This article is authored by Manuel Kilian, Managing Director, Global Government Technology Centre Berlin.

Germany's piecemeal approach to digital transformation has failed to deliver. To compete globally and set European standards, it must adopt a Digital Public Infrastructure paradigm: Building shared digital foundations that enable all government services to scale efficiently and securely.

A Critical Juncture for Germany

Germany faces a challenge not unfamiliar around the world. For over a decade, successive governments have tried to digitise public administration by focusing on individual services — a portal here, an online form there. But the big picture was missing. The result is clear: Germany's digital administration sits in the lower half of Europe, well behind peers like Estonia, Denmark or Portugal. The country's economic strength doesn't translate to digital public services — at a time when global competitiveness, security and trust increasingly depend on having a modern, interoperable digital backbone.

This is more than just an inconvenience for citizens navigating digital bureaucracy. It is a structural weakness of Europe's largest economy. Germany must acknowledge the fact that incremental fixes will not solve this issue. Another round of monolithic IT projects or isolated pilots will not address the underlying digital challenges. If Germany wants to modernise, remain competitive, and influence international standards, it must embrace Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) as the foundation for its digital future.

What DPI Actually Means — and Why It Works

The concept of DPI is straightforward yet transformative. Just as roads, power grids and water systems enable modern economies and societies, DPI provides the shared, reusable digital foundations on which everything else builds. Without it, you cannot scale digital services any more than you could run high-speed trains without railway tracks.

A modern DPI typically includes three core building blocks: secure, universal digital identity systems; trusted digital payment frameworks; and robust data-sharing mechanisms that allow different agencies to work together under strict privacy rules. With these foundations in place, everything else — from tax portals to benefits applications to licensing — can work efficiently, reliably and in ways people actually want to use. Private sector services can also make use of this DPI; for example, they can rely on digital identities in their own offerings.

This isn't just theory; examples from other countries demonstrate this. For instance, Estonia's X-Road data-sharing infrastructure connects over 99 percent of its public services and many private ones, ensuring that data is shared seamlessly and securely. Denmark's MitID offers a single, secure login for virtually all interactions with the state. India, a sprawling federal democracy with a level of complexity similar to that of Germany, developed the Aadhaar digital identity system, the UPI payments system, and a consent-based data-sharing layer under the India Stack. Brazil, despite its complex local governance, has based its digital transformation on shared DPI elements.

Why Germany Needs to Act — Right Now

Meanwhile, Germany has taken almost the opposite approach. Here, administrative digitisation means fragmented projects, with each ministry or federal state launching narrow solutions that often involve proprietary lock-ins and little consideration for interoperability. Despite spending billions, the majority of administrative services remain unavailable digitally, and most still require printing forms or in-person visits. According to the Ifo Institute, achieving Denmark's level of administrative digitisation could increase Germany's real GDP per capita by 2.7 percent. This is growth Germany simply cannot afford to forgo.

And timing matters. The EU's Interoperable Europe initiative will actively shape the way public services across European Member States work together. This is an opportunity for Germany to actively collaborate on setting standards rather than follow them. If Germany acts now, it can design its DPI to integrate directly with European ecosystems, from eIDAS 2.0 digital wallets to cross-border data spaces, and help establish rules that reflect European values.

This is also a geopolitical opportunity. The world faces a stark contrast between a Silicon Valley approach built around private platforms with commercial incentives, and a Beijing model where state surveillance is embedded in digital systems. A DPI designed around open standards, privacy by design, and democratic governance shows that there is a third way — but only if Germany, as Europe's largest economy, is serious about taking the lead.

What a New Approach Should Look Like

So, what does pivoting actually entail? First, it involves designing a shared DPI blueprint — a modular architecture for identity, payments, and data sharing — which federal, state, and municipal governments would all agree to use. This does not necessarily mean heavy-handed centralisation, though. Rather, it means building a clear understanding that everyone can rely on, providing direction for all future developments.

Second, Germany needs clear first order principles for DPI. Interoperability must be mandatory, not just a promise of best efforts. Germany should base this on open standards and open source, not because of any ideological stance, but because doing so ensures transparency, builds trust, avoids vendor lock-in, and enables other democracies to integrate with the system.

Third, DPI must be embedded not only technically, but also legally and institutionally. This involves revising legislation to ensure that data can be transferred securely and under the control of citizens, incorporating interoperability requirements into procurement and compliance rules, and potentially establishing new agreements between federal, state, and local governments that recognise DPI as a shared commitment.

The Moment Is Now

The good news? The opportunity is real and immediate. Germany has digital strengths to build on, such as its deep technical expertise and respected institutions. The public is willing to embrace digital services if they are trustworthy and usable. What has been missing is the determination to stop maintaining outdated structures and instead establish a digital infrastructure befitting a 21st-century state.

The reality is clear: DPI is not optional. It has become the global standard for how to digitise government services that scale and last. Germany can either design a system that proactively aligns with European norms and democratic values, or risk implementing ad hoc fixes that will inevitably fail under the weight of growing expectations.

Done right, DPI does not just modernise public services. It also strengthens Germany's international position. It shows that there is a viable alternative to the commercialisation of Big Tech and authoritarian digital control: a model in which the state provides secure, interoperable infrastructure that allows private innovation and civic participation to flourish.

Now is the time to build that model. You cannot continue to ask people to run high-speed digital services on paper tracks. And if Germany, with all its resources and influence, does not act now, it is uncertain whose vision will shape the digital states of tomorrow — or whether it will reflect ours.