Best of LinkedIn: Smart Country Convention 2025

00:00:00: Welcome back to the deep dive.

00:00:01: Today, we're tackling one of Europe's biggest public sector tech events, the Smart Country Convention, twenty twenty five, SC con.

00:00:09: We've sifted through the key executive insights shared on LinkedIn.

00:00:12: Now, this deep dive is provided by Thomas Algeyer and Frennus, based on the most relevant posts on LinkedIn about Smart Country Convention, twenty twenty five.

00:00:20: Frennus is a B to B market research company working with enterprises to optimize their campaigns with account and executive insights far beyond

00:00:28: AI.

00:00:28: And the scale of SCCon this year was, well, huge.

00:00:31: Lorenzo Carriwala and Lange Olsak mentioned over twenty-three thousand people, maybe eight hundred speakers, something like a thousand sessions.

00:00:38: Yeah, a real fire hose of information.

00:00:40: So our mission here is to filter that down, find the most actionable trends for you if you're working in tech and digital transformation.

00:00:47: Exactly.

00:00:48: And, you know, the big shift, the feeling you got from the sources like Gabriel Becker was that the conversation has really moved on.

00:00:53: It's not about talking about the digital future anymore.

00:00:55: Right.

00:00:56: It's about doing it.

00:00:57: implementing solutions that are ready to go, production ready.

00:01:00: So the central theme wasn't if we modernize, it was much more

00:01:04: how.

00:01:05: How do we actually achieve digital sovereignty and deliver results you can measure?

00:01:09: That's really the core change we need to unpack.

00:01:11: Okay, let's get into it.

00:01:13: Starting with what?

00:01:15: Anki Domscheitberg flagged as maybe the biggest theme, even more than AI.

00:01:21: Digital sovereignty.

00:01:22: Yeah, absolutely central.

00:01:23: And it's clearly more than just a label now or just about where your cloud servers are.

00:01:28: It's really an operating model.

00:01:29: An operating model.

00:01:30: How so?

00:01:31: Well,

00:01:31: it's operational, but it's also deeply political.

00:01:34: Joshua Roach put it really well.

00:01:36: He called sovereignty this huge, non-delegable responsibility.

00:01:40: It's about securing your ability to operate, protecting critical stuff.

00:01:43: And that covers everything.

00:01:45: Cloud, data, how you buy things.

00:01:47: Pretty

00:01:47: much.

00:01:47: Infrastructure, data protection, procurement strategies, the works, it's foundational.

00:01:52: And the market seems to be stepping up.

00:01:53: We saw actual sovereign infrastructure ready to go.

00:01:56: Definitely.

00:01:57: You had leaders like Stackit, part of Schwartz Digits, Bernd Wagner and Hendrik Haber were talking about this, and also T-Cloud.

00:02:04: Lars Neumann highlighted their role.

00:02:07: They're positioning themselves as, you know, the go-to providers for secure sovereign cloud.

00:02:12: Even

00:02:12: for really sensitive data.

00:02:14: Classified stuff.

00:02:15: That's what they're claiming.

00:02:16: Yeah.

00:02:16: Yeah.

00:02:16: Handling those highly sensitive and even classified environments.

00:02:20: Interesting.

00:02:21: And it's not just one company doing it all alone, is it?

00:02:23: No.

00:02:24: And that's key.

00:02:24: It's collaborative.

00:02:25: Claudia Alzdorf mentioned how Stackage Force Digits are working with partners like Deloitte, Strategy and Accenture, Maybourne Wolf, GMBH.

00:02:33: They're building this.

00:02:35: ecosystem of trust, really.

00:02:36: An ecosystem.

00:02:37: That makes sense for something this complex.

00:02:40: But, okay, let's bring in a bit of a critical perspective here.

00:02:43: You mean make bearings post.

00:02:45: Yeah, it was pretty sharp.

00:02:46: He pointed out this absurdity, thirty-four sessions talking about digital sovereignty.

00:02:51: While the actual SCCon website was running on Microsoft Cloud in the US.

