Germany can now warn its population faster and more broadly than it could just a few years ago. Cell Broadcast delivers emergency alerts directly to millions of mobile phones, dedicated warning apps provide additional information, and a nationwide Warning Day regularly tests the country’s alert infrastructure.

From a technical perspective, considerable progress has been made. From a civil protection perspective, however, the real challenge begins once the alert has been received.

A warning only provides protection if people know how to respond.

A recent representative survey conducted by Bitkom Research on behalf of the German digital association Bitkom illustrates the gap between technical reach and actual preparedness. Among smartphone users, 86 percent have Cell Broadcast enabled and have already received messages through the system. Only around two percent have deactivated the function.

At the same time, 55 percent of people in Germany say they do not know how to respond when they receive an emergency warning. Remarkably, the figure rises to 58 percent among users of dedicated warning apps.

This is more than a communications issue. It raises a fundamental question for German civil protection: How resilient can a society be if the warning infrastructure works, but a majority of the population is uncertain about what to do next?

Germany’s warning system: from sirens to smartphones

For international readers, it is important to understand the particular context of Germany’s civil protection system.

Responsibility for disaster and civil protection is distributed across different levels of government and involves federal, state and local authorities as well as emergency services and relief organisations. Warning the population therefore relies on a combination of systems rather than a single national channel.

Germany has significantly strengthened this warning infrastructure in recent years. Traditional sirens remain part of the system, while digital channels have become increasingly important.

A central component is Cell Broadcast, which allows authorities to transmit warning messages directly to compatible mobile phones within a defined geographical area. Unlike a warning app, users do not have to register or install additional software to receive the message, provided their device and settings support the service.

Germany also operates or uses several dedicated warning apps. The best known is NINA, the federal emergency information and warning app. According to the Bitkom survey, 70 percent of smartphone users know NINA and 31 percent have installed it.

KATWARN, another warning service used by public authorities and other organisations, is known to 71 percent and used by 20 percent. BIWAPP, a regional warning and information application, is known to 39 percent, while six percent use it. Around 18 percent of respondents have more than one warning app installed.

The figures reveal the particular importance of Cell Broadcast: while warning apps can provide extensive information, they depend on citizens actively installing them. Cell Broadcast offers a much broader, low-threshold way of reaching people in an affected area.

The nationwide Warning Day

Germany also conducts a nationwide Warning Day – the Bundesweite Warntag – to test its warning infrastructure and familiarise the population with the different alert channels.

During the nationwide Warning Day on 11 September 2025, test warnings were sent directly to mobile phones using Cell Broadcast. Other warning channels are tested as part of this wider approach to ensure that alerts can reach the population through several routes.

This principle of redundancy is crucial. No civil protection system should assume that electricity, mobile communications, internet services or individual digital platforms will remain fully operational during every emergency.

Germany’s current approach therefore combines digital and conventional warning methods rather than relying exclusively on smartphones.

Bitkom Managing Director Dr Bernhard Rohleder considers the basic digital infrastructure to be in place: “The digital warning infrastructure in Germany is established. Cell Broadcast and warning apps can reliably reach millions of people within seconds.”

But he also identifies the central weakness: “A warning is only the first step. Citizens need to know what to do in an emergency – and they need to prepare for such situations in advance.”

Civil protection is returning as a strategic issue

This distinction has become increasingly important in Germany.

Civil protection is no longer viewed solely through the lens of natural disasters or isolated emergencies. Severe weather events, major power or communications outages, disruptions to critical infrastructure and potential hybrid threat scenarios have broadened the debate about national and societal resilience.

The question is therefore shifting from whether people can be warned to whether society can continue to function when normal systems are disrupted.

A modern civil protection system requires both.

Authorities need the ability to identify risks, communicate rapidly and coordinate emergency response. At the same time, citizens need sufficient knowledge to understand warnings, take basic protective measures and cope with temporary disruption to essential services.

This does not mean transferring responsibility from the state to individuals. State protection and individual preparedness should reinforce each other. A population capable of taking basic protective action can reduce pressure on emergency services and allow professional resources to be concentrated on people and situations requiring immediate assistance.

Individual preparedness therefore becomes one component of broader societal resilience.

