The new Ministry for Digital Affairs – where are we heading?

After the interested and democratically minded section of the nation, at least, had briefly held its breath on the morning of Tuesday 6 May following the failed first attempt to elect a Federal Chancellor, Friedrich Merz was ultimately elected as the new Chancellor just a few hours later. On that day, parliamentary democracy demonstrated that it is also capable of resolving problems pragmatically and swiftly. And so white smoke rose above the Bundestag to mark the start of the 21st legislative period: novum cancellarius habemus; albeit slightly tarnished.

The new Federal Government can now set about tackling – and, ideally, resolving – the wide range of challenges and most pressing problems. We must now deliver – quickly and tangibly – in almost every field; this, or something similar, sums up the (sometimes almost dystopian-sounding) background narrative of the new, now merely medium-sized, governing coalition. These areas of action undoubtedly include the continued – and, in this respect, significantly more vigorous – digitalisation of the various spheres of social life and economic sectors. 

In their 144-page coalition agreement – bearing the somewhat dry title ‘Responsibility for Germany’ – the coalition partners, the CDU, CSU and SPD, had agreed on fundamental priorities and plans for digitalisation. These included greater centralisation, consolidation and cross-federal digitalisation – something that had been called for time and again for years. The consensus among experts was that this would be best achieved through an independent Ministry of Digitalisation with the broadest possible remit and genuine, enforceable powers. 

And lo and behold – white smoke once again: we now have a new digital ministry.

The coalition agreement sets the ‘digital’ pace

The coalition agreement contains countless ‘digital’ passages, projects and intentions. The word ‘digital’ appears 99 times across 144 pages, making it the third most frequently used term (behind the words ‘Germany’ and ‘European’). Here are two telling excerpts: 

• ‘Germany – digital, connected and resilient. Our vision: a forward-looking, connected, efficient and user-centred public administration – increasingly initiative-based, life-situation-oriented and fully digital, with targeted support services (Coalition Agreement, 2025, p. 67).“
• “The aim is a fully digitised administration with a digital citizen account that facilitates access to public services (one-stop shop). The introduction of the ‘once-only’ principle to improve digital administration and make it easier for citizens and businesses to interact with government bodies. Strengthening digital accessibility in administrative services.” (ibid., p. 56)

Admittedly, at times the word ‘digital’ appears to have been used somewhat haphazardly in this document, often in conjunction with vague phrasing such as ‘we want’ and ‘we are examining’. Furthermore, in some sectors – such as agriculture, climate and energy – the efficiency potential of digitalisation and innovations, such as AI or platform-driven data management, is, surprisingly, not mentioned at all. The data labs and ‘smart city’ initiatives that have been promoted politically for years are entirely absent. And those familiar with the subject know that coalition agreements have no legally binding effect on the signatories; rather, they ‘merely’ establish an intended working framework. 

Nevertheless, the coalition agreement itself sends an important, strong signal: we have grasped the seriousness of the digitalisation situation. Above all, there will be a Ministry for Digitalisation at federal level, which will also be responsible for the modernisation of the state. In other words: For the long-overdue structural reforms aimed at modernising the procedural workflows and (federal) processes of public administration that need to be digitised. The administrative structures, some of which have become ossified, are to be reviewed, potential for efficiency enhanced, and strengthened through digital transformation. Quite right!

The new federal government is thus reorganising the institutional framework of the political and administrative machinery to a considerable extent: a new Ministry for Digitalisation and State Modernisation (BMDS), a new Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR), and new structures within the existing ministries. This lends a touch of the revolutionary to what is otherwise a rather dry subject: how the state functions, ministerial bureaucracy and public administration. Add to this the fact that Friedrich Merz had the courage to fill ministerial posts with people from outside the traditional political and party establishment, and this reorganisation of the federal ministries takes on a special momentum. 

However: paper is patient, and coalition agreements even more so. 

Further details in the organisational decree

Consequently, the organisational decree, also published on 6 May, was eagerly awaited. It is only through organisational decrees that, in accordance with the rules of procedure of a federal government, more concrete ministerial responsibilities materialise and, above all, the structural organisation of processes – which is crucial for ‘triggering’ public administration – becomes clear: who is responsible for what and to what extent. And this takes effect immediately. 

But back to the suspense: will the new Digital Ministry really be empowered, and to what extent? Or is it merely a toothless paper tiger after all?

To put it briefly – on the whole: yes, more of a powerful tiger than a toothless cuddly kitten.

Core digital issues such as the management of the federal government’s IT and associated infrastructure, the digitalisation of public administration (including the OZG), cyber and IT security for the public sector, fundamental questions of data policy, AI regulation and implementation of the EU AI Act, the digital economy, network infrastructures (including federal networks), issues of digital sovereignty, general IT procurement (ZIB) and other responsibilities are being transferred to the new BMDS from other ministries. To this end, a right of approval for the BMDS regarding the other ministries’ major IT expenditure will be enshrined. To support implementation capacities, large parts of the ITZBundes and the development of the sovereign cloud will be placed under the ministry’s remit. This sends a clear signal in favour of digitalisation.

