Wichtiger Hinweis
Digitization in Erlangen
Stand: 19.02.2025
The digitalization of Erlangen's city administration is making great strides. In recent years, numerous important projects that make Erlangen more digital and modern have already been launched or completed. But "good" is still far from good enough: that is why the city administration continues to work at full speed on innovative and digital solutions for everyday tasks and problems.
#Digital is now
In Erlangen, tradition and modernity are not contradictory, but rather merge together. This applies not only to the city's long and eventful history, Erlangen's urban society or its economy, but also to Erlangen's city administration.
A few examples:
- The majority of our files are no longer stored in paper form, but in our digital file management system. This is constantly being expanded and improved with new functions.
- More and more applications can be submitted and processed completely online: As part of the implementation of the Online Access Act (OZG), we are setting the bar very high with almost 400 online applications across Bavaria. And we are also consistently in the top 10 in Germany - well ahead of most other major cities.
- We are not digitizing by chance, but according to plan: to this end, we presented a digitization concept back in 2021, which sets out our vision and strategy for digitizing the city administration.
- Tree sensors: As part of a pilot project, we have equipped numerous trees in Erlangen with moisture sensors. This allows the trees to call for water independently, whereupon employees from the city green department come by and water them.
- AI chatbot: We are currently working intensively on the introduction of an interactive AI chatbot for Erlangen.de and other municipal websites. This should help citizens to get the information they need more quickly in the near future and reduce the workload of the city administration. For more complex issues, citizens will of course still have the option of speaking to a person.
Some of our projects
On May 2, 2022, the new, technically modernized and graphically updated version of our municipal website www.erlangen.de went online. The new design focuses on digital accessibility, diversity and flexibility. The extensive and, for many, overwhelming menu structure has been replaced by a central search function. After entering the desired search term, all results on the topic are listed and can be filtered according to services or contact information. In addition, all search results can be sorted by relevance, topicality or alphabet.
The linchpin: the search function
In terms of structure, the new municipal website has a design without an overarching menu structure. This approach was chosen to simplify navigation. The menu has been replaced by a central search function. Users of our website can search for keywords simply and easily using the very prominent search field. As this is a weighted full-text search, not only headings, but also all continuous texts of all elements on erlangen.de are searched for the corresponding search term. After a brief moment, the search returns all content that contains at least one of the search terms entered. Unless the content was excluded from the search by the respective creator.
Unlike on the previous website, the search function is completely decoupled from major search providers such as Google or Bing. As a result, we fully comply with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that are mandatory for us as a city administration.
The search is also forgiving of a certain number of spelling and typing errors. This means that even if one or two letters are forgotten or mixed up, the desired results are still displayed. It is also case-insensitive. This benefits digital accessibility.
Digital accessibility
This topic played a major role in the design of the new website. From the outset, we wanted to completely eliminate as many digital barriers as possible - i.e. technical or visual barriers for certain groups of people. For example, we only use PDF files in exceptional cases, preferring to post the content directly on the website. In addition, the ReadSpeaker software is integrated into the site, which allows people with visual or reading impairments to have the content of the website read aloud to them.
Development
After a somewhat slow start, the new website was noticeably improved thanks to the hard work of the web technology team. Important background functions were added to the search, the range of functions for our web editors was expanded and numerous smaller and larger construction sites were closed in the background. We have also implemented automatic translation of website content into other languages using the AI-based translation service DeepL Pro.
The following further developments are currently planned for the future:
- Expand multilingualism
- Introduce AI chatbot
- Expand search function with AI functions
- Further optimize search function
- Improve user-friendliness
- Improve accessibility
- and much more.
Many larger companies and websites are already familiar with them - the little digital helpers that patiently and usually informatively answer all users' questions. The City of Erlangen would also like to take advantage of these AI assistants to answer your questions quickly and accurately around the clock in future, not just during our opening hours. Don't worry: you still have the option of contacting a human being directly.
The advantages
- Availability - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, regardless of opening hours and telephone availability. The AI always has time for you - no matter how many people ask you a question at the same time.
- Questions just like in everyday life - you can simply formulate questions in natural language and don't have to worry about typos or other minor details. If the chatbot is not quite sure, it will ask you itself if necessary.
- Precise answers - The AI chatbot's answers are designed to always answer your question as accurately and precisely as possible. In order to increase the transparency of the answers, the sources used for the answer are usually even indicated.
- Elegant answers - The artificial intelligence is trained to always give you well-formulated, structured and formatted answers. The good thing is: the AI never has a "bad day" or too much to do. It is always fully there for you.
- Intelligent multilingualism through AI - Ask your questions in your native language, whether German, English, Mandarin or Arabic. The AI recognizes your question in a variety of supported languages and answers you automatically in the same language.
- Self-learning - Your feedback (e.g. a "like" or "dislike") is used to train the language model's algorithm. This continuously improves the quality of the chatbot's answers.
BMI explanatory video - "What does the Online Access Act actually do?"
Online Access Act - what is it?
In a nutshell: The aim of the Online Access Act (OZG for short) is to enable or improve the digitalization of administrative services.
The OZG, which came into force in 2017 and is currently being revised, is intended to promote digitization in Germany in a structured manner. Originally, the federal, state and local authorities were to offer all administrative services in Germany digitally via administrative portals by the end of 2022 and link these portals to form a network. In Bavaria, the Bavarian portal will take on this function as a hub.
In total, there are around 7,500 administrative services that are listed in the OZG implementation catalog and bundled into around 580 OZG services in 14 different subject areas. Given the large number of services to be digitized, smaller cities and municipalities in particular are understandably reaching their limits. But even large cities can only cope with the large number of changes with difficulty.
You can find out more about the OZG and the changes adopted in February 2024 on the website of the Federal Ministry of the Interior and for Home Affairs (BMI) and in the explanatory video linked below.
