Last Updated on 1. April 2025 by mgm-marketing
The Online Access Act is one of the most important initiatives for driving the digital transformation of public administration. The ‘one-for-all’ principle plays a central role here, which refers to the idea of designing and operating digital administrative services in such a way that they can be used by all federal states and municipalities. This collaborative approach has so far enabled the efficient development of digital administrative services and now requires a new form of joint collaboration for the upcoming phase of IT operations from 2024.
In this article, we present challenges for public administration as well as solutions for the shared use and operation of EfA online services.
Short & sweet
- The extensive digitisation of all German administrations requires a far-reaching approach in which all old processes and procedures are reconsidered and modernised.
- Employees must be fully empowered to master not only the technical but also, and above all, the technological requirements of the new systems.
- To expand the digital offering, good cooperation between administrations and IT service providers is needed to manage efficient decision-making processes and reduce costs by ensuring that systems run smoothly.
Challenges for the IT operations of EfA online services
The Online Access Act is intended to facilitate digital access to administrative services for citizens and companies and to make administrative processes smoother. For IT service management of digital administrative services, however, this means rethinking the IT processes that have been common practice so far and adapting them to the new collaborative approach. In our projects, we have repeatedly encountered the following issues.
Minimum requirements and framework for operation and shared use
When the implementation of the OZG began, binding guidelines were published as a handbook for all stakeholders. However, these guidelines focused on the implementation of digital administrative services. The comprehensive description of the roles and the cooperation in the implementation phase has proven to be very effective. It was possible to draw on this experience in the development of the operating organisations and roll-out of the last year, and it became clear that binding role definitions and collaboration guidelines are also necessary for the IT operation of the EfA services across federal state borders.
The working group Framework Conditions and Operation – One for All (AG RaBe – EfA) has created a framework that enables effective and efficient cooperation by developing minimum requirements for operation. The uniform criteria and specifications regulate operation, support and further development in a binding manner, thus creating a common understanding of responsibilities across national borders.
In the context of shared use, it is therefore recommended that each federal state or department take a comprehensive look at this framework in order to identify the state-specific coordination and alignment tasks for the shared use of the digital administrative services of their own department and to define the corresponding responsibilities.
Necessity of a coordinating unit in the sense of an operating unit
To ensure the ability to act and the operation of digital administrative services, effective cooperation between the IT service provider and the specialist departments is required. An operational unit is needed in the administration to coordinate with the IT service providers, prioritise and drive forward technical decisions, and maintain relations with other federal states. This unit must be able to speak both ‘languages’, that of the administration and that of the IT service providers. Combining specialist and technical expertise in this collaboration can support the reliable provision of digital administrative services.
It is currently becoming apparent that not only the operation of these e-government online services is being outsourced to external IT service providers, but also important tasks such as the coordination, evaluation and assessment of new technical requirements for the online services. Since each operating federal state has central responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the EfA online service, it should be carefully examined which tasks can be delegated to external IT service providers and which should remain within the administration.
High complexity due to the various actors
One of the most important tasks for which the operating state is responsible is the strategic control and further development of the respective online services, as well as the adjustment of the financial framework if necessary. Due to the high complexity of the various actors in the co-using countries, cooperation requires effective coordination mechanisms. ‘Classic’ IT service management with direct ‘1:1 relationships’ reaches its limits here.
Since all countries spend budget funds on the shared use of digital administrative services, they also have a say in the technical strategy and prioritisation of further development. To do this, the responsibilities and processes in the operating phase must be clearly defined between all parties involved in order to be able to make these decisions efficiently. In particular, a structured process and a division between the more strategic role of those responsible for shared use at the federal state level and the specialist departments in the shared-use municipalities or law enforcement authorities is needed.
What else is needed for effective IT service management of digital administrative services?
It has become clear that the minimum requirements for operation demand a more structured approach to responsibilities, that a central coordination unit is needed within the administration and that the complexity of the actors must be well managed. Nevertheless, the newly created structures now require further measures to ensure a sustainable transition to regular operations. It is essential to rethink the ITIL principles, check for EfA conformity and adapt them to the administrative structures. Furthermore, employees must be empowered to operate in a professional and technical environment. Ultimately, the integration and interoperability of organisational and technical processes must be reflected at the federal level, e.g. in the merger of 16 federal states for uniform support channels.
ITIL processes must be designed to be EfA-compliant
Many operating units use the ITIL IT service management framework to set up and operate digital administrative services. However, these processes are not directly suitable for cooperation models based on the EfA principle and must be adapted to the respective administrative structure and designed with appropriate coordination mechanisms for the IT service providers.
For example, operating federal states should carefully examine how the needs of the co-using federal states can be recorded and evaluated for the support and change management processes, and how these technical change requirements can be combined with the necessary technical changes in a jointly agreed roadmap.
In addition, the high demands on interoperability between the systems and platforms of different co-using administrations and the necessary data integration require appropriate consideration in the release management processes and in the joint further development of the respective digital administrative services.
Empowerment of employees in the administration for the ‘intermediary’ position
In addition to suitable structures for cross-border cooperation, suitable structures must also be established for the operation of the e-government services in the operating country. To enable the integration of these IT services into the administration, these employees should be fully empowered for this ‘intermediary’ position. In addition to understanding the IT service management processes, this also includes managing the IT service providers so that efficient coordination is possible through appropriately designed operational processes.
Experience from the implementation phase shows that the translation of the competences that go beyond the technical level is particularly necessary at the interface with the IT service providers. In order to fulfil the central responsibility for the operation of the EfA administrative services, for example, the dependencies of the various IT components and systems involved on the respective digital administrative services must also be understood in order to take these into account in the strategic further development.
Standardised support structures throughout Germany
To ensure a high level of user acceptance of digital administrative services, the state and municipal support structures should also be reconsidered as part of the redefinition of the federal IT structures. The 115 network, as the central first point of contact, not only answers recurring ‘simple’ questions, but also forwards more detailed support questions to the relevant specialist or technical department. To make this process transparent and comprehensible, a nationwide IT support system is recommended, but this is currently not feasible due to the federal IT structure.
In our projects, it was always helpful to look at solutions that were already working well, such as KONSENS. The term KONSENS stands for ‘Coordinated New Software Development for Tax Administration’ and it encompasses the coordinated cooperation of the 16 federal states and the federal government in the digitalisation of tax administration. Over the years, the support structures within the KONSENS agreement have been standardised in such a way that all the federal states’ helpdesks are centrally linked, thus creating a cross-state incident management system. There are coordinated automated processes including the categorisation of faults and clear routing sequences and traceability of support requests.
As many questions regarding the implementation of the OZG were discussed and resolved in the Federal Architecture Board during the development of the EfA administrative services, strategic attention is now needed for the interoperability of the different support systems nationwide.
Conclusion
The challenges for the operation or shared use of EfA administrative services are many and varied, but can be overcome with the right approach.
We have gained extensive experience in projects that include redesigning IT processes in an EfA cooperation mode, setting up operating units and OZG programmes, and empowering administrative staff. All actors in the OZG context have the common goal of expanding the administration’s digital offerings.
This requires good cooperation between the administration and IT service providers in order to manage efficient decision-making processes and reduce costs through stable systems. Efficient IT service management is essential to increase user acceptance of digital administrative services among citizens and companies.
A shared view of IT services for all parties involved is an integral part of solutions for digitalising administration and will continue to gain in importance in the future.
