By Miriam Krekel
The new digital file was presented in the Mitte district. But that can only be a start, says BZ editor-in-chief Miriam Krekel.
It’s an image familiar from the detective stories of the 1980s: In a public agency, an officer from the post office rolls a clanking trolley through the office on which rust-red, mustard-yellow and green cardboard files are lying.
In Berlin it still looks like this today. Since Monday, however, “only” in eleven and a half out of twelve district offices.
The new digital file was presented to a large audience on Monday. Means: Public authority employees can call up a process on the computer, edit it, save it and others then have access to it. Sound crazy? Yes, to think of this fairly normal process as something special is crazy.
It shows what Berlin has missed in recent years and why a lot of things don’t work in our city. The digitization law was passed in 2016. Only happened since then: not much or nothing.
When you read this, it comes as no surprise that Berlin comes last in Germany when it comes to online visits to authorities. 80 services are available digitally.
For comparison: in North Rhine-Westphalia there are 338. One can only hope that Franziska Giffey will continue to push one of her biggest campaign issues. Just being the capital of start-ups doesn’t help the citizens.