00:02:56: Yeah, it kind of highlights the gap, doesn't it?

00:02:58: He argued the German infrastructure, Mittwald, Hetzner, Ionosis, it's there, it exists.

00:03:04: But the will to use it is sometimes lacking.

00:03:07: That's his point.

00:03:08: It drives home that this isn't always a technology problem.

00:03:11: It's often a decision-making problem.

00:03:13: Organizational inertia, maybe.

00:03:14: So, if the tech is often there, what's the enabler?

00:03:18: How do you actually achieve that sovereignty in practice?

00:03:20: The sources kept coming back to one thing.

00:03:22: Open

00:03:23: source.

00:03:24: Yeah.

00:03:24: It came up again and again.

00:03:26: Why open source specifically?

00:03:27: Because it gives you transparency and control.

00:03:30: You can see the code, you can modify it, you're not locked into a proprietary black box.

00:03:34: We saw real examples too.

00:03:35: Like Dirk Schroeder, the minister up in Schleswig Holstein, he detailed their actual operational shift moving to Lieberoffice using Thunderbird Open Exchange.

00:03:45: They're even prepping Linux as their base OS.

00:03:47: Wow,

00:03:48: that's a serious commitment.

00:03:49: That's not just tinkering.

00:03:51: Not at all.

00:03:51: Yeah.

00:03:51: And it filters down to the tools teams use daily.

00:03:54: Berth Lendaval talked about OpenProject and xWiki.

00:03:57: Right,

00:03:57: as sovereign alternatives to things like JIRA or Confluence.

00:04:01: Exactly.

00:04:01: They're part of this OpenDesk initiative.

00:04:03: Because the source code is open, you maintain data sovereignty, you know what's happening.

00:04:08: But there's a caveat.

00:04:09: Okay.

00:04:09: Rolf Lufke's raised a crucial warning.

00:04:11: We need standardization.

00:04:14: Common standards.

00:04:15: Shared governance, especially across different levels of government.

00:04:19: Otherwise... Yeah, you end up with lots of tiny incompatible sovereign islands.

00:04:22: Precisely.

00:04:23: Fragmentation instead of a unified approach.

00:04:26: That's the risk.

00:04:27: Okay, so Sovereignty is the bedrock, the operating system.

00:04:30: Let's talk about the engine now.

00:04:31: AI, it was everywhere at SCCon, but the conversation felt different this year.

00:04:36: It definitely matured.

00:04:38: As Dr.

00:04:38: Oliver Heidinger said, AI is a central motor for transformation, no doubt.

00:04:43: But we're past.

00:04:43: the generic.

00:04:44: AI is the future talk.

00:04:46: The focus now is much more on secure, responsible, effective implementation.

00:04:52: Getting specific about the value.

00:04:54: Yeah, and moving towards what some are calling agentic AI.

00:04:57: Agentic AI.

00:04:58: What's that exactly?

00:04:59: Think

00:04:59: AI that doesn't just answer questions, but can actually do things.

00:05:03: Act autonomously on tasks to achieve goals.

00:05:06: That scene is the next step for real acceleration.

00:05:08: Acceleration in government processes.

00:05:10: Right.

00:05:11: Dr.

00:05:11: Mary Ann Janek from Guggen Cloud spoke about this.

00:05:15: Their message was interesting.

00:05:17: AI sovereignty isn't about building walls, it's about having choice.

00:05:20: Choice of models, choice of where your data lives.

00:05:23: Responsible use, basically.

00:05:25: Responsible use and control.

00:05:27: And she really emphasized agentic AI as the key to unlocking all that institutional knowledge that's currently buried, making it usable for employees day to day.

00:05:35: Okay, but usable is one thing.

00:05:37: Is there a tangible benefit?

00:05:39: Did anyone put numbers on it?

00:05:40: Michael Neuber did.

00:05:42: He stated that AI, specifically mentioning Google agent space, could potentially save up to one hundred working hours per employee per year.

