eco Survey on Internet Policy: The Majority of Germans want an Internet Minister and a New Edition of the Digital Agenda

• Internet Ministry: The majority of respondents (48%) want to see the establishment of a Ministry responsible for all Internet policy topics

• Digital Agenda 2.0: Over half of Germans (57%) are of the opinion that the Digital Agenda should be updated

• Wahl/Digital 2017: eco discusses the future of the Digital Agenda at the Digital Policy Forum and offers an online check on Internet policy positions

The German public wants the political commitment and the status of German digital policy to feature more strongly in the coming legislative term, and would welcome the establishment of an Internet Ministry. According to a current representative survey, conducted in August 2017 by the opinion research institute YouGov on behalf of eco – Association of the Internet Industry e. V., 48 percent of Germans are of the opinion that responsibility for Internet policy themes should be vested in one Ministry in the next legislative term. In contrast, just 19 percent of the respondents believed that responsibility for Internet policy themes should continue to reside with different ministries during the next legislative term.

“Digitalization will continue to be an essential game changer in almost all areas of our lives over the coming four years. As such, it is high time that Internet policy was plucked from its niche and accorded appropriate status within the government’s work agenda. Doing so would require the establishment of an Internet Ministry to coordinate interdepartmental Internet policy issues. It should also involve strengthening the hand of Internet policy-makers in the German Bundestag, to be achieved for example through setting up a responsible committee,” says Oliver Süme, eco Director of Policy & Law.

Digital Agenda 2.0: Over half of Germans (57%) are of the opinion that the Digital Agenda should be updated

This means that, over the course of the coming legislative term, Germany will need a new Digital Agenda with concrete target agreements capable of being objectively measured. Over half of Germans (57%) stated in the current eco survey that the Digital Agenda should be updated or re-issued in the new legislative term (2017 – 2021). Just 12 percent of respondents were expressly opposed to this idea. The citizens‘ expectations are clearly formulated; as such, the decisive and stringent implementation of a modern Internet policy will be all the more important in the next four years.

Wahl/Digital 2017: eco issues an invitation to the Digital Policy Forum and offers an online check on Internet policy positions

In order to formulate both the needs at hand and the vision for a future-oriented Internet policy in Germany, eco is hosting a dialog between industry and politics, which is taking place on 5 September 2017, as part of the Digital Policy Forum.

eco will discuss visions and needs for a Digital Agenda 2017-2021 with high-ranking guests from politics and industry, including the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Brigitte Zypries, the German CEO of Google Philipp Justus, Telekom Board Member Dr. Thomas Kremer, and FDP Leader Christian Lindner.

A live stream of the event is available here from 6 p.m. onwards.

With the new eco online tool Wahl/Digital Check 2017, all voters will also have the opportunity to compare their own Internet policy positions with those of the four parties represented in the Bundestag.

Source:
All data, unless otherwise stated, is provided by YouGov Deutschland GmbH. Between 08/08 and 10/08/2017, 2,040 people participated in the survey. The results were weighted and are representative of the German population (age 18+).