2023-11-10 05:06:15
The funding for digitalization has been increased by 1.2 billion euros for the coming year. The largest part of this goes to broadband expansion, with e-government in second place, which now involves linking the various data registers of the ministries, explained Florian Tursky (ÖVP), the state secretary responsible for digitalization. This should become concretely visible, for example, in the new digital identity card or the digital registration certificate.
Linking the ministries’ data collections is necessary in order to provide digital official channels, Tursky told the APA. Until now, you had to bring proof of citizenship with you to apply for a passport. “If I combine these registers, then I can offer all of these services digitally.”
A relaunch of the “Digital Office” app and new digital ID cards are planned for next year. The digital ID card and the digital registration certificate should come next year, “that’s fixed,” says Tursky. Over 200 official channels have already been digitized.
Another focus should be the ongoing conversion of the cell phone signature to ID-Austria. “We already have 1.6 million Austrians on ID-Austria.” The cell phone signature will be switched off on December 5th. “From now on, an ID-Austria will automatically be issued with every passport.”
Tursky announced that an additional 17 million euros will be spent in the eHealth sector next year. Among other things, the plan is to modernize the ELGA (electronic health record), which has existed for ten years, in order to “make it more than a PDF collection”. All data would have to go into the ELGA, “unless you opt out”. There must also be interfaces to the ELGA when it comes to employment or school medical examinations. The data from the parent-child pass should also come into the ELGA. But this is more of a long-term project. “We want to create the legal requirements next year.”
The second important point in the health sector is the digitization of the eCard, which is scheduled to come to mobile phones in the second half of 2024. The digital ID cards should be available in the first half of the year. As with all digital ID cards, the digital eCard will complement the existing card, but not replace it, emphasized Tursky. The registration certificate is a bit “tricky because I have to be able to hand the registration certificate to other people.”
Tursky announced that 52.7 million euros more would be invested in the cybersecurity area. 19 million euros are available for cybersecurity research.
Austria is a pilot country when it comes to digital ID cards, “my goal is for everything to be recognized across Europe.” The digital driving license is currently only recognized in Austria, and is expected to be recognized in other EU countries by 2026. Mutual acceptance with individual states, such as the Czech Republic or Liechtenstein, might also occur earlier. “The Germans are not front runners when it comes to digital identity; it will certainly take them until 2026.”
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