New study: every third person is digitally left behind

Anyone who needs a prescription for medicines in Finland can get it electronically.

Anyone who has to deal with official matters in Estonia can do it naturally from the sofa.

And in Germany?

There is a lot of talk about these things, but a lot of paperwork and queues in the city administration still dominate everyday life.

The latest example of the slow digitization: After a decade of planning, the introduction of the electronic recipe was postponed again at short notice, the endless project is now to start in the coming year.

Johannes Pennekamp

Responsible editor for economic reporting, responsible for “Die Lounge”.

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There is much speculation about the reasons for the deficit in Germany.

An as yet unpublished study by the strategy consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG), which focused on the areas of health, administration, education and work, now provides a deeper insight into the relationship between Germans and digital offerings - and breaks with prevailing ideas.

“It is not just a lack of infrastructure and data protection concerns that are slowing down digitization in this country.

In the public debate, the focal points are set incorrectly, it also depends, for example, on convincing people so that offers can be established, ”says BCG Senior Partner Olaf Rehse.

Myth number one is that the slow expansion of fiber optics stands in the way of online offers and prevents users from using them.

When the BCG consultants recently surveyed 1,500 representatively selected Germans, this obstacle was in any case not mentioned in a prominent place.

The authors of the study explain this by the fact that almost 90 percent of households now have Internet access with a speed of at least 100 Mbit per second.

The even faster fiber optic connection can only be used by 15 percent - but the somewhat slower variant is also sufficient, for example, to make video calls.

“Fiber optic lines will be central to the offers that will be available in the next five to ten years,” says Rehse.

"But currently it doesn't play a decisive role."

Overrated data protection

According to the study, myth number two is that Germans are extremely concerned about the security of their data. 30 percent of those surveyed said that too little attention was paid to data protection. Almost two thirds, however, state that they almost always accept all cookies on websites, 71 percent use applications that track the location, such as Google Maps. And even more important: When asked what would contribute most to the greater use of digital applications, comprehensive data protection only comes in seventh place. At the top, however, is that concerns that are fed in via e-mail or app are faster - ideally in real time - edited. Also mentioned very often: Internet pages must be clearer and digital offers easier to find.

But who is the good third of Germans who, according to the survey, are still strangers to online and app offers? The survey revealed that it is not only the elderly who are grumpy about digitization. Among the over 60-year-olds, the proportion of those who do not use digital offers in work, education, health and authorities is by far the largest at 50 percent. However, the gap between the income groups is just as large as between the age groups. Only one in four with a net household income of more than 3,000 euros a month does not use the offers. On the other hand, it is one in two of those who have less than 1500 euros to spend. “A digital pair of scissors opens up,” says Rehse.

The simple explanation for this discrepancy is that the poor have less access to digital content and also have less knowledge of the Internet than the higher-income earners. However, the study brought to light another, possibly even more important, connection. In order to turn this group into digital users, completely different things are needed than for the other users: Fewer technical terms on websites, personal, telephone help, education about the risk of viruses, named the more fearful in the survey as the biggest obstacle. BCG specialist Rehse also suggests giving more offers to children from financially disadvantaged families so that they are not digitally left behind. "Free digital training should be just as natural as a free ticket to the zoo",demands the co-author of the study.

Less digitization grouch

However, the study also contains positive news: Corona has given digitization an enormous boost.

Before the pandemic, the proportion of those who didn't like digitization, at 74 percent, was more than twice as high as it is today: Taking part in zoom or sky meetings in the home office is now standard for nine out of ten employees.

Schools and universities, which received a lot of criticism during the pandemic, are also making progress - albeit at a manageable level. 45 percent of the information events are offered online there today (before Corona only 12 percent). Today, around one in five educational institutions (before the pandemic, more than a third) does not offer any digital offerings. Video consultation hours in medical practices have also increased (from 4 to 15 percent). In slow motion, on the other hand, progress is being made in many areas of administration. Since Corona, 5 percent of those surveyed have applied for a resident parking permit online; before the pandemic, it was almost as few at 4 percent.

From BCG's point of view, the bottom line is that in order to advance digitization more quickly, a whole range of measures is necessary: ​​"There are too few offers, and those that are there are often not well-known," says Rehse.

There is great potential in many areas that could be leveraged with little money.

"Ultimately, it's about strengthening the whole chain."