Organisational decree sorted – all well then? Everything sorted? Ready to go?

Yes and no. The organisational decree is indeed a bold move and sets the right course for the new Ministry of Digital Affairs. However, if one looks a little deeper, one discovers friction, unresolved issues and, in some places, unfortunately, a lack of a truly comprehensive approach in the sense of a powerfully structured Ministry of Digital Affairs.

It is understandable that the remit of the Federal Ministry of Defence is excluded – just as it is for the security and policing responsibilities falling within the remit of the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Intelligence Service. The coalition agreement as a whole is heavily permeated by the theme of internal and external security, which is more than understandable in today’s climate.

Regardless of this, however, the organisational decree raises a number of questions that are at least worthy of discussion. 

Below are a few examples of unresolved issues that are, surprisingly, missing from the organisational decree, as well as aspects that are half-hearted or unclear:

• Digital identities fall within the remit of the Federal Office for Data Protection and Information Security (BMDS), but the dividing lines regarding passport and identity card matters remain unclear; keyword: EU ID and Germany ID as the linchpin for successful, value-adding digitalisation
• The Federal Statistical Office remains within the remit of the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI). At first glance, this is understandable; on closer, data-driven inspection, however, it is not. If data is the raw material of our time, even for the state and its administration (keywords include OpenGovData, value creation through data economy approaches), and the Federal Statistical Office is the guardian and creator of this treasure trove of data, then it would be (more) appropriately situated within the BMDS.
• Parts of cyber security (CI 4, CI 5) are being transferred to the BMDS, but the BSI remains within the BMI’s remit. In other words: split technical oversight between two departments
• The same applies to responsibility: technical oversight of the ZIB (in future the BMDS) as part of the BMI’s Procurement Office. Who decides in the event of an escalation or a disagreement regarding procurement strategy?
• The ITZBund is being transferred to the new BMDS – with the exception of ‘Federal Finance IT’, which is responsible for the areas of taxation and customs. A new IT service provider is to be established within the remit of the Federal Ministry of Finance to handle ‘Federal Finance IT’. This raises questions about future seamless coordination: Can cross-cutting (basic) IT issues always be neatly separated from domain-specific technical issues? Is there a risk of new, increased management complexities across departmental boundaries? Even more federal IT service providers?
• Other federal IT service providers, such as the Federal Office of Administration, the Federal Network Agency or ministry-specific data centres such as the BLE, are not mentioned at all in the organisational decree. It is only partially clear why more decisive consolidation was not undertaken here as well, thereby significantly strengthening the BMDS.
• The federally-owned Bundesdruckerei appears to remain under the Ministry of the Interior (BMI). Here, too, the same question arises: does every ministry once again have its own IT service provider?
• The Federal Foreign Office, as another federal IT service provider, also appears not to be affected, given its responsibilities for IT abroad.
• The coalition agreement refers in several places to the ‘once-only’ principle in the context of register modernisation. Register modernisation is at the heart of an end-to-end, seamless digitalisation of administrative services for citizens and businesses. According to the organisational decree, this key issue appears to remain with the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI). This would also be consistent with the fact that the two federal agencies responsible for maintaining registers – the Federal Office of Administration and DeStatis – are not being transferred to the remit of the Federal Ministry for Digital and Society (BMDS) (see above). However, it makes little sense to leave responsibility for register modernisation with a different ministry whilst at the same time transferring administrative digitalisation and state modernisation to the BMDS.

And what about state modernisation?

Overall, the organisational decree brings about significant changes to digital responsibilities. The area of state modernisation – which must lay the crucial foundations for administrative modernisation and process reforms (before digitisation takes place!) – is given surprisingly little attention. Apart from the Office for the Reduction of Bureaucracy and the National Regulatory Review Board, which are being transferred from the remit of the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection to the BMDS, key levers for administrative transformation are missing. For example, civil service law and collective bargaining law – a key lever for change in the modernisation of the state – remain within the BMI. However, a more disruptive transformation would probably have been a step too far.

A game-changer for administrative modernisation

All in all, however, I believe this remains a forward-looking move that could enable the new BMDS to become a game-changer for administrative modernisation. In the coming crucial weeks of the federal budget negotiations and, above all, in the subsequent negotiations between the federal ministries following the organisational decree, the content must be refined and made more specific by 1 August

1. substantive improvements and clarifications must be made (including: the establishment of a digital agency?)
2. the right approaches must not be watered down once again by departmental self-interest
3. and the new ministry must be provided with adequate budgetary resources. 

Now that thick, white smoke has signalled success, the (digital) outlook should not be obscured once again by too many clouds of black smoke. For when it comes to digitalisation in particular, the underlying message is: we must deliver! Or, to put it in modern German: the sense of urgency regarding successful digitalisation – and thus also economic growth, performance and the future viability of a digitally sovereign state – is NOW.