Digitaler Programmiercode

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The founding commission for the data institute presented the first results of its work at the Digital Summit on 9 December 2022 and handed over to Federal Minister of the Interior and Community Nancy Faeser and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Dr Robert Habeck its interim report entitled ‘On the road to establishing a data institute for Germany’.

Federal Minister of the Interior and Community Nancy Faeser said: “The ideas presented by the founding commission highlight how useful the smart use of data can be both for us as individuals and as a community. By presenting an overview of mobility services in Germany, an application on evidence-based decision-making in the area of energy consumption data and a data-based contribution to Long COVID research, the commission has selected use cases that can help us meet current and pressing challenges. These bold and hands-on proposals are exactly what we had hoped for.”

Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Dr Robert Habeck said: “The recommendations presented by the founding commission show in a convincing manner what is needed to set the data institute on a road to success: agility and focus, specific use cases, taking account of the requirements of practical use. We will use this input to establish the data institute quickly and make progress on data use in Germany.”

Establishing a data institute is a mandate from the coalition agreement. The institute is to drive forward data availability and data standardisation and implement data trustee models and licences. It is to help make better use of the potential of data in the economy and society. The objective is to make the data institute a powerful national operator that will coordinate the data ecosystem, spur innovation, provide evidence-based advice and thus drive the socio-ecological transformation.

The founding commission recommends that the establishment and work of the data institute be based on an agile and needs-based approach. Its members propose using specific use cases as the basis for defining the missions and structures of the data institute. For example, the founding commission has identified three use cases where data access, data sharing and data standardisation can be improved. These use cases regard the areas of mobility data, health data and political decision-making, the last of which is more reference-based. Monitoring the data ecosystem, networking across the boundaries of different sectors and providing advice and setting standards for using and sharing data have been identified as the data institute’s key missions.

Over the next few weeks, the founding strategy of the data institute will be developed, taking into account the founding commission’s input. The founding commission will continue to provide its support to the Federal Government for this part of the work.

The founding commission, which has been established by the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, is made up of representatives from business, academia, the public sector and civil society. These are:

  • Nicole Büttner-Thiel (startup entrepreneur, CEO of MerantixMomentum, member of the management board of Bundesverband Deutsche Start-ups (the German Private Equity and Venture Capital Association)
  • Dr Stefan Heumann (member of the board at Stiftung Neue Verantwortung and managing director at Agora Digital Transformation)
  • Prof Dr Andreas Peichl (LMU Munich, chair of economics with a focus on macroeconomics and public finance; head of the ifo Center for Macroeconomics and Surveys)
  • Prof Dr Louisa Specht-Riemenschneider (University of Bonn, chair of civil law, information law and data law)
  • Katja Wilken (deputy president of the Federal Office of Administration)

Following approval by Parliament, €10 million in funding will be available each year between 2023 and 2025 for the establishment and work of the data institute.
In order to mobilise the expertise of representatives from business, academia, the public sector and civil society, extensive stakeholder consultations have been conducted over the last few weeks – featuring workshops, individual interviews and an online survey. The results of the consultations have been used to inform the commission’s report.

The full report will soon be available on the websites of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community.

More information about the Digital Summit can be found here:

digital-summit