For a long time, digitalisation was a process that progessed without systematic political control, releasing potential for drastic change in all areas of life. In recent years, however, a political awareness has emerged for the disruptions that have occurred. How effective digital politics can offer steering mechanisms for a digital transformation, fit to harness the potential of digitality for society while at the same time responsibly countering a wide variety of new risks – this itself is subject of political discourse. One strategy can be the introduction of dedicated digital departments or so-called “digital ministries”, which a few federal states have made first attempts on in recent years. Hence, digital politicians are emerging who are the first in their guild to level a completely new field.
Kristina Sinemus is the Hessian Minister for Digital Strategy and Innovation and one of the first dedicated ministers for digital matters in Germany. The professor of public affairs and former entrepreneur took over her newly created office at the end of 2019. In this episode of Digitalgespräch, Sinemus explains how she built up her department with its central tasks in terms of organisation, content and strategy, and what hurdles had to be overcome in the process. With hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring, she discusses how priorities can be set in the complex field of digitisation, what role citizen dialogue plays and how political strategies regarding a state such as Hesse relate to European digital politics.
Further informationen:
Link to the Digital Hessen Strategy: https://www.digitalstrategie-hessen.de/dynasite.cfm?dsmid=513901
all episodes of Digitalgespräch»
The podcast is in German. At the moment there is no English version or transcript available.