A recent Civey survey commissioned by eco shows that almost two-thirds of the population want digitalisation to be given a high priority in the coalition negotiations. Germans are calling for concrete solutions, particularly in the digitalisation of the state and administration, the expansion of infrastructure and the digitalisation of education. Slightly more than half of the respondents believe that a “traffic light coalition” would significantly advance digital transformation.
A possible coalition of the SPD, the FDP and Alliance 90/The Greens and (nicknamed the “traffic-light coalition” after their traditionally associated colours of red, yellow and green respectively) has set itself the goal of a digital awakening in its exploratory paper. In the coalition negotiations, the three parties must deliver concrete solutions for this, demands eco Chair Oliver Süme:
“For the digital transformation, the new government must convince with its ability to act quickly and swift implementation of its plans. I very much hope that the digital policy plans of a possible traffic light coalition will run like a red thread through the coalition agreement.”
Around 63 per cent support high priority for digital policy in coalition negotiations
A large part of the population (63.7 per cent) also believes that the further development of digital policy plans should be given high priority in the coalition negotiations – as a current, representative population survey by the opinion research institute Civey commissioned by eco shows.* This was stated in particular by voters for the Greens (81 per cent), followed by voters for the FDP (74.6 per cent) and SPD (72.9 per cent).
When asked which digital policy projects should be more concretely defined in the coalition negotiations, a majority of the population sees the digitalisation of the state and administration (66.3 per cent), the strengthening of digital infrastructure (60.3 per cent) – for example through further gigabit expansion and the promotion of data centres – as well as the digitalisation of education (57.3 per cent) as priorities.
Süme: Ministry for Digitalisation will bring sustainable solutions
Furthermore, slightly more than half of Germans (53.2 per cent) believe that a traffic light coalition would significantly advance digitalisation in Germany. “The possible coalition partners have already set out a lot in their key points from the exploratory talks to sustainably transform digitalisation in Germany,” Süme continues.
Above all, the planned new edition of the digital policy strategies is a double-edged sword and could also lead to delays. Süme: “More important than constantly revising and updating digital projects would be a consistent, overarching digitalisation strategy for Germany, which must then also be swiftly implemented and put into practice.” In his view, a Ministry for Digitalisation remains the means of choice to consistently bring together complex digital policy issues and to develop sustainable solutions for them.
The eco Association provides further recommendations for action for the digital transformation in its Internet Policy Agenda.
Downloads:
- Long version of the Internet Policy Agenda
- Short version Internet Policy Agenda
- Chart 1: What priority should digitalisation have in the coalition negotiations?
- Chart 2: Which digital policy projects should be put into concrete terms?
- Chart 3: Do you think a traffic light coalition would advance digitalisation?
* The opinion research institute Civey surveyed around 2,500 people on behalf of eco in the period between 19 and 20 October 2021. The results are representative of the inhabitants of the Federal Republic of Germany aged 18 and over. The statistical error of the overall results is 3.4 per cent. Multiple answers were possible to the question of which digital policy projects a traffic light coalition should specify more strongly in the coalition negotiations.
