The Self-Driving State
How administration, legislation and jurisdiction become self-driving – and what that means for citizens, companies and the public service.
Also available in German: Der selbstfahrende Staat
Der selbstfahrende Staat – Ein Denkmodell für das Zusammenleben im Staat der Zukunft · Springer Gabler 2024 · ISBN 978-3-658-45659-7
The road to the self-driving state
The stages mirror those of the self-driving company and follow the autonomy levels of self-driving vehicles: analog, digital, automated, self-driving.
Analog state
Traditional administration: citizens' requests are handled as paper files – applications on paper, official letters as the answer.
Digital state
80% of the data is stored digitally and understood by software syntactically and semantically – it not only recognises an address but distinguishes a private from a company address.
Automated state
80% of end-to-end processes run automatically – from the application to the delivered and understood decision, as the annual tax assessment already does today.
Self-driving state
Around 80% of decisions are made by learning algorithms. Laws are created as digital twins, reviewed by the judiciary while they are drafted and executed in software by the executive.
“For self-driving companies to become reality, public administration and state-related organisations must become self-driving as well.”
Florian Schnitzhofer, Patrick Pils and Philipp Seper-Ambros have advised ministries and administrations in Germany and Austria for many years – from digitalisation strategies to the independent controlling of projects at federal, state and municipal level. Every idea, case, scenario and strategy in the book is distilled from real challenges. Using the fictitious state DIGILAND, the authors show how legislature, executive and judiciary interact in a self-driving way – with a foreword and guest contribution by Prof. Dr. Jörn von Lucke, Zeppelin University.
Florian Schnitzhofer
Founder & CEO ReqPOOL
Patrick Pils
Owner & CEO LETO SPACE
Philipp Seper-Ambros
Managing Director and Managing Partner Public Sector ReqPOOL
What does this mean for public administration?
Once-only becomes the standard
Citizens and companies submit their data only once. As soon as the state knows about a pregnancy, for example, all follow-up processes are triggered automatically – from the invitation to a mother-child consultation to the granting of family allowance.
Laws become digital twins
The legislature passes laws as digital twins that are reviewed and certified while they are drafted. The executive implements them in software algorithms – transparent, traceable and incorruptible. Decisions are made in real time.
Services follow life and business situations
The service catalogue of the self-driving state is not organised by responsibilities but along citizens' life situations and companies' business situations – across federal, state and municipal level.
People remain at the centre
Six theses on the role of people: people want to elect people as their representatives, be governed by people and spend time with people. The self-driving state creates the space for this – creative, empathetic and interpersonal work stays human.
The Self-Driving State
- 1Introduction
- 2Forecasting – The Self-Driving State
- 3The Road to the Self-Driving State
- 4The DNA of the Self-Driving State
- 5The Service Catalogue of the Self-Driving State
- 6Technological Components of the Self-Driving State
- 7People in the Self-Driving State
How ReqPOOL accompanies public administration
ReqPOOL advises ministries, social insurance institutions, cities and state-related organisations in Germany and Austria – from the digitalisation strategy through specification and tendering to the independent controlling of implementation. Neutral, vendor-independent and guided by the target picture of the self-driving state.
Who the book is written for:
- Decision makers in ministries and authorities at federal, state and municipal level
- Executives in social insurance institutions and state-related organisations
- Those responsible for digitalisation and IT strategy in cities and municipalities
- Politics, social partners and academia shaping the discourse on AI in the state
More books
The Self-Driving Company
A Conceptual Model for Organizations of the Future
Florian Schnitzhofer · Springer
Organizational Resilience in Action
Strategies for Overcoming Future Crises
Achim Röhe · Springer
Let's talk about your self-driving organisation
Keynotes, executive workshops or a first conversation about the vision behind the books.
Florian Schnitzhofer
Founder & CEO ReqPOOL