Insight
Digital administration in Austria: better than you might think
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“Card payments only from €10” or “Please send us the original document by post” – it is sentences like these that make you doubt digitalisation and digital administration in Austria. Digitalisation has been a constant topic not just since the Covid-19 pandemic – this megatrend has been at the heart of every debate about Austria as a business location for years. As a seasoned Austrian, it is tempting to look towards Scandinavia and talk down everything at home. But where does Austria actually stand? Looking at public administration or digital justice, you have to conclude that it is actually not that bad.
Austria as a model country
Hard as it may be to believe, Austria is considered a model country and pioneer in digital justice and digital administration, and it has already implemented various projects that have earned it wide recognition across Europe. One example worth highlighting is the Federal Legal Information System (“RIS”), introduced as early as 1998 and still highly regarded today. Although it looks simple, it is a useful tool that in most countries is only available (if at all) for a fee. In addition to all federal and provincial laws, RIS indexes (almost) all supreme court decisions back to 1980 as full texts, allowing keyword searches across all laws and court decisions. This makes access to the law easier and is therefore also relevant to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 16 “Access to Justice”).
webERV, an electronic channel for communicating with courts and authorities, is another success story. It was introduced in Austria in 2006, and today, with few exceptions, all submissions to courts and authorities are made via webERV. From the beginning of 2007, using webERV even became mandatory for lawyers and notaries. This obligation has since been extended to other users (such as banks and insurance companies).
Current projects
A positive recent example is the implementation of the EU Digitalisation Directive in Austria. The directive requires member states to make it possible to form limited liability companies (or equivalent legal forms) digitally. The Austrian legislator took the directive as an opportunity to make it possible to execute almost all notarial deeds digitally – not just deeds relating to GmbH formations. A bold and correct step into the future.
Austria is also exemplary when it comes to digitalisation in tax administration. According to a recent study, 83% of tax returns in Austria are filed electronically, and 88% of people are willing to do so. Overall, 72% of all Austrians regularly use e-government services (and the trend is rising). Our neighbouring countries are a long way from these figures: Germany is at around 65%, Switzerland at 67%. Only Estonia is ahead of Austria, with an impressive 100%.
This is hardly surprising, however, as the Baltic state has been a pioneer in digitalisation for years and is in a league of its own. Whether it is voting in elections, founding companies or tax services: in Estonia, 99% of all government services are now handled digitally. The eID, which in the vast majority of member states (including Austria) is still in pilot phases, has been a reality in Estonia since 2000.
Where is there still potential?
Even though Austria compares well within Europe, all that glitters is not gold. There are still many areas of digital administration in which Austria has fallen far behind – especially compared internationally with the USA and China. While in Silicon Valley or Hong Kong you can found a company with just a few clicks, in Austria it is a lengthy, laborious and expensive process. Austria still has some catching up to do here, and we want to contribute to that.
In summary, Austria is on the right track when it comes to digital administration – even though it is often talked down at home. To stay fit for the future, it is important that Austria keeps making bold decisions so that it does not fall behind. Looking ahead, however, Austria is at risk of losing touch internationally, particularly in the key future and digitalisation topics beyond digital administration (big data, AI, IoT or Industry 4.0). Or is the seasoned Austrian’s view deceptive here too?
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