With its decision of 5 December 2007 on IT management at federal level, the Federal Cabinet created the office of Federal Government Commissioner for Information Technology.

The Commissioner is the central point of contact for the states (Länder) and the private sector when working with the Federal Government on IT matters. Dr. Markus Richter, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community, has held this office since 1 May 2020.

The most important task of the Federal Government Commissioner for Information Technology is to expand interministerial IT coordination into interministerial IT management.

The Commissioner is pursuing this goal in conjunction with the IT management bodies: the CIO Council and the Federal IT Management Group. The Commissioner chairs both of these bodies and works in close cooperation with them.

The Commissioner is responsible for strategic issues regarding IT use in the federal administration and must be involved in all proposed legislation and other government projects significantly affecting IT in the public administration.

According to the Cabinet decision, the Commissioner’s key tasks are

• drafting the federal e-government/IT and IT security strategy,
• overseeing federal IT security management,
• developing architecture, standards and methods for IT in the federal administration, and
• overseeing the provision of central federal IT infrastructure.

The Commissioner views the following three goals as critical for successful management of IT at federal level:

• Federal IT must be organized effectively, efficiently, securely and with an eye to the future.
• The Federation must create or promote high-performance IT infrastructure enabling electronic communication between government, businesses and private citizens.
• The Federation must provide long-term support for the information society in Germany by creating the framework conditions for innovative IT and by designing reliable electronic communication able to meet future needs.