Only about 3 percent of German citizens are satisfied with the federal government’s digital policy in the fields of digital education and public administration.
We’re now just a few months before the German Bundestag elections, and dissatisfaction with the German Coalition’s digital policy is still on the rise. Only about three percent of German citizens are satisfied with the work of the federal government in the areas of digital education (2.8 percent) and digital administration (3.1 percent).*
This is shown by the Digital Policy Election Barometer, which eco – Association of the Internet Industry has developed together with the opinion research institute Civey, and with the support of the Vodafone Institute, Leaseweb and Huawei. In the run-up to the Bundestag elections on 26 September, the Election Barometer provides a real-time overview of the mood of Germany’s entire population regarding digital policy issues.
Satisfaction rates have continued to fall since April
Over time, it has become clear that citizen satisfaction is continuing to decline. On 1 April of this year, 4.1 percent of citizens stated that they were satisfied with the federal government’s digital policy in the area of digital education. At that time, the figure for digital administration was 3.9 percent.
“The tough months in home-schooling that are just behind us have made the existing deficits in digital education blatantly clear,” says eco Chair of the Board Oliver Süme. “There is a lack of nation-wide concepts for the implementation of digital education. Added to this is the sobering realisation that the state and public administration are simply lagging behind in digitalisation – so I’m not surprised by the persistently poor ratings. The state and public administration must simply become more digital.”
Oliver Süme: New federal government must think beyond the legislative term
In addition to the expansion of digital learning platforms and investments in modern information and communication technology, Süme calls for didactic teaching and learning concepts for teaching digital skills in schools. Furthermore, public administration, offices and authorities must now take on a pioneering role in digitalisation. As Süme sees it, there is a lack of comprehensive digital concepts for administrative applications and secure digital identities.
“What is positive is that digitalisation has at least been accorded a higher priority on the political agenda and in the election campaign,” Süme goes on to say. “Digital tools and applications have helped our society through the crisis and have highlighted the potential of digitalisation. But while there’s great relief about face-to-face teaching and the gradual return to ‘normal’ life, we need concepts for the nation-wide implementation of digital teaching. The virtual classroom must play an equal part in the education system. In Germany, the education system needs a digital update. Here, the next federal government must not slacken its efforts and must think in a future-oriented and strategic way – preferably far beyond the next legislative term.”
Further Information and Links
- Link to 20 Core Demands (English-language)
- Link to the full version of the Internet Policy Agenda (German-language)
- Campaign Website wahl/digital (The Vote for Digital) (German-langauge)
- Digital Policy Election Barometer (German-language)
*On behalf of eco, the market and opinion research institute Civey surveyed 5,110 people between 24 February and 19 June 2021. The results are representative of German residents aged 18 and over. The statistical error of the overall results is 2.5 percent.
