2024-04-16 22:26:23
How digital are the 16 German federal states? A new study compares regional digital development. One federal state is clearly at the top.
A new country index from the industry association Bitkom is intended to show how far digitalization has progressed in the individual federal states. The association wants to use the ranking to make developments and deficits comparable.
Hamburg took the lead in the ranking, ahead of Berlin and Bavaria. The Hanseatic city was particularly able to impress with top marks for its digital infrastructure and achieved 73.5 out of 100 possible points across all areas.
In the study published on Tuesday, Berlin scored particularly well in the area of digital economy and achieved a total of 71.5 points. Bayern scored 66.9 points. The lowest index values were achieved in Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia.
Four areas were examined:
- Digital economy
- Digital Infrastructure
- Governance and digital administration
- Digital society
Within these categories, 26 indicators were examined, such as 5G expansion, fiber optic coverage or the charging infrastructure for electric cars in the infrastructure category. In the “digital society” category, the number of compulsory computer science hours in schools, the use of digital government services and the population’s attitude towards digitalization were evaluated.
Hamburg is digitally well developed
More than 5,600 people were surveyed. The survey results provided representative results for all federal states.
Frontrunner Hamburg not only scored a lot of points with good fiber optic expansion and comprehensive 5G coverage, but also with a digital strategy. In this way, measurable digital goals would be defined in the Hanseatic city for the areas of administration, infrastructure, education and business. According to the index, the Hanseatic city has some catching up to do when it comes to digital society, where it only achieved eleventh place. There is a lack of compulsory lessons for computer science in all types of schools, as is the case in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saarland and Saxony.
Start-up capital Berlin
Berlin scores particularly well as a start-up capital. Here, the share of companies in the information and communications technology sector in the overall economy is comparatively high at 4.6 percent. The national average is 2.9 percent. The proportion of IT specialists is also particularly high in Berlin at 4.3 percent. The values for 5G mobile communications are also at the top. The Bitkom Index, on the other hand, sees a need to catch up in the expansion of fiber optics and the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
Bavaria, in third place, collected points through, among other things, its own digital ministry. The Free State also impressed with digital administration: Bavaria has already implemented 43 percent of the digital administrative services of the Online Access Act, significantly better than the state average (35 percent). On the positive side, the Bitkom country index also recorded the high number of computer science degrees at Bavarian universities. However, the study sees a need to catch up when it comes to fiber optic expansion.
Big differences between the federal states
Bitkom President Ralf Wintergerst said that the country index would make the 16 countries comparable in terms of digitalization. “There are enormous differences between the digitally leading countries and the laggards.” He pointed out that even beyond the city states and the populous states such as Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia, small federal states were also among the pioneers in individual categories.
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is in first place in the digital society category. Schleswig-Holstein is in second place when it comes to expanding its digital infrastructure, which is excellent for a large state.