Digitalisation: Administration

Administration is a key factor to spread digital transformation in society as a whole. The main objective is to involve all players in the process, ensure knowhow transfer between the administrative units and develop a common strategy at all levels of public administration.

From e-government to m-government

The administration in Austria is constantly being modernized. Digitalisation permeates all areas of life, ways of communication are changing, the use of mobile devices is considerable in Austria. Therefore it is necessary to further develop the digital services of public administration from e-government to m-(obile) government. To offer the e-government services accessible on oesterreich.gv.at as comprehensively as possible for mobile devices the "Digitales Amt" app was implemented.

The digital future of Austrian administration

By using digital devices and applications, public administration can offer a wide range of official services digitally. Making appointments at public offices, filling out and signing analog forms and being tied to a specific location and time are now a thing of the past. The basis of Austrian e-government is the E-Government Act, which came into force in 2004. 

The goals of digitalization at the administrative level are, for example, to drive forward process automation and to promote internal administrative communication. The focus here is on simplification and intuitive use, transparency, security and data protection of digital administrative services. The integration of national and international e-government standards facilitates cross-border administrative action. 

The digitalisation of administrative processes can also save resources - not only within the public administration, but also for its users.

When developing technical solutions in the course of modern administration, emphasis is also placed on barrier-free access. The barrier-free web ensures equal participation in mobile applications and access to websites for all users. For better text comprehension, the public administration is working on providing information in an easy-to-read version. 

For greater data transparency and administrative simplification, the Austrian Federal Register provides an overview of key registers, their connections, interfaces and an overview of the data flow.

E-Government Strategy

The e-government strategy establishes a uniform, networked and coordinated approach to e-government through intensive cooperation between the federal government, federal states, cities and municipalities.

The fields of action of the e-government strategy relate to citizens, companies, administration and the overall architecture and its basic components. As target groups for administrative action, the focus is particularly on citizens and companies. 

Society and companies as target groups of the e-government strategy

The aim is to make digital public administration applications available to citizens in a simple, barrier-free, easy-to-find, mobile, intuitive and multilingual format. Applications should be universally usable, across administrations and countries, with one-time data transmission (once-only principle). The protection of digital identity has a high priority. The legal framework also forms the basis for data security and data protection. Targeted promotion and expansion of digital skills are the basis for the use of ICT applications.

Digital applications are to be made available to entrepreneurs and companies in several languages across all devices and without barriers or media discontinuity. National and international business trade should be supported in the best possible way. Access to company-relevant information, data and services as well as the reuse of previously entered data is a prerequisite (single sign-on/once-only principle). Framework conditions promote innovative and technology-savvy companies and thus support Austria's digital sovereignty in the European context.

Exemplary Austrian e-government services

Digitalization can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of public administration and improve interaction between the state, society and the economy.

Information and service platforms and apps

• Citizens and businesses can deal with the authorities online via the central e-government portal oesterreich.gv.at or the "Digitales Amt" app (in German) and the business service portal (usp.gv.at).
• FinanzOnline is the most important portal of the Austrian tax authorities.
• Important documents such as driving licenses, registration certificates and proof of age can be stored digitally in the eAusweise app (in German).

Core components, principles and digital public services

• The "key" to the services and applications is ID Austria.
• Administrative procedures are simplified for users through one-stop/no-stop, automation and the once-only principle. The principle of one-time data entry to the authority is based on the SDG Regulation. 
• The core components Digital Austria Data Exchange (dadeX) and the Information Obligation Database (IVDB) ensure the secure exchange of data between authorities.
• Digital public services and information can be accessed across all EU member states through the Single Digital Gateway (SDG) project.

Open Government Data (OGD)

Open Government Data (OGD) describes those datasets which are not related to individuals and are not part of critical infrastructure and which can be made freely accessible in the interests of the general public, with no restrictions on their free use, distribution and reuse. Making them available in this way encourages the development of new products and services.

The launch of the Austrian one-stop Open Government Data metaportal data.gv.at in 2012 was an important step forward in successfully implementing open government data in Austria.Data.gv.at constitutes a central catalogue for open data in Austria, so that users can find the data they need via a single online entry point. Thousands of datasets have been published in accordance with the principles of open government data.

On 24 February 2020, the OffeneVergaben.at (public procurement) application became the 500th application available online at data.gv.at.

Digital Sovereignty

Ensuring digital sovereignty is an essential prerequisite for fulfilling the core tasks of the administration.

Economic, technological and political networking with other countries offers many advantages, but also security policy and strategic risks. Digital technologies can, for example, lead to (digital) dependency, making the state more vulnerable to cyberattacks. Digital sovereignty is getting increasingly important within the economy, science and administration.

Therefore Digital sovereignty for Austria is set out in an action plan. The action plan aims to ensure self-determined digital action even in a networked environment characterized by dependencies. An evaluation model for "digital sovereignty", the results of which can be visualized in a "digital sovereignty compass", was created to support this. The model is intended to serve as an orientation tool for the Austrian administration and (critical) infrastructure and enable the derivation of short, medium and long-term measures for more "digital sovereignty".

Contact us at

• oesterreich.gv.at Hotline (local rate): +43 50 233 770
• oesterreich.gv.at citizen service: buergerservice.oegv@brz.gv.at