SPD on digital affairs

The SPD wants to make all social benefits available online step by step and introduce a digital Soziallotse (social benefits guide) with an AI assistant. In-person advice and local service points are to remain so that no one is left out.

The SPD wants people to apply for all social benefits online. A digital guide should give advice. It is a computer program with artificial intelligence. In-person advice should still exist.

According to the platform, benefits such as Bürgergeld (citizen's income), housing benefit, parental allowance, and the disability ID can already be requested online. This expansion is to continue statewide together with municipalities. The digital guide is to inform people about benefits they are entitled to and be barrier-free and easy to use. Adult education centers and digital ambassadors are to build digital skills among the public.

The SPD wants all administrative services in Rhineland-Palatinate to be usable digitally in the future, from application to decision. Data should only have to be provided once; there are to be alternatives for people without digital access.

The SPD wants to offer all government office services digitally. People should be able to apply entirely online. They only have to give their data once. Anyone who cannot do this digitally gets another way.

Government registers are to be modernized so that agencies can reuse data collected once in line with data protection rules (the once-only principle). Applications are to be available digitally first, and for businesses digitally only. A program is to strengthen digital administration in municipalities, which will receive central basic services, uniform standards and advice. The state IT agency Landesbetrieb Daten und Information is to be reorganized, with competitive pay and a clearer separation of project work and operations; the relevant state law is to be amended. The state's digital strategy will be updated.

The SPD wants to make public administration less dependent on vendors of proprietary software. To do so, it relies on sovereign cloud structures and an open-source strategy under which software developed by the state is also released under free licenses.

The SPD wants the state to stay independent in its computer systems. Government offices should use more free software. Free software means anyone can see the program code. Software the state develops should also be free.

The program defines digital sovereignty as the state's ability to remain independent, secure and able to act in key digital infrastructure. The state is to join the Zentrum Digitale Souveränität (Center for Digital Sovereignty) and use its products. The SPD supports expanding the Deutsche Verwaltungscloud (German administrative cloud) so that sensitive data is processed under European data protection and security standards. Future state developments are to be released under the principle of "Public Money, Public Code." The party also aims for an open-source network of start-ups, mid-sized companies, universities, public administration and civil society.

The SPD wants to use artificial intelligence in public administration to simplify processes and ease the workload of staff, with humans remaining responsible. It also wants to promote open data and secure high-performance networks statewide through its gigabit strategy and mobile coverage pact.

The SPD wants to use artificial intelligence in government offices. This should make work easier. But people should remain responsible. There should also be fast internet and good cell coverage everywhere.

The SPD wants to build AI skills systematically, fund training and set guardrails for ethics, transparency and security. The Gigabit Strategy 2030 and the mobile coverage pact are meant to ensure network access across the state. Legal foundations are to be created for the use of open data so that science, business and civil society benefit. The program names data sovereignty as a guiding principle and calls for a new understanding of data protection that reconciles protection concerns with progress.

The SPD wants to digitize the state administration end to end and review regulations systematically. The requirement for written, signed paper forms is to be dropped in many procedures or replaced by electronic options. Artificial intelligence is meant to ease the workload of staff.

The SPD wants to make state offices more digital. Many requests should work without a signature on paper. Programs with artificial intelligence should help the staff. Rules should become simpler.

The platform announces further packages of measures for simplification, digitization and the review of rules. A digital check is meant to ensure practical solutions while new rules are still being drafted. Suitable administrative processes are to be handled centrally, and cooperation between municipalities is to grow. The state and municipalities are to receive standardized basic services so that processes run without media breaks and through clear portals. The SPD names a more capable state, easier investment for businesses and better experiences for citizens as the goals.