00:05:50: A hundred hours.

00:05:51: How?

00:05:51: By automating those routine repetitive admin tasks that eat up so much time.

00:05:56: Processing standard forms, generating common communications, that sort of thing.

00:06:00: That's actually quite significant if it scales.

00:06:02: Is it theoretical or people doing this?

00:06:04: Well, that number might be a projection, but we saw proof of concept speed.

00:06:07: Louisa Mayer shared a great example.

00:06:09: Oh, yeah.

00:06:10: A collaboration between Google and the Federal Employment Agency, the Brindisi Gen Tour for Arbite.

00:06:16: They built a working MVP.

00:06:18: a minimum viable product for AI-generated image production.

00:06:22: And the timeline.

00:06:22: Just four weeks.

00:06:24: It shows that agile methods can work in the public sector when you bring smart tech and user focus together.

00:06:29: Four

00:06:29: weeks is impressive for government work.

00:06:31: Okay, speed and efficiency are great, but we need that critical voice again, don't we?

00:06:36: The reality check.

00:06:37: Absolutely.

00:06:37: You're thinking of Dr.

00:06:38: Nina Bohm's point.

00:06:39: Yeah, her question was sharp.

00:06:41: Are we just using AI as a fancy patch when the whole system needs surgery?

00:06:46: Right.

00:06:46: Her argument was, Don't just optimize broken processes with AI.

00:06:51: You need to fundamentally redesign the underlying administrative workflows first, otherwise you're just making inefficiency faster.

00:06:58: It's a really important caution.

00:06:59: Don't paper over the cracks.

00:07:01: Exactly.

00:07:02: And speaking of risks, security was a big focus too.

00:07:05: Michael Giesner mentioned T-Systems talking about this a lot.

00:07:08: Using AI to fight AI threats.

00:07:10: Essentially, yeah.

00:07:11: As AI tools get more powerful for attackers, you need equally sophisticated AI defenses.

00:07:16: It's an arms race and security has to underpin all this innovation.

00:07:20: Which brings us neatly to the next big theme, right?

00:07:22: If you have sovereign platforms and secure AI, what's the goal?

00:07:27: It has to be about delivering better results, actual outcomes.

00:07:31: Exactly.

00:07:31: The whole modernization agenda.

00:07:33: Minister Carson Wildberger apparently set the tone with a very clear message.

00:07:37: Now it's about implementation.

00:07:39: Dirk Backolf and Nikolai Bieber echoed that urgency.

00:07:41: Implementation.

00:07:42: Implementation.

00:07:43: But implementation of what?

00:07:45: And how do you know if it's working?

00:07:47: That's the million dollar question.

00:07:48: And Lena Sophie Muller offered a really useful framework.

00:07:51: The Virking Strip.

00:07:52: or the outcome ladder?

00:07:53: The outcome ladder.

00:07:54: Explain that.

00:07:55: It's about shifting focus.

00:07:56: Stop just counting outputs like we launch fifty new digital services.

00:08:00: That's an output.

00:08:01: Okay.

00:08:01: Start measuring outcomes or impact.

00:08:04: Are citizens actually using those services?

00:08:06: Are they satisfied?

00:08:07: Is there trust in government increasing because of them?

00:08:09: That's the impact you want.

00:08:11: Ah, so it's not.

00:08:12: did we build it, but did it make a difference to people?

00:08:15: Precisely, it reframes the whole mission away from just bureaucratic box-sticking towards actual citizen value.

00:08:23: And the need is urgent.

00:08:24: How so?

00:08:25: Lena Sophie Miller cited data, apparently only fifteen percent of citizens feel public administration currently meets their expectations.

00:08:33: Karina Kreitzer, also really hammered this point home, focused on outcomes.

00:08:37: Okay, so to get those outcomes, you need the foundations right.

00:08:41: Where does that start?

00:08:42: Rigid to modernization.

00:08:44: Christian Fromm called it the essential basis for rethinking how administration works and the key technical piece for that seems to be Newt's.

