Opinion on digitization: Fax and lederhosen
Bavaria's Digital Minister is focusing on show instead of digitization, while Frankfurt is abolishing fax machines and servers, says Christian Wölbert.
(Image: FabrikaSimf / Shutterstock, bearbeitet durch c't)
With the slogan "laptop and lederhosen" now sounding outdated, Bavarian politicians are looking for fresh wordplay for their hearty election campaign bluster and general self-congratulation. Minister President Markus Söder tried "Leberkäs und Lasern" in 2021, but the laser didn't really ignite. His Digital Minister Fabian Mehring from the Free Voters had more success: he was "fed up" and would ban the fax machine from the administration, he announced in December 2023, because as a "high-tech state", Bavaria had to "lead the way nationwide".
This was followed by the typical Bavarian political palaver. Mehring had himself photographed heaving a fax machine into the wastepaper basket. For carnival, he dressed up as a punk with an anti-fax T-shirt. In August, he rejoiced that the number of fax machines in Bavarian authorities had already fallen from 3,766 to 1,869, "just a few months after my initiative".
What was lost in all this: Mehring wants to abolish fax machines, but not faxing. Citizens and companies can still contact the authorities by fax. The letters should simply not arrive on paper, but as "digital computer faxes", as Mehring's ministry writes in a press release.
If faxes are converted into image files, it is of course no mean feat to do without fax machines. Mehring's "fax ban" therefore has little to do with sensible digitization. It would be more important to optimize administrative processes, to clear out laws and to introduce encrypted communication. However, the minister apparently has little to show for this. When asked, his ministry would not say what specific measures have been taken to halve the number of fax machines and remained vague when asked about the next steps. The minister did not have time for an interview with c't.
Anyone looking for real pioneers in digitization should look north of the white sausage equator. The city of Frankfurt am Main, for example, is not only getting rid of fax machines, it also wants to switch off its fax server by the end of the year. And without any silly puns or self-congratulation.
(cwo)
