Main roles and responsibilities

Last updated: October 2011

National eGovernment

Policy/Strategy

Federal Ministry of the Interior

The responsibility for Germany's eGovernment strategy/policy lies with the Federal Ministry of the Interior.

Federal Government Commissioner for Information Technology

The Office of the Federal Government Commissioner for Information Technology (Commissioner) was established on 1 January 2008, in line with the Federal IT-Steering Strategy's guidelines. In accordance with Cabinet's decision the Commissioner is responsible for the following central tasks concerning eGovernment Strategy:

• elaboration of the eGovernment and IT security strategy - IT- federal;
• development of architecture, standards and methods for the IT of the federal;
• control the provision of central IT infrastructure of the federal government.

IT Council

The IT Council is the central body for inter-departmental control at the federal level. Apart from establishing the Office of the Federal Government Commissioner for Information Technology (Commissioner), all government departments have set up a position of a Chief Information Officer (CIO). CIOs of all government departments form the IT Council, which decides on all strategic issues, including Germany’s eGovernment strategy and IT security.

Coordination

Federal Ministry of the Interior

The Federal Ministry of the Interior coordinates the combined implementation efforts of all federal ministries and agencies. Better coordination of implementation is achieved through the IT Management at federal level. Responsible for the implementation of the IT Management at federal level within the Federal Ministry of the Interior is the IT Director and Chief Information Officer, Mr Martin Schallbruch.

Federal Government Commissioner for Information Technology

According to the Commissioner, Cornelia Rogall-Grothe: "The most important task of the IT officer of the Federal Government, it is the government-wide IT coordination to a cross-departmental IT management market". Consequently, the Office of the Commissioner brings together the units responsible for the coordination of the 'Information Society', the main IT Strategy of German Federal Administration and the Office of the Task Force 'Deutschland Online' as well as, the unit responsible for the operative trans-departmental IT-Steering. The Commissioner is the key contact person of the Federal Government for cooperating with Federal States, municipalities and all relevant national and international stakeholders on IT-related matters. The Commissioner represents the Federal Government in the IT Planning Council.

IT Planning Council

The IT Planning Council is responsible for steering and coordinating cross disciplined eGovernment projects involving both the Federation and the Länder. According to Article 91c of the German Basic Law, the council is tasked with the coordination of the cooperation between Federation (Bund) and the States (Länder) in the field of Information Technology; decisions on interdisciplinary interoperability and security standards; the steering of eGovernment projects; and the planning and implementation of the core network infrastructure according to the Law on Linking up Federal and Land IT Networks.

IT Steering Group of the Federal

The main task of the Group is to coordinate IT projects in a timely manner, classify them in the framework of the overall IT architecture and place them on a sound financial basis. The target is to significantly increase the impact of cross-departmental IT management and successfully overcome disunity.

Implementation

German Federal Office of Administration (BVA)

The German Federal Office of Administration is Germany's central public service agency. It performs more than 100 different tasks for all federal ministries. Among these is the development of some of the country’s eGovernment infrastructure components such as the government portal Bund.de, or the Content Management System Government Site Builder.

Individual Government Ministries and Agencies

Government ministries and agencies are responsible for the implementation of their departmental ICT projects. The Federal Ministry of the Interior coordinates the combined implementation efforts of all federal ministries and agencies.

Support

Federal Information Security Agency (BSI)

The Federal Office for Information Security is the central IT security service provider for the German Government. One of its key tasks is to provide support to federal authorities on IT security.

Audit/Assurance

Federal Court of Accounts

The President of the Court also serves as Federal Commissioner for Efficiency in Public Administration. S/he puts forward proposals, recommendations, reports and opinions in order to enhance the efficiency of the federal administration. The Commissioner may also advise Parliament upon request.

Data Protection

Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information

The Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information is responsible for the audits/controls of all federal agencies, with regard to the observance of data protection legislation.

Regional & Local eGovernment

Policy/Strategy

German Federal States

All of the Federal States (Länder) are currently setting their own eGovernment strategies. As a result of these strategies, nearly all local authorities have an Internet presence and over 80 % of local authorities are already providing relevant online services. Furthermore, a large number of local authorities in Germany offer central access to their online services via highly efficient portals. The Federal Länder and local authorities are working in parallel to further expand their own eGovernment services.

Conference of Minister-Presidents and Conferences of Specialised Ministers

The Conference of Minister-Presidents and the Conferences of Specialised Ministers are bodies in which federal states cooperate in their own spheres of responsibility. The federal states use these conferences in order to agree on proceedings in matters of joint interest, develop their position in relation to the federal government and also seek mutually agreed solutions with the federal government.

Coordination

IT Planning Council

As of April 2010, the new IT Planning Council replaced the former Committee for Automatic Data Processing at the federal, state, and local levels (KoopA ADV) with respect to the technical coordination at state and local levels.

Implementation

Individual Federal States and Municipalities

Individual Federated States and Municipalities are responsible for the implementation of their own eGovernment projects.

Support

Federal Ministry of the Interior

The ministry is responsible for promoting new structures between the federal, state and local levels in the IT front. The introduction of Article 91c to the German Basic Law calls for further cooperation in information technology in the administration of federal and state governments.

Audit/Assurance

State (Länder) Court of Accounts

Each German State (Land) has its own audit body, which liaises and works on equal terms with the Federal Court of Accounts in areas where there is dual responsibility for the provision and delivery of public services. In cases where the Federal Court works with one or more of the State Courts, they perform joint audits or agree to divide audit responsibilities between their respective organisations. There are also joint working parties where the Federal Court and the various State Courts discuss matters of common interest, such as budgetary law, taxation, public works, data processing and other matters of general policy and guidance.

Data Protection

State (Länder) Data Protection Commissioners

German States (Länder) have their own Data Protection Commissioner, responsible for controlling the observance of data protection legislation by public bodies located in their jurisdictions.