lack of profitability is no longer to be a reason for leaving areas unserved, which is why the state is to invest in the infrastructure.

Everyone in Lower Saxony should get fast internet. Fiber cables should reach every house. The mobile network should also be good everywhere. The state should help where companies do not build on their own.

Together with municipalities and providers, a mapping with solutions is to be drawn up for areas where companies will not build on their own. The SPD supports a federal funding program without an eligibility threshold in which poorly served areas keep priority, and it wants to strengthen the Lower Saxony-Bremen broadband center. Networks are to be mutually accessible under the open access principle, and duplicate build-out in lucrative areas is to end. Funding is to be available on a long-term, predictable basis. In spectrum awards, providers that cover rural areas are to be favored, and the state aims to be a pioneer in 6G.

The SPD wants to make the digital transition social and inclusive. Accessibility is to be a criterion in every digital project, and no one should be forced to use digital channels.

The SPD wants everyone to be able to use digital services. Digital projects should have no barriers. Older people should get help. No one should be forced to do everything online.

Contact persons are to help citizens overcome digital hurdles. For older people, the program plans volunteer digital ambassadors, whom the state will support with training. There will also be free courses, especially on IT security. The party explicitly rejects any obligation to go digital.

The SPD wants better data because it sees benefits for climate protection, public transit, business and public administration. Publicly generated data should benefit everyone, and companies should share data more often too.

The SPD wants data to be used better. Data created by the public should help everyone. Companies should share more data too. Open data means that data is open for all to use.

Together with municipalities, business and civil society, the party wants to find bottlenecks in access to data. The program cites transportation as an example of publicly generated data. Sharing of private-sector data is to be actively promoted.

The SPD wants the most important government services to be available online and plans a broad digitalization strategy for this. Data security is to improve as well; the state's central office for information security is to become a cybersecurity center.

The SPD wants people to handle important government matters online. People's data should be safe. A center for cybersecurity is to be built for this. The state should help towns and cities with the technology.

The state wants to provide central IT infrastructure and uniform standards so that municipalities can offer online services. Digital platforms are to speed up planning procedures and improve cooperation between agencies. The cybersecurity center is to work more closely with the Federal Office for Information Security and the municipalities. Digital guides and easy-access training are to help people with little digital experience. The SPD also wants to expand IT training and degree programs and to pool IT expertise within the state administration.

The SPD sees both opportunities and risks in artificial intelligence. Employees are to be involved before AI is used at their workplace, and important decisions about people should not be left to algorithms alone.

The SPD wants rules for artificial intelligence, or AI. Workers should have a say before AI comes to their job. People should make the important decisions about people. It must be possible to check these decisions.

For AI in the workplace, the program calls for impact assessment procedures. Rules are to protect employees and their collective representation. Decisions affecting a person's job, health, finances or basic rights are to remain a human responsibility and be open to review.

The SPD wants to develop digital solutions for cities and regions from pilot projects and roll them out quickly statewide. Rural areas in particular are to get strong digital services.

The SPD wants digital solutions for cities and villages. Some places are already testing them. Good ideas should reach everywhere quickly. Rural areas above all should get more digital services.

Pilot projects exist in Einbeck, Geestland, Hanover, Hildesheim and the district of Hameln-Pyrmont. Their lessons are to be applied across the state as fast as possible. In rural areas, digital technology is meant to help with demographic change, economic issues and climate protection.

The SPD wants to detect extremism on the internet more often and limit the reach of deliberately spread false information. Media literacy is to become a mandatory part of education.

There is hate and fake news on the internet. The SPD wants to do more against it. Helpers online should help people spot fake news. Everyone should learn at school how to handle media.

The platform provides for virtual scouts who help people deal with false information online. Street workers are also to work on digital platforms and be easy to find and accessible there. The SPD wants to hold internet providers responsible when it comes to hate speech. The pilot project “Gaming-Zentrum” is to receive support and offer virtual safety training. Media literacy is meant to help people recognize hidden extremist symbols and statements.