In theory the matter is clear. Every player in digitising government, the federal government and the EU all want citizens to be able to use every administrative service digitally on one platform — with a single login. But so far, that one platform is nothing more than an idea.
The problem isn’t the technology. Other countries show how it’s done.
The problem is the structure.
An administrative platform isn’t an IT project, it’s a restructuring of administration — across municipal and federal boundaries.
Who decides? Who operates it? Who’s liable? Who gives up autonomy?
Platform logic needs:
- unified standards
- shared identities and data models
- binding interfaces
Administrative logic is historically built differently:
- separate responsibilities
- separate budgets
- separate accountability
Federal systems in particular hit their limits here. Voluntary standards rarely lead to real platforms, but instead to diversity with a shared login. The solution is theoretically simple, but practically a Herculean task: legal requirements that no longer allow any other options.
Would you like all services on one platform?
Source: OECD (2024/2025): Digital Government Index, and World Bank (2024): GovTech Maturity Index
Image: Erik Mclean for Unsplash
You can find this post on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn%3Ali%3Ashare%3A7425545141429522433