Digital Summit 2024: Germany is Stalling on Digitalisation

‘A move towards digitalisation and innovation’ - this is a key promise in the coalition agreement of the traffic light coalition. Around three years later, the digital summit in Frankfurt am Main paints a mixed picture: a lot of potential remains untapped - especially for German companies and public administration. This is why LC by vBoxx is calling on the German government to do more and promote data protection.

Where does Germany Stand?

At the Digital Summit 2024, Digital Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) emphasised progress, such as the expansion of fibre optic networks - every third household in Germany now has a fibre optic connection. However, Germany is lagging behind in other important areas, particularly the digitalisation of administration. In many places, basic applications such as identity cards or parental allowance still have to be submitted in person at public offices and on paper. These outdated processes lead to overloaded authorities and long waiting times.

Modern and secure cloud solutions could provide a remedy here by speeding up administrative processes and replacing paper files - an important step towards realising Wissing's vision of a ‘digital only’ administration.

Budget Cuts Slow Administrative Digitisation

Despite the pressing digitalisation crisis, the federal government has made drastic cuts in the 2024 budget: Only 3.3 million euros are available for administrative digitisation, a fraction of the originally planned 377 million euros.

‘Now is the time to step on the accelerator,’ demands Sczepurek, COO of leitzcloud by vBoxx. ‘Many administrations and companies are only at the beginning of their digital journey. The government must realign its strategy and treat digitalisation as a priority.’

After all, it's not just the administration that is struggling with digital hurdles. Digital transformation is also crucial for companies in order to remain competitive, organise internal processes efficiently and ensure security.

Digital Sovereignty

At the summit, Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) emphasised the need to strengthen Europe's digital sovereignty. leitzcloud by vBoxx supports this stance: In view of the increasing dependence on US providers and the access rights of foreign authorities, as enabled by the CLOUD Act, it is crucial for Germany and Europe to increasingly rely on their own technologies.

‘In order to remain secure and independent in the long term, it is essential that Germany independently promotes efficient solutions that comply with data protection regulations,’ says Sczepurek.

Meanwhile, Europe is actively moving forward with digitalisation in the area of cyber security. Regulations such as the NIS-2 Directive and the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) create clear rules for protection against cyberattacks and ensure greater security in the digital space. For companies, data protection is thus becoming the cornerstone of digital transformation - a principle that leitzcloud by vBoxx is already implementing with its 100% GDPR-compliant cloud solution.


Germany still has a long way to go to fully exploit the potential of digitalisation. But with targeted strategies, investments and technologies that combine data protection and efficiency, the country can close the digital gap.