Why the digitalisation of public administration requires more than just good individual solutions
Many digitalisation projects in public administration begin with a specific operational task: making an application available digitally, modernising a specialist procedure, or creating a new service for citizens and businesses. Solutions are developed for each individual use case that fulfil their purpose. Over the years, however, this has led to the development of a heterogeneous IT landscape.
The challenge lies not merely in the number of different systems. The main problem arises when similar functions are developed multiple times, interfaces are created on an ad hoc basis, and existing solutions in other public authorities or at other levels of government can hardly be utilised. Consequently, a large number of successful individual projects do not automatically result in a fully digital public administration.
The Deutschland-Stack addresses this structural problem. Rather than considering each project in isolation, the focus shifts more strongly to the question of how individual solutions can become part of a shared digital infrastructure. To this end, the approach defines common architectural principles, standards and reusable building blocks designed to provide guidance for new and existing systems.
This represents a shift in perspective: the key question is no longer simply which solution best resolves a specific problem, but also how that solution fits into the existing public sector IT infrastructure and which existing components it can utilise.
From specialist procedures to a networked ecosystem
This shift in perspective alters the role of individual specialist procedures. They remain central to their respective tasks, but are increasingly viewed as part of a larger technological ecosystem. For example, not every digital public administration service needs to develop its own mechanisms for data exchange, identification, communication or access to registers. Where shared basic services and technical platforms are available, such functions can be provided via standardised components.
This changes the starting point for new projects. Before functions are developed from scratch, greater emphasis is placed on the question of which existing platforms and standards can already be utilised. The focus is shifting from individual bespoke solutions towards systematic reuse.
This also has implications for the architecture. Applications no longer need to cover as many functions as possible themselves. Instead, they can take on specialised tasks and interact with other components via defined interfaces. A more modular public sector IT architecture is emerging.
Standardisation does not mean centralisation
A common technological framework quickly raises the question of how much standardisation a federal administration can accommodate. The federal government, the Länder and local authorities have different tasks, requirements and established structures. Complete standardisation would be neither realistic nor the aim of the Deutschland-Stack.
It is therefore crucial to distinguish between functional uniformity and technical interoperability. Specialist procedures, processes and responsibilities can continue to be organised differently. However, common technical guidelines ensure that the systems can communicate with one another and utilise central services. Standardisation is therefore not intended to dictate how each public authority carries out its tasks. Rather, it creates the conditions to ensure that different solutions do not remain isolated from one another.
In this way, federal diversity can be preserved whilst, at the same time, a common technical foundation is established.
Reuse rather than constantly redeveloping
One of the biggest changes therefore lies in how existing solutions are handled. Until now, a new digitalisation project has often begun with new technical decisions: What architecture is required? Which interfaces need to be developed? Which functions must form part of the new system?
With a shared technological building block approach, this logic can change. Functions required across many administrative services can be developed or made available once and then utilised in different contexts. However, it is not enough simply to make components technically available. They must be designed in such a way that they can actually be reused. Open interfaces, clear lines of responsibility, standardised integration mechanisms and suitable operating models thus become just as important as the function itself.
Reuse thus evolves from a possibility into an architectural principle. A digital project then not only creates value for its original use case; it can simultaneously provide building blocks upon which further projects can be built. This is precisely where an important scaling effect lies: digitalisation does not start from scratch with every project.
Digital sovereignty begins with the architecture
Alongside interoperability and reusability, digital sovereignty plays a central role. However, sovereignty cannot be determined solely by where data is stored or which country a provider comes from.
What is far more crucial is the extent to which an organisation retains control over its own digital infrastructure in the long term. Can components be replaced? Is data portable? Can applications be deployed in different operating environments? Are interfaces open and transparent? And do core digital functions remain operational even when technological or regulatory conditions change? In a word: can I freely decide which technology to use?
The Germany Stack therefore links digital sovereignty with open standards, interoperable structures, open source and sovereign or European infrastructure offerings. Proprietary technologies are not ruled out in principle. What is crucial is that they are integrated into an architecture that allows for the possibility of switching and long-term control over freedom of choice.
This makes digital sovereignty a fundamental architectural issue. It is not only relevant when operating a finished application, but right from the stage of deciding how platforms and interfaces are structured.
Existing systems remain part of the transformation
Such a restructuring cannot take place on a greenfield site. Numerous specialist procedures have been in use for many years, support critical administrative processes and cannot be replaced at short notice. Modernisation that relies exclusively on complete replacement would therefore involve considerable effort and risks.
The Deutschland-Stack takes a different approach. Existing procedures can be retained and gradually made interoperable. New basic services can be added, platforms can orchestrate processes between systems, and standardised interfaces enable the integration of further components.
A public authority does not need to renew its entire IT landscape before it can benefit from common standards and services. It can deploy individual building blocks where they deliver tangible benefits and develop its architecture step by step. As the system matures, further processes can be integrated, data exchanged more effectively and new functions added.
The digitalisation of public administration is becoming an ongoing task
The Deutschland-Stack thus changes not so much a single technology as the overall perspective on the digitalisation of public administration. Digital transformation is no longer understood exclusively as a sequence of individual projects. Instead, a common technical foundation is gradually emerging on which new initiatives can build.
This also changes the criteria for successful digitalisation. It is not merely a question of whether an individual service works. It is equally important whether the underlying solution is interoperable, utilises existing components and provides capabilities that can also be deployed elsewhere.
The Deutschland-Stack is therefore not a final state that will be fully achieved at some point. Rather, it describes a development framework within which public sector IT can become increasingly modular, interoperable and self-sufficient. In this way, a coherent infrastructure can emerge step by step from many individual digital solutions. Not by eliminating federal diversity, but by ensuring that different systems interact more effectively on a shared technical foundation.
Further information
Deutschland-Stack
