It is well known that media discontinuities and rigid document formats slow down day-to-day work in public administration. Anyone involved in implementing the Online Access Act (OZG) or in day-to-day case management is familiar with this bottleneck: information often arrives at government offices in an unstructured form and has to be time-consumingly prepared for use in specialist procedures.
The question, therefore, is no longer whether we need to change this situation, but how we can roll out pragmatic and secure solutions across the board. Often, the problem is not a lack of grand IT strategies, but a lack of tools that can quickly, securely and easily ease the workload in day-to-day operations.
Where resources are tied up today
When we look at the processing of applications and the associated supporting documents, the workload is usually concentrated in three areas:
- The bottleneck of data preparation: Transferring information from (digital) documents into specialist systems ties up an enormous amount of staff resources that are urgently needed for the actual case processing.
- Time-consuming clarification of queries: Missing mandatory details or unstructured entries lead to a high need for coordination and prolong the processing times for applications.
- The reality of supporting documents: Even if the initial application is submitted via an online form, traditional documents are often still uploaded as supporting evidence, which in turn must be reviewed and assessed individually.
The approach: Structured data and intelligent assistance
To significantly speed up application processing, the focus must be on the structured collection and processing of data. Technology can now provide targeted and legally compliant support in this area.
- Dynamic querying: A digital form should actively guide the user. Fields that are not required in a particular case remain hidden. This reduces the burden on citizens and lowers the error rate.
- AI as an assistance system: Instead of extracting data manually, modern AI models can automatically read, structure and suggest relevant information from submitted PDFs or scans for review.
- Interfaces (APIs): The aim is machine readability. If data is captured in a structured format from the outset or has been neatly processed by AI, it can be transferred directly into existing specialist systems.
Why I’m developing bundes.app
Because this topic has continued to fascinate me from both a technical and a process-related perspective, I’m working on a solution: bundes.app.
My aim is not to replace existing large-scale IT projects. Rather, I’m building a tool that can be pragmatically integrated into the existing infrastructure and offers immediate relief in form processing.
bundes.app focuses on three areas:
- AI-supported data extraction: When forms or supporting documents are received in unstructured form, our integrated AI helps to reliably extract the relevant information. The software provides a structured proposal to the case handler, but the final check and decision always remain with a human (‘human in the loop’).
- Straightforward creation: Specialist departments can create and customise digital, smart web forms themselves – without in-depth programming knowledge.
- Seamless data transfer: The data captured or extracted by AI is prepared in such a way that it can flow directly and error-free into the respective specialist systems.
The foundation: data protection without compromise
Developing software for public administration – particularly when artificial intelligence is involved – means taking on a special responsibility. Public authorities rightly impose very strict requirements on data protection and the traceability of AI solutions.
bundes.app has therefore been designed from the ground up for this environment:
- Secure AI & GDPR compliance: The AI components do not send any sensitive citizen data to external, public systems. Processing takes place securely and in isolation; hosting is carried out exclusively on servers in Germany or even locally in the office or within the administration.
- Accessibility: Digital services provided by the administration must be accessible to everyone. Development is therefore guided by the requirements of BITV 2.0 (Accessible Information Technology Regulation).
An opportunity for discussion
The digitalisation of public administration is best driven forward in practical, manageable steps. The introduction of AI-supported form processing is one such step that brings immediate, measurable benefits in day-to-day operations.
Please feel free to watch a demonstration of the bundes.app with no obligation. If you are looking for ways to simplify application processing in your local authority or government department without long lead times, please do get in touch. Simply contact me here via LinkedIn or send me an email directly. I look forward to a professional exchange of ideas.
