‘Digitalisation requires strategic depth and active collaboration’

Louisa Solonar-Unterasinger is Chief Information Officer of the State of Hesse, authorised representative for e-government In this interview, she talks about progress, challenges and specific projects - and explains why digital administration is more than just technology.

Ms Solonar-Unterasinger, what current progress and challenges do you see with regard to the digital transformation in Hesse?

"Hesse has made extensive progress in the field of digitalisation in recent years, which is reflected in the modernisation of public administration, the expansion of digital infrastructure and the promotion of innovative technologies. In doing so, we want to strengthen competitiveness and sustainably improve the quality of life of citizens.

With the establishment of a Ministry for Digitalisation and Innovation, Hesse wants to take on a pioneering role: Digital policy expertise will be pooled here and cross-departmental digitalisation will be systematically driven forward. The Federal Digital Strategy of the IT Planning Council serves as a central guiding principle. Hesse has also made significant progress in the area of digital networks: Two thirds of all households already have a gigabit-capable connection, and the needs-based connection of schools and hospitals to high-performance gigabit networks is almost complete.

With the world's largest internet exchange DE-CIX, Frankfurt am Main is the digital heart of Europe and offers ideal conditions for the further expansion of digital ecosystems.

The ‘Ehrenamt digitalisiert!’ funding programme was launched in 2020 by the Hessian Ministry for Digitalisation and Innovation to support non-profit organisations in the digitalisation of their internal structures. The aim is to use modern technologies to make volunteering more efficient and facilitate the recruitment and retention of members. A total of around 9.2 million euros has been made available since the programme was launched. More than 980 non-profit organisations have received funding of between 5,000 and 15,000 euros.

At the same time, the digital transformation of administration entails complex tasks that need to be solved pragmatically. One of the central tasks is to evaluate a large number of applications in Hesse - around 3,400 in total - on different internal infrastructures and to cloudify them as required. HessenPC is already used to manage over 80,000 PC workstations in a standardised manner.

Another key concern is to organise administrative processes in such a way that they are not only efficient, but also employee-friendly - for example through the increased use of cloud and AI technologies. The aim is to offer a sovereign cloud workplace in the administration.

Another key concern for us is the standardised implementation of the ‘once-only principle’. If citizens and companies only provide their data for administrative processes once in future, this will mean real added value."

Are there any lighthouse projects in your region? If so, which ones?

"We are planning a series of implementation projects that concretise the objectives within the IT Planning Council's priority topics. One project - ‘Federal Collaboration Hub for Network Infrastructures’ - is an example of how the objectives of the priority topic ‘Digital Infrastructure’ can be realised:

The increasing use of AI and cloud solutions, major projects such as the modernisation of registers and security-related requirements place particular demands on network infrastructures. These network infrastructures need to be redesigned and, above all, organised in a holistic, federal manner.

We want to reflect on existing approaches and identify new solutions. Our focus is on an inter-federal exchange of experts, which should serve as a platform for network planning, network expansion and network utilisation at a federal level. We also want to integrate existing initiatives, such as those from the federal government or the German Administration Cloud (DVC). The availability of high-performance, expanded networks that take into account key security aspects to strengthen cyber security and resilience from the outset should ensure the state's ability to act - both in everyday life and in the event of a crisis."

How do you ensure secure digital administration in times of cyber attacks and online crime?

"One key aspect is increasing the resilience of the Hessian administration. This means that the IT infrastructures are designed and operated in such a way that they remain capable of acting even in difficult geopolitical phases and in the event of targeted attacks. To achieve this, Hesse relies on modern concepts such as infrastructure-as-code, which make it possible to provide IT resources automatically, quickly and economically. In the event of a crisis, critical IT capacities can be flexibly activated and scaled in order to cushion outages or attacks on administrative processes. We also want to be prepared with concepts for emergency capacities so that we can quickly use other infrastructure or change providers in an emergency."

What excites you about the Smart Country Convention? What are you particularly looking forward to?

"The Smart Country Convention is a special source of inspiration for me every year, as it brings together the players who want to advance digitalisation at federal, state and local level.

I find it inspiring to learn from each other across national borders. Digital solutions for public administration, smart infrastructures and citizen-centred services are not created in isolation - they thrive on exchange, thinking outside the box and strong networks.

I am looking forward to the dialogue, new ideas and very specific examples of how digitalisation is noticeably improving both people's lives and the day-to-day work of administrative staff - whether through AI-supported administrative assistants, digital application procedures or smart mobility solutions.

I am particularly looking forward to the panel with the other topic sponsors of the IT Planning Council's priority topics. It is a good opportunity to bring together different perspectives. At the same time, we will not only talk about strategic approaches, but also about very concrete steps that we can implement together."