"When you move house in Germany, you need to register your new address with the authorities. That often means calling city hall, waiting weeks for an appointment, and showing up in person with paper forms. Yes, in 2025! And if you forget your health insurance card at the doctors? Some apps can help by sending a fax. "Around three-quarters, 77%, of German companies still use fax machines," Felix Lesner from Bitkom, Germany's IT industry association, told DW."
"Falling behind The European Union regularly publishes rankings of digital development among member states, with Germany performing somewhere in the middle of the 27-nation bloc at best. When it comes to e-government, meaning digital public services, the country lags especially behind. A study by CapGemini, a consultancy, ranks Germany 24th within the European Union. German engineers invented the programmable computer, the SIM card and MP3 technology. Yet registering a car or getting a marriage license still means standing in line."
Germany's administrative processes remain largely analog, requiring in-person registrations, appointments, and paper forms for routine tasks like moving house, registering a car, or obtaining a marriage license. Many businesses and public authorities still rely on fax machines, with surveys indicating about 77% usage and 25% using them often. E-government performance trails most EU peers, with CapGemini placing Germany 24th among member states. Local digital offerings vary: Dusseldorf provides roughly 120 of 580 services online (about 20%) and ranks highly in national Smart City indices, while Berlin struggles to reach top positions. Implementation and execution, rather than strategy, are cited as key obstacles.
Read at www.dw.com
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