Revolutionary Citizen Columns: This is how administration becomes more digital!

Revolutionary Citizen Columns: This is how administration becomes more digital!

In a remarkable development, the Bremen company “Tante Enso” is testing innovative citizen service columns in 13 markets in Germany. This new digital solution, developed by Dieter Rittinger, is intended to enable citizens to handle administrative matters quickly and easily. These advances in digital government are part of a larger trend that aims to revolutionize the delivery of public services in Germany. Rittinger has been refining this system for over ten years, and the first prototypes can already be found in pharmacies in Saxony. The column offers a variety of functions, including the possibility of submitting applications for identity cards - including taking photos - and enables direct contact with tradesmen and doctors via the column, as Liane Pollmanns and Jürgen Schmidt from Langenstein note.

As mdr.de reports, one of the main features of these citizen pillars is security: access is only via a card, and they do not store any of the users' personal data. This should not only save citizens a trip to the authorities, but also relieve the burden on the public service. The German Society for Information and Supply Management GmbH (DeGIV) is bringing over 350 digital access points into this project to ensure connectivity and functionality.

A digital marketplace for public services

The idea is not just limited to the individual, but is aimed at a comprehensive digital marketplace that connects various institutions such as offices, banks and health insurance companies. This corresponds to what iese.fraunhofer.de describes as necessary for modern smart city solutions. A public marketplace could set new standards for digital administrative services and thus strengthen trust in public administration. The creation of such a digital infrastructure is becoming increasingly important, especially against the background of an increasing loss of trust in the ability of politics and administration to act.

The Regulatory Control Council is in favor of abandoning the existing EfA principle (one-off data collection) in favor of EfA standards and basic components in order to make administration more efficient. Such a digital marketplace would not only increase transparency, but also promote competition among German tech companies and start-ups. The integrated solution could help here to ensure security mechanisms and interoperability.

Shaping the digital future

In the context of digitalization, the terms and applications have also evolved. The term “digital” itself, derived from “digitus,” which means finger, is used in a wide variety of areas, from digital payment systems to modern technologies that process information faster and more efficiently. (wiktionary.org).

The test phase of the citizen service columns will be evaluated this fall in order to obtain feedback from users and optimize the systems. After analyzing this phase, a decision will be made as to what happens next with the currently installed columns. Initial feedback shows that users really appreciate the convenience and time savings.