Germany has proudly presented another milestone in modernising its public administration, promising citizens faster services, digital applications and fewer visits to government offices. The country's Online Access Act, introduced in 2017, was supposed to bring public services online by 2022. Four years after that deadline, Germany is still working on it. Apparently, the digital revolution must first obtain permission from the department responsible for approving revolutions.
The government now offers hundreds of online forms, although some procedures still require citizens to print documents, sign them by hand and send them through the post. A remarkable technological achievement: using the internet to discover that you still need a printer.
Officials call this a transition towards fully digital government. Germany has essentially invented the world's most expensive way of turning a PDF back into paper. Meanwhile, ministries publish ambitious digital strategies, establish expert committees and proudly announce new portals. One imagines the celebrations: champagne, speeches about innovation and a secretary quietly printing the minutes for everyone's signature.
The country that produces some of the world's most sophisticated engineering continues treating electronic signatures as suspicious witchcraft. Germany has finally entered the digital age. Unfortunately, the digital age must bring two passport photographs, proof of residence and a stamped envelope.