Some time ago, a trade journal made the “Offline Access Act” out of the abbreviation OZG.

Albeit with a question mark.

The German Economic Institute speaks of "e-government on hold".

And the judgment of the Federal Court of Auditors in April, which accused the Federal Ministry of the Interior of having embellished the information about the digitized services, was downright devastating.

If an offer from a service bundle was fully digitized, the entire bundle was counted.

For September 2021, the Court of Auditors came up with only 58 of 1,532 individual federal services that fully met the legal requirements.

That was 3.8 percent.

The reports of success regarding the implementation of the Online Access Act, which are likely to increase by the end of the year, should therefore be treated with caution.

The personal practical test is decisive.

It starts with quickly finding the relevant service on the respective website.

You also have to look for a number of forms on the one from the city of Frankfurt.

Germany is having a hard time

The identity card shows that there is a lack of a clear digital strategy at all levels.

Since 2010, it has been possible to use it to identify oneself on the Internet, but only six percent of citizens have used the function before.

The reason is simple, as a hearing of experts in the Digital Committee of the Bundestag showed in July: There are hardly any possible applications.

You don't need international comparisons to see that Germany is struggling with digitization - especially the administration.

Because privately, citizens make active use of the online opportunities, with the corona pandemic having acted as an accelerator.

In its regular, representative survey, the D21 initiative determined last year that the level of satisfaction among Germans with the online offering in their city or municipality has fallen to 47 percent.

That was 15 percentage points less than in the previous year.

If you do your work from your living room, choose your own TV program and shop with a mouse click, you just don't understand why you can only have your library card renewed in the library - as was the case in Frankfurt until recently.

It is right, with all the zeal for digitization, to also consider those who have difficulties with the technology.

But if a 92-year-old widow sends the videos of her great-grandchildren on Whatsapp, this group may not be that big anymore.

In any case, it shouldn't be an excuse.