How Germany becomes the slow driver in the fast lane.
Digital government in Germany battles more obstacles than Odysseus on his journey. One thing, though, has so far barely gotten any attention: the lack of dynamism among IT service providers. The Kronberger Kreis, a scientific advisory board of the Stiftung Marktwirtschaft, shows clearly: many problems aren’t down to missing technology, but to the structures of the market for public IT services.
1. The dominance of public IT service providers holds back innovation
One central finding of the analysis: the landscape of government digitisation today is overwhelmingly shaped by public-law IT service providers — and that brings problems:
- Low pressure to innovate
- Low pressure for efficiency
- A lack of competition
2. Private IT service providers are too rarely involved
Private providers are brought into digitisation projects in Germany noticeably less often than in other countries. Yet private tech companies in particular can implement solutions faster, bring in user-centred development methods (“UX-first”), and adapt proven solutions from the private sector.
What do you think? Would opening up the market more be a real opportunity? Or does working with private companies bring new risks?
Source:
Kronberger Kreis (2025): More competition in digitising government. Stiftung Marktwirtschaft.
Image: LYCS Architecture on Unsplash
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