New Digitalization Ministry takes over patronage of Smart Country Convention 2025

Federal Minister for Digitalization Dr. Karsten Wildberger. Image: Sebastian Woithe | BMDS

For the first time, the newly established Federal Ministry for Digital and State Modernization (BMDS) is the central department for digital policy at the helm of the leading event for the digitization of the public sector, smart cities, and smart regions - the Smart Country Convention. This marks a shift in patronage from domestic to digital policy - a step that is intended to be much more than symbolic politics.

“The state must be a service provider”

Federal Minister for Digitalization Dr. Karsten Wildberger will personally open the Smart Country Convention. In his statement on the patronage, he emphasizes the new ministry's claim to shape the future: “We want to make everyday life easier for citizens by making administration modern, efficient, and user-centered. The state must be oriented toward the lives of people and businesses and be a service provider.”

A key lever in this effort is the Deutschland Stack, a shared, secure, and interoperable IT infrastructure for the federal, state, and local governments. According to Wildberger, SCCON offers the ideal framework for working together with government and industry to build a digital “Next Germany.”

Strengthening trust through digital administration

For Bitkom President Dr. Ralf Wintergerst, the new patronage is a logical step: “The federal government has concentrated the most important digital policy issues in the Ministry of Digital and State Modernization. It is only logical that the patronage of the Smart Country Convention should also be transferred.”

Citizens have high expectations of digital administration: according to Bitkom, 90 percent want their city or municipal administration to tackle the issue of digitalization much more intensively.

Further information on the patronage is available on the website.