OZG implementation in the city of Erlangen
In order to implement the objectives of the OZG, the city of Erlangen already offers almost 400 online services, which can be found in the service portal of the city's homepage or in the Bayernportal . This has put us in first place in Bavaria for many months, setting the bar high. We are also consistently in the top 10 in Germany - well ahead of most other major cities.
The offers differ in the extent of digitalization. The implementation is partly influenced by legal requirements, but also by offers from software companies, case numbers, costs and much more.
Some of the online services are provided by external bodies, but the majority of the solutions are currently delivered by the city of Erlangen itself and implemented in collaboration with an inter-municipal developer community.
The progress of the implementation also depends on the available capacities and financial resources.
You can gain an insight into the implementation of the OZG in Bavaria on the website of the Bavarian State Ministry for Digital Affairs.
Development plans exist in every municipality or town. They regulate the type and purpose of building on land in a specific area within the municipality. In larger cities such as Erlangen, the number of development plans can run into the hundreds or thousands within a few years. What for decades had to be requested in printed form on paper from the Office for Urban Planning and Mobility is now also available in digital form in Erlangen.
In 2009, the city council began scanning in development plans, including their explanatory statements, and making them available in digital form. The advantage of digital development plans is that they can now be put into context, viewed and analyzed with other data from the geographic information system (GIS). This means that measurements of areas and distances as well as balancing of areas can now be better prepared and conflicts and deviations from the development plan can be better identified. This eliminates the need to go to the planning cabinet and handle large paper plans. Since 2009, the reasons for a development plan can also be accessed digitally via a link.
For citizens and businesses, this has the great advantage that it is now possible to obtain advice quickly over the phone or at a desk. This saves time for everyone involved.
Of course, the creation of development plans based on georeferenced data is now also carried out digitally. This means that newer development plans are available in the geoinformation system without much effort.
Would you like to know more or are you looking for a specific development plan? The following links will take you directly to the development plans:
Development plans in the process
For several years now, Erlangen City Council has been gradually developing its digital document management system. At the end of 2023, the time had finally come: in December, we switched completely to digital file management. Erlangen is thus setting another milestone in terms of efficient, low-paper administration and is a whole nose ahead of most other municipalities in Germany.
What is digital file management?
It is nothing other than the transformation from printed paper files filed away in thick folders to fully digital files on a computer.
Why are we doing this?
There are several reasons. The overriding reason is our legal mandate to keep files, which we must and want to continue to fulfill in the digital age. In addition, the digital file simply fits in better with today's world, our digital way of working and our modern working environment.
Is that all?
Not by a long shot - digital file management also allows us to
- Shorten processing times (for applications, for example)
- digitize work processes
- access digitally stored information/files together in teams and
- reduce media disruptions: Whereas for a long time it was still necessary to print out a document, file it, scan it again later or photocopy it, digital file management theoretically takes all of this off our hands, paper-free and with comparatively few mouse clicks. This saves time that we have available for our citizens. And not to forget: The environment also benefits.
Information security is becoming increasingly important in the context of advancing digitalization in the private sector as well as in administration, increasing networking and the growing threat of cyber attacks. Maintaining information security is an important success factor for the city of Erlangen in order to be able to fulfill its tasks and objectives.
What is information security?
The aim of information security is to protect against unauthorized access, misuse, loss or modification of information (confidentiality, integrity and availability). The relevant information can be stored on paper, in IT systems or in "heads".
Without the necessary information, the tasks of an administration, including the processing of applications from various public interests or ensuring public safety and order by averting dangers, cannot be carried out.
More and more information is being processed automatically and all essential processes are significantly supported by information and communication technology (ICT). Today, a functioning administration is inconceivable without electronic communication media and IT procedures, but this also offers plenty of sources of error and attack surfaces.
More than 2,000 vulnerabilities in software products
The figures from the annual status report of the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) are alarming. According to the report, infected or manipulated software is still the biggest threat. On average, 2 ransomware attacks on local authorities or municipal companies and 68 attacks on companies are reported every month. And there is a whole host of potentially dangerous software products in circulation: During the reporting period, an average of more than 2,000 vulnerabilities in software products were reported per month - 15 percent of which were classified as critical.
The targets of cyberattacks are diverse and depend on the attackers' motivations. While some aim for direct financial gain, others try to gather secret information for espionage purposes or to sabotage critical infrastructure. And some of them simply want to make a name for themselves or have fun.
The important thing is that each individual is responsible for their information and for maintaining information security. The BSI not only advises the state and administration, companies and organizations, but also consumers. Many interesting topics, tips and information are available for all areas on the BSI website as well as on the BSI YouTube channel (not linked for data protection reasons) and via the BSI podcast "Update verfügbar".
Further information
Municipal websites; use
Service portal
Would you like to apply for an identity card or passport? Or change your place of residence? Then you've come to the right place. On this page you will find all municipal services.
Municipal maps and geodata; preservation
Municipal information and communication technology; information on system support
Municipal information and communication technology; information on user service
The IT user service ensures the smooth deployment and coordinated use of IT at municipal authorities.
Communication with municipalities; transmission of messages and documents
Municipal websites; use
Service portal
Would you like to apply for an identity card or passport? Or change your place of residence? Then you've come to the right place. On this page you will find all municipal services.
Municipal maps and geodata; preservation
Municipal information and communication technology; information on system support
Municipal information and communication technology; information on user service
The IT user service ensures the smooth deployment and coordinated use of IT at municipal authorities.
Communication with municipalities; transmission of messages and documents
Office for Digitization and Information Technology
Head of office: Jan Berghold
Topics: Document management, web technology and online services, processes and digitization projects, online access law, IT coordination, geoinformation, information security.
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