Critical infrastructure does not end at the facility perimeter

The same principle applies to Germany’s debate on critical infrastructure – commonly referred to as KRITIS, the German abbreviation for Kritische Infrastrukturen.

Energy, telecommunications, water, transport and other essential services can be protected through technical, organisational and physical security measures. Yet resilience cannot be achieved exclusively within the facilities that provide those services.

Even well-protected infrastructure may experience temporary disruption. In such situations, resilience also depends on how authorities, businesses, emergency organisations and the population respond to the consequences.

Warning systems form an important link between situational awareness and societal response. They should therefore be understood as part of a broader resilience architecture rather than merely as channels for distributing emergency messages.

The ability to send an alert within seconds is valuable. The ability of millions of recipients to translate that alert into appropriate action is what ultimately determines its effectiveness.

Warning Day could become Preparedness Day

The Bitkom survey indicates that the public itself sees a need for greater guidance. Eighty-two percent of people in Germany believe the population should receive better information on how to behave during crises or in the event of an attack.

This provides a clear direction for the further development of German civil protection.

The nationwide Warning Day could evolve beyond testing whether sirens, Cell Broadcast and warning apps technically work. It could increasingly become a recurring exercise in public preparedness.

What does a particular warning mean? Which sources of information can be trusted? When should people leave a building, and when is remaining indoors safer? How should households prepare for a temporary loss of electricity, mobile communications or essential supplies? And how can people who depend on assistance be supported during an emergency?

If citizens have to consider these questions for the first time after their phones have already sounded an alarm, preparedness has started too late.

Civil protection must increasingly take place before the crisis.

From warning apps to preparedness tools

Digital systems themselves could play a larger role in this development.

Warning apps are primarily associated with acute emergencies. Their potential, however, extends beyond real-time alerts. They can also provide accessible guidance for different types of emergencies, information on personal preparedness and, where appropriate, details of local support structures.

During an incident, warnings should communicate as clearly as possible what has happened, who is affected, what immediate action is required and where reliable additional information can be found.

Cell Broadcast and warning apps serve complementary purposes. Cell Broadcast provides broad reach without requiring prior installation. Apps can provide more detailed information and continuing updates. Sirens and other communication channels add another layer of redundancy.

The future of warning should therefore not be about choosing one technology over another. It should be about creating a resilient communication chain that remains effective even when individual channels fail.

Resilience has to be learned

Germany’s most significant challenge may ultimately be less technological than educational.

Basic civil protection knowledge could be integrated more systematically into schools, workplaces, public institutions and municipal communication. Regular exercises and straightforward response procedures could help make crisis preparedness a normal element of everyday safety culture rather than something considered only after a major incident.

Businesses have a role to play as well. Organisations responsible for employees, facilities and operational continuity need more than technical emergency plans. Employees need to understand what procedures apply, where reliable information comes from and how communication will continue if normal systems are unavailable.

This increasingly connects civil protection with business continuity, critical infrastructure resilience and corporate crisis management.

Outlook: From warning infrastructure to a resilient society

The Bitkom figures tell two very different stories.

The first is one of technological progress: 86 percent of smartphone users have Cell Broadcast enabled and have already received messages through the system. Germany now has a tool capable of reaching a large share of the population within seconds.

The second reveals the unfinished task: 55 percent of people say they do not know how to respond to an emergency warning.

The future of German civil protection lies between these two figures.

The next stage should therefore not focus exclusively on adding more technology. Germany needs clearer risk communication, regular exercises, stronger public awareness of personal preparedness and closer links between civil protection, critical infrastructure resilience and organisational crisis management.

The technical foundations are stronger than they were in the past. The task now is to turn warning capability into response capability.

A resilient society is not one that can prevent every crisis. It is one in which public authorities, businesses and citizens are prepared to act when disruption occurs.

The warning on a smartphone can be the beginning. Civil protection is determined by what happens next.

The figures cited are based on a representative telephone survey conducted by Bitkom Research on behalf of the German digital association Bitkom. A total of 1,004 people aged 16 and over in Germany were surveyed, including 889 smartphone users. The survey was conducted between calendar weeks 17 and 21 of 2026.

[DCM]