Ninety-seven percent of mayors in Germany believe that digitalization is critical to the future of their municipalities. At the same time, many rate the current state of digital public administration as merely “satisfactory”. Seventy-eight percent see regulatory hurdles as one of the biggest obstacles. More than half cite a lack of funding and skilled personnel. And although budgets have increased in many areas, digital projects often continue to move forward slowly.
These findings from the latest report, “Digitalization in Germany’s Municipalities 2025”1, are more than just a status update. They are a wake-up call. They make one thing clear: the issue is no longer about committing to digitalization in principle, but about finally delivering it at scale. Germany no longer has a knowledge problem. Germany has an execution problem.
The key question is therefore no longer whether Germany needs to digitalize. The real question is: how do we create structures that make digitalization scalable across federal, state, and local government?
This is exactly where a new phase of administrative modernization begins. With the new AI platform, in which Deutsche Telekom and SAP are playing a leading role, we are creating far more than a technological solution for public administration. We are building a digital foundation for a modern, sovereign, and high-performing state. For the first time, a shared infrastructure will enable federal, state, and local authorities to develop, operate, and scale AI applications together.
This is a genuine paradigm shift. For years, digitalization in Germany was too often approached in silos. Authorities developed their own solutions. Municipalities built parallel systems. States defined different standards. The result was a fragmented IT landscape with high costs, complex interfaces, and limited scalability.
The state must strengthen its digital capabilities in order to remain sovereign, competitive, and resilient in the future. That is precisely why the AI platform—which for the first time provides a shared infrastructure for federal, state, and local government—marks an important turning point.
Gottfried Ludewig, Senior Vice President / Leader Public Sector and Health, Deutsche Telekom AG and T-Systems
Modern administration does not need more isolated solutions. It needs common standards, open interfaces, secure platforms, and an infrastructure that enables collaboration instead of reinforcing fragmentation. That is exactly what the Germany stack is about: creating a digital foundation that allows public administration to become faster, more efficient, and more citizen-centric.
The new AI platform is a central building block in this effort. It creates the conditions for artificial intelligence (AI) to move beyond isolated pilot projects and become structurally usable—securely, at scale, and with digital sovereignty at its core. This enables public administration to automate processes, reduce workloads for employees, improve decision-making, and deliver digital services more quickly.
Germany is now at a defining moment in its digital transformation. Citizens expect simple digital services. Businesses need faster and more efficient administrative processes. And the state must strengthen its digital capabilities to remain sovereign, competitive, and resilient in the years ahead. That is exactly why this AI platform, offering a shared infrastructure across all levels of government for the first time, represents such an important milestone.
As top-ranked bidders, Deutsche Telekom and SAP have been awarded the contract by the Federal Ministry for Digitalization and State Modernization to provide PaaS services for AI applications on a powerful, secure, and sovereign cloud platform. For the first time, this platform will create a sovereign digital infrastructure for modern public administration—secure, scalable, and interoperable. This is about more than technology. It is about the future viability of our country.
Germany’s Minister for Digitalization, Karsten Wildberger, aptly described the platform as “the backbone of a sovereign, digital, and AI-enabled public administration in Germany.” And that is exactly what it is: a technological foundation that finally makes digital government truly scalable.
This is not just about technology. It is about the state’s ability to act effectively in a digital world. A modern state must be able to process data securely, automate administrative processes smartly, and provide digital services efficiently. States that fail to do so risk losing not only efficiency, but also trust and competitiveness over time. That is why digital sovereignty is no longer an abstract debate. It is a strategic necessity.
With our T Cloud Public, we are already strengthening the German state’s digital capabilities. As a European cloud provider, Telekom combines sovereign infrastructure with the performance of modern cloud technologies. The platform meets the highest security standards, including BSI C5:2020, ISO 27001, and GDPR. Data and operations remain under European control. No vendor lock-in. No dependency on non-European legal systems. That makes all the difference.
Because trust is the foundation of every digital administration. Citizens must be confident that their data is protected. Authorities must be able to rely on critical infrastructure being operated securely and independently. And governments must retain control over their digital infrastructure. That is why the new AI platform is far more than an IT project. It is a strategic infrastructure project for Germany and Europe. Or, as Telekom CEO Tim Höttges put it: “Together, we are ensuring that Germany and Europe remain in control of their own digital future.”
That is what matters now. Digital sovereignty is not created through discussions or policy papers. It is created through consistent execution. By simply getting things done.
The AI platform is designed as the central hub for public administration: scalable, modular, and interoperable with existing specialist applications. What starts today as infrastructure will become tomorrow’s development environment for new AI-powered public services. Most importantly, the technology is not intended to create additional complexity, but to solve real problems.
