A current study on digital innovation strategies in the public sector shows: a lot is being done. But look closer, and many an “innovation” is nothing more than a test balloon — one that floats off after a successful launch and gets forgotten.

Innovation usually changes one element of the system — currently, for example, the app for digital vehicle documents.

Real digitisation, though, changes the system as a whole.

A new online form is innovation.

A fully digital, end-to-end process with no media breaks is digitisation.

An AI chatbot is innovation.

AI that automatically checks every application is a change to the system.

The study shows: many organisations get stuck in project-based innovation mode. Because creating something that works is one thing. Questioning, overhauling, or even completely replacing the existing system is quite another. And Germany still has a lot of catching up to do here.

The new app for digital vehicle documents is a nice start. But it would only be real digitisation if the app eventually stored ALL relevant data and documents.

Have you ever had a successful test balloon that then never got implemented? What were the reasons?

Source:

Digital innovation strategies in the public sector (2025), published via Elsevier / ScienceDirect

Image: Роман Смирнов for Unsplash

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