DPS is extending its portfolio to include software products and services for public administration. The new Digital Public Sector business unit focuses specifically on the topics of smart government and smart cities.
Digitalisation of public administration
Digitalisation in the economy and society raises expectations in the public sector, and the public expects that government services will be provided digitally. This applies to interactions between authorities and citizens as well, and to the internal handling of administrative procedures. Public data should be available to the community, in addition to being used as a basis for decision-making for efficient government and administrative action.
The Online Access Act is of particular interest in this respect. It obliges authorities at all levels of government to provide essential administrative services online by the end of 2022.
It is clear that a digitisation of government institutions will not start suddenly, like a Big Bang. In a democratic and federal community such as the Federal Republic of Germany, IT infrastructures have grown over time. Innovative concepts have already been developed in many areas. Digital changes in public authorities’ internal processes must comply with legally applicable principles and legal requirements, and must not impair our administration’s performance. Thus, for us, digitisation in the public sector primarily means integration and evolution – through creating smart links, through further developing existing IT solutions with agile methods and through developing innovative technologies and tools.
Continued development of DPS product families
On the basis of our established products DPS eCMS and DPS Formatservice, DPS has developed a set of tools that helps to overcome some of the key challenges in public sector IT related to the Online Access Act. These include:
- The digital delivery of administrative services on citizen terminals and their integration into the existing self-service structures of banks and savings banks.
- The integration of current and new online and offline channels into existing specialised procedures and electronic file systems.
Other key work areas
As part of our research and development activities, we are intensively involved in the use of IoT technologies in the public sphere as well as the implementation of viable solutions for Open Data. Our involvement in the corresponding working groups of the D21 Initiative [link to the corresponding news] is also related to this goal.
Personnel: Florian Kühne becomes the Head of Public Sector
We have secured the services of an industry expert with extensive experience in public sector IT to develop the new business unit. Mr Florian Kühne joined the DPS team as Head of Public Sector on 15/12/2020.
Born in Berlin in 1981, he studied political science at the University of Potsdam and thus was involved early on with the tasks and related requirements of public administration.
He used this knowledge in his work in sales for a renowned German provider of a public sector-specific ERP system, which allowed him to become familiar with local government procedures in particular. Most recently, he managed the company’s existing customer sales, but was also involved in the development of new, innovative solutions in the context of “Smart City”.
He is now continuing this work at the DPS Group and is involved in the development of the division, which is to support the public sector in mastering the challenges of the future.
In his own words: “The DPS Group has been an established solution provider for the financial sector for decades. The parallels between the industry and public administration also hold great potential for making the company’s expertise available to the public sector. We hope to be an innovative and reliable partner for them.”
