The impact of register modernisation on CSO implementation in NRW

The project ‘Total control of register modernisation’ has as its central objective the further development of the German register landscape. In addition to science, census and data protection, citizens and companies in particular are the beneficiaries of the project.

The project is driving forward those projects that implement the Online Access Act (OZG) and the Single Digital Gateway Regulation (SDG-VO). Thus, the modernisation of the register forms the cornerstone for achieving CSO maturity level 4. This provides for a media-free application process, whereby companies and citizens only have to transmit their data to the administration once. Existing data are obtained directly from the registers. The results of the modernisation of the register are also necessary to comply with Article 14 of the SDG Regulation. It obliges European member states to connect to the European Once-Only-Technical-System (OOTS) by December 2023. This will allow citizens and businesses to digitally handle selected administrative services across borders. If they agree to the transmission of the respective evidence, there is no need to provide evidence multiple times.

The close link with these thematic areas has already been considered at various points in the overall planning of the Register Modernisation overall control project. This is evident, for example, in the selection of the registers recorded in the Identification Numbers Act (IDNrG) and the creation of a list of top registers. These two steps derive from the importance of the registers for the implementation of the CSO. The further development of the registers is to be prioritised in order to achieve rapid benefits also in the area of CSOs. For this reason, the development of new registers is also being examined.

The overarching importance of register modernisation leads to an enormous potential for relief. The total benefit is estimated at approximately 6.3 billion euros per year. This is offset by investment costs of 2.5 billion euros.