One of the first applications planned for migration onto the AI PaaS platform is KIPITZ—an AI assistant for public administration. KIPITZ supports government employees with intelligent document processing, knowledge management, translation services, and text summarization.
At first glance, this may sound highly technical. But the impact is very tangible: when applications can be processed automatically, turnaround times decrease. When information becomes easier to find, efficiency increases. When repetitive tasks are automated, employees gain more time for complex and citizen-facing work.
That is where the true strength of AI in public administration lies: not in replacing people, but in supporting them. The challenges facing public authorities are enormous. Skills shortages, rising demands, and growing complexity are colliding with outdated processes and fragmented system landscapes. At the same time, citizens now expect the same level of digital simplicity they experience in other areas of their lives.
People no longer understand why a package can be tracked digitally in real time while administrative procedures still take weeks or even months. This highlights the core challenge: public administration is no longer measured only against legal deadlines, but against the digital experiences people encounter in everyday life—including the expectations of public sector employees themselves.
That is why public administration needs a fundamental shift in perspective. Digitalization does not mean simply converting analog processes into digital ones. It means rethinking processes entirely. Simplifying bureaucracy. Eliminating media discontinuities. Making data usable. And designing public services consistently around user needs.
The planned Citizen App—or rather, Germany App—points exactly in this direction. The goal is a central digital gateway to public services, from child benefit applications and residence registrations to company formation. We are also developing the prototype together with SAP. In the future, citizens will be able to submit applications, book appointments, verify identities, and access information easily, securely, and seamlessly. This is more than a digital frontend. It is a completely new approach to public service architecture.
And another thing becomes clear: modern administration increasingly operates as a platform economy. Not every authority needs to develop every function itself. What matters is a shared infrastructure where solutions can be standardized, reused, and scaled. That is how economies of scale, speed, and efficiency are created.
The study on digitalization in Germany’s municipalities also makes clear that challenges vary significantly depending on the size of each municipality. Larger cities are often further advanced digitally. Smaller municipalities frequently struggle with limited resources, a lack of expertise, and restricted IT capacities.
That is exactly why we need platforms that reduce complexity and enable digital participation—regardless of a municipality’s size, budget, or technical starting point. Digital administration must not become a privilege reserved for a few pioneers. It must work everywhere: in major cities just as much as in small towns and rural communities. And it must be easily accessible for federal, state, and local authorities alike.
The right path forward is not a grand blueprint developed in isolation, but a pragmatic and scalable approach. We are deliberately starting with a small number of municipalities and selected administrative procedures. In manageable steps, we are demonstrating what works, learning from real-world implementation and building solutions that can later be expanded across additional municipalities, processes, and federal levels. Scalability does not emerge from abstract concepts, but from proven solutions that succeed in day-to-day operations.
Equally important: infrastructure alone will not determine future success. Real impact happens where secure cloud environments, trustworthy AI, robust processes, and deep industry expertise come together. This is exactly where Telekom and its partner ecosystem contribute—with secure data centers in Germany, cloud expertise, cybersecurity capabilities, platform operations, and experience in managing critical infrastructure. Strong technology partners complement these capabilities with expertise in processes, data, and AI. Together, this creates a digital ecosystem that enables public administrations, businesses, and industries to use AI securely, in a sovereign manner, and at scale—starting with practical first steps, but always with the clear ambition of building a sustainable foundation for the digital administration of tomorrow.
This is where the true significance of the AI platform becomes clear: we are not building a single application. We are building the infrastructure for the administration of the future.
An administration that works faster. That is easier to access. That supports employees. That puts citizens at the center. And that remains sovereign, secure, and interoperable within Europe. Put simply: today, we are laying the tracks on which tomorrow’s innovation will run.
Germany now has the opportunity to take a leading role in digital government and sovereign AI infrastructure in Europe. We should seize this opportunity—decisively, collaboratively, and with a clear focus on execution.
Because the future of our state will not be decided in strategy papers, speeches, or conferences. It will be decided wherever digitalization delivers real value: in town halls, public authorities, citizen services, and the digital platforms of our country.
And that is exactly where we are starting now. Step by step. With the first municipalities and the first administrative processes. But always with the clear goal—and the technology foundation—to scale these solutions nationwide. We are proud to be a part of the team building a digital, sovereign, and high-performing Germany.
With optimism and pragmatism: Made for Germany. Let’s get started!
1 Digitalization in Germany’s Municipalities 2025: data report from MeisterTask (available only in German)
