Germany's Deutschland-Stack Faces Criticism Over Transparency and Digital Sovereignty

The Deutschland-Stack is a pivotal digitalization initiative launched as part of Germany’s coalition agreement, designed to unify IT infrastructure for public administration services like housing benefit calculations and fee payments. However, concerns have arisen regarding the lack of transparency and minimal involvement of civil society in its development. Critiques point out that the consultation process, held by the Federal Ministry for Digital and State Modernization (BMDS), allowed stakeholders to submit feedback, but many key issues remain unresolved.

Notably, the criteria defining digital sovereignty within the project are vague and non-binding, raising fears of continued reliance on major technology firms rather than fostering independence through open-source solutions. Thilak Mahendran of Agora Digitale Transformation highlighted how the exclusion of civil society contradicts the purportedly open process. Furthermore, the Digital Ministry appears to prioritize market relevance, potentially favoring established tech giants over open-source alternatives, which may entrench technological dependencies.

The Green Software Association also emphasized the need to address environmental impacts in the stack’s design, another point insufficiently tackled so far. The Ministry plans to review the consultation and workshop feedback by mid-February to determine how to respond to these concerns, yet significant ambiguity remains regarding the stack’s exact specifications and governance.

This situation underscores the challenges Germany faces in modernizing its public digital infrastructure while balancing transparency, sovereignty, and sustainability.