Digital Governance

Public administration collects vast amounts of data daily - but far too often, it remains unused due to a lack of technologies and processes. Intelligent data management helps streamline and speed up administrative processes, automate routine tasks, and create simple, user-friendly solutions for employees, citizens, and companies. The Digital Public Services business unit helps to make smart use of high-quality data, create secure infrastructures, and protect information in the process.

FOKUS has been supporting the transformation of the state, administration, and public sector in the digitalization of processes, services, and infrastructures for over 20 years. In numerous projects on topics such as data-driven government, AI language assistance and low code, IT security, and digital accessibility, close cooperation occurs with stakeholders from public administration and the partners of the research network. For example, a data platform for "Integrated Social and Financial Planning (SoFinData)” has entered trial operations with the Berlin Senate Department of Finance, which bundles data from different administrative levels and district offices so that social spending can be managed efficiently based on data. The Civitas Connect e. V. association has integrated the “piveau®" data ecosystem developed by Fraunhofer FOKUS into its CIVITAS/CORE data platform in order to collect and process data from a wide range of municipal services such as transport systems, energy supply, environmental monitoring, and urban development. 

Technologies and tools from “piveau®” enable data-driven control

Dr. Jens Klessmann, head of the Digital Public Services business unit at Fraunhofer FOKUS, and his team have also contributed key technical components to the European Data Portal with “piveau®”, for example for finding new datasets and for convenient further utilization of the data. The data technologies and tools of “piveau®" are a central component of the research projects in the areas of big data, data sharing, and open data. The components support the entire data life cycle - from collection, aggregation, and provision through to use.

Trend research and analyses for the digital state

With the Competence Center Public IT (ÖFIT) - a think tank funded by the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community and based at Fraunhofer FOKUS - the Digital Public Services division has a competent, neutral, and well-connected research facility on current digital policy and digital society issues. To this end, ÖFIT employees, led by Prof. Dr. Peter Parycek, produce expert reports, studies, impulse papers, and trend analyses, such as the "Germany Index of Digitalization" every two years, which has been researching the status and development of digitalization in Germany since 2017 and is considered an important guide for the digitalization of public administration.