Participate in the federal portal

Bundesdruckerei and the Federal Ministry of the Interior are calling on administrations in Germany to participate in the federal portal. The aim of the platform is to one day make all digital administrative services of the federal, state and local governments available to citizens, said Dr. Andreas Gehlert, Head of Division at the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Home Affairs (BMI). Currently, almost 300 application procedures are already available there. On average, 1.5 million users access the federal portal every month, and the trend is rising. The prerequisite for use is the federal ID or an identification for companies such as an ELSTER organizational account.

Central platform for specialist procedures - from application to notification

Gehlert explained that users can use the federal portal to search for information sorted by life situation, but also to communicate with the authorities. The specialist procedures are connected via a digital interface so that they can be carried out from application to notification - including payment, as a payment procedure is also available. So far, 49 authorities have submitted services from a wide range of departments such as transport, real estate and employment.

So far, only federal services can be applied for in the federal portal, said Dorothea Schneider, Team Leading Solution Management Digital Government at Bundesdruckerei GmbH, which is responsible for the continuous expansion of the portal. However, this will change soon. State and municipal services could then also be entered there.

Building blocks for one-for-all services

“We now want to invite many more state and municipal services,” emphasized Schneider. From the beginning of 2025, a toolbox will be available in the federal portal that will allow authorities to upload their EfA services independently. EfA stands for “One for all” and thus for services with high demand that are offered in all municipalities. Bundesdruckerei is currently testing the processing of lost ID card reports in a pilot project with the cities of Hamburg, Erfurt and Lüneburg.

The administrations could also contribute their own ideas, said Schneider. As Bundesdruckerei has a sophisticated requirements management system, requests can be implemented quickly and reliably. It is also a matter of continuously developing the platform together.