• 2,000 actions throughout Germany
• Minister President Malu Dreyer from Rhineland-Palatinate: “It needs all of us to be involved in all fields”.
• Save the Date: Fifth anniversary will take place on 7 June 2024

More than 2,000 actions and over 5,000 hours of programme: for the fourth time, Digitaltag got people all over Germany excited about digital topics and made a key contribution to promoting digital participation. “People are keen to discover and better understand digitalisation,” explains Kimberly Klebolte, Managing Director of the “Digital for All” initiative, which is behind Digitaltag. “The positive response we received today confirms our work: the need for offers to make digitisation tangible in everyday life is high – and a lot is already being implemented. With the Digital Day, we are showing what is possible.”

Action day receives broad political support from the federal and state governments

This year, the Digital Day again received broad support from federal politics. On behalf of Federal Minister for Family Affairs Lisa Paus, Sven Lehmann, State Secretary and Queer Commissioner of the Federal Government, opened the livestream and exchanged views with Digitaltag organisers from the Hanseatic City of Lübeck who were virtually connected. Federal Minister of Education and Research Bettina Stark-Watzinger honoured this year’s winners of the Award for Digital Togetherness – HerzCaspar e.V from Bonn and Musiklusion from Tuttlingen. In his welcoming message, Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport Volker Wissingemphasised the importance of digital participation and accessibility with reference to the Digital Strategy Germany. The Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building (BMWSB) invited to a kick-off event of its offer “Start smart” for cities and municipalities on the way to a smart city. On the occasion of the day of action, Jürgen Dusel, the Federal Government Commissioner for the Interests of Persons with Disabilities, published an explanatory video on digital assistance. The Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) organised a discussion on secure online login.

There were also many contributions to the Digitaltag from the ranks of the federal states. The action of the Ministry of the Interior, for Digitisation and Local Authorities Baden-Württemberg was all about Open Data. The state government of Rhineland-Palatinate presented the project “Digital into the Future”, which is intended to support civil society organisations on their way to digitalisation. “There were countless digitally committed people at the Digitaltag today. Let us continue to tackle together so that all people can participate in and benefit from digitalisation,” said Minister President Malu Dreyer from Rhineland-Palatinate. “I am sure that today’s Digitaltag will spur us on and inspire us further. It needs all of our commitment for everyone and in all fields: From access to digital skills.”

The Minister President of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia Hendrik Wüst emphasised on the occasion of the Digitaltag: “Digitisation is playing an increasingly important role in our everyday lives. It offers many opportunities: fast communication, access to an infinite amount of information, improvement of the quality of work and life. Of course, there are also challenges: Spread of disinformation, threat of cyber attacks, misuse of technology. But I am convinced that we can overcome the challenges. The key is media and digital literacy, which we must promote everywhere in Germany. This is exactly what Digitaltag is for; today already in its fourth edition with exciting events and inspiring discussions.” The CIO of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Prof. Dr. Andreas Meyer-Falcke provided impulses on digital participation and presented success stories from the state at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Municipal Affairs, Construction and Digitalisation of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.

At a virtual open day, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Digital Affairs of Saxony-Anhalt presented the state’s digitisation projects and the OZG implementation in the field of education. “We must do everything we can to further expand digital skills and make them more accessible, especially with regard to citizen friendliness. It is good if digitisation can be experienced in everyday life and as many stakeholders as possible get involved in the Digitaltag to promote the motto ‘Digitisation: Discover. Understand. Design.’ with life,” says Reiner Haseloff, Minister President of Saxony-Anhalt, in praise of the commitment to the day of action. “I am also pleased that the offers were also actively used.”

Five years of Digitaltag: the anniversary will take place on 7 June 2024

The “Digital for All” initiative looks back on a successful Action Day and is already looking forward to its fifth anniversary next year. The date has been set for 7 June 2024.

Information and background on the initiative “Digital for All” as well as on the Digitaltag, on the actions and opportunities for participation, and on the Prize for Digital Togetherness can be found at https://digitaltag.eu.

Behind the Digitaltag is the initiative “Digital for All” – a broad alliance of 28 organisations from civil society, culture, science, business, welfare and the public sector. The common goal of the initiative is to promote digital participation in Germany.