After the relevant agendas have been transferred to the finance department, Minister Magnus Brunner and the new State Secretary Florian Tursky (both ÖVP) are planning an offensive in the field of digitization. Content pegs will soon be used, especially in governance, education and for improving digital infrastructure, Brunner said at a press conference on Tuesday. In concrete terms, the aim is to offer virtually all administrative procedures digitally by 2024.
According to Brunner, digitization should be seen as an opportunity for business and society. There have been setbacks, especially during times of the pandemic, and it is now important to capitalize on the momentum that has built up. There are now the perfect conditions for this, because the recent government reshuffle has brought all relevant digitization agendas under one ministry for the first time, according to the Minister of Finance.
Brunner and Tursky mentioned the further development of the digital administration based on the FinanzOnline model as an important goal. “We want to pick up the people with the administration where they are – namely on the mobile phone, on the tablet or on the computer,” Tursky says. His intention is to have almost all administrative procedures digital by 2024. The introduction of a digital platform for all types of identity cards, such as driving licenses, will play a central role in the coming months.
Overdue demand for digital fitness
Another important point relates to the topic of education and the digital competence of people in Austria. “We need to make citizens digitally fit,” says Brunner, because only then can everyone benefit from digitization. Tursky pointed out that about 34 percent of the population lack sufficient digital skills, but such knowledge is already needed for 90 percent of all jobs. This will be the focus.
Digital equal opportunities for all regions
In general, however, they want to continue to improve the framework conditions to make society fit for digital change, the two politicians said in unison. In this context, the goal is the national broadband expansion in 2030. For this, the second broadband billion is now within reach, in 2026 it should be a total of 2.5 billion euros. Equal opportunities for the regions are considered important: “It should make absolutely no difference in the future whether you come from the lowest valley in Tyrol or from Vienna,” says Tursky.
Waiting for digital tax
In terms of fair competition, Brunner also needs the right regulatory framework. So they continue to push for the introduction of the EU-wide digital tax of 15 percent. Progress has been made recently at OECD level in this regard, now it is the turn of the EU. Driven by the idea of fairness, recent strides have been made in the field of cryptocurrencies. The same tax regime now applies as for shares.
Source: Krone
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