00:08:51: Newt's national once-only technical system.

00:08:53: That's the one.

00:08:54: It's the system designed to finally let different government authorities exchange data securely and efficiently so you citizen don't have to provide the same information over and over again.

00:09:04: The once-only principle.

00:09:05: We've heard about that for years.

00:09:06: We

00:09:07: have.

00:09:07: And it feels like Newt's is the attempt to finally make it real.

00:09:10: It's a massive undertaking.

00:09:12: Connections are supposed to start happening in twenty twenty six.

00:09:14: It does feel overdue.

00:09:15: Wasn't there a quote about that?

00:09:16: Yeah, Jan Klum brought up the mandate from way back in two thousand one.

00:09:20: Data must walk, not citizens.

00:09:24: It really highlights how long this implementation journey has been.

00:09:27: Newt's is critical to finally deliver on that promise.

00:09:30: So Newt's helps data flow.

00:09:33: But how do you stop every agency building its own separate digital thing?

00:09:37: Avoid those silos.

00:09:39: Standardization again.

00:09:41: Julian Dierstein made that point.

00:09:42: We need to move past silo solutions.

00:09:44: And the answer seems to be the Deutschlands stack.

00:09:47: His Deutschlands stack.

00:09:47: What is that?

00:09:48: Think of it as a national toolkit.

00:09:50: Julian Dierstein and Esther Steverding described it as the central ecosystem.

00:09:55: It provides reusable building blocks, software components, APIs, standards.

00:09:59: So agencies can build digital services faster and more consistently?

00:10:02: That's the idea.

00:10:03: Use these common components instead of reinventing the wheel every time.

00:10:06: Speed, efficiency, consistency across federal, state, local levels.

00:10:10: Makes sense.

00:10:11: So what makes this whole modernization push likely to succeed this time?

00:10:16: Mattias Oberendorfer laid out three key drivers.

00:10:19: One, genuine political will.

00:10:22: Two, pressure from the market companies demanding better digital processes.

00:10:26: And three, critically, measurability.

00:10:29: Ah,

00:10:29: back to outcomes.

00:10:31: Exactly.

00:10:31: Setting concrete, measurable goals.

00:10:34: They mention things like enabling a business to be founded online within twenty-four hours, or the digital agency.

00:10:39: work and stay.

00:10:40: Tangible targets make it real.

00:10:42: Okay,

00:10:42: political will, market pressure, measuring outcomes.

00:10:45: That leads us to the final piece, maybe the most visible part for citizens.

00:10:49: Digital identity and the actual services people use.

00:10:51: Right, the EUDI

00:10:53: wallet, IIDS.

00:10:54: This is the infrastructure that lets citizens securely interact online yet.

00:10:58: It's the key enabler.

00:10:59: And we saw how it can combine with other tech for powerful results.

00:11:03: Dirk Backofen and Christine Nakfus-Nicolak showed a really interesting example.

00:11:06: Which was?

00:11:07: A single app that combines the EUDI wallet, your secure digital ID, with AI.

00:11:12: Okay, ID and AI together.

00:11:14: For what?

00:11:14: To streamline a common e-government process.

00:11:17: Their example was applying for a birth certificate needed for marriage.

00:11:21: The AI helps with the form filling.

00:11:23: The wallet provides secure authentication.

00:11:25: And it's

00:11:26: sovereign.

00:11:26: Hosted on the Sovereign T-Cloud, according to them.

00:11:29: So you get efficiency from AI, plus trust and security from the digital ID and the sovereign platform.

00:11:35: It's that combination.

00:11:36: That

00:11:37: really could change the user experience.

00:11:39: Less hassle, more trust.

00:11:41: That's the goal.

00:11:42: And the industry seems ready to build this out.

00:11:44: Dr.

00:11:44: Dominic Dimle noted the wallet forum's debut showed companies are looking to collaborate.

00:11:50: not just compete, to build this whole new digital ID ecosystem.

00:11:54: It's not just identity though, right?

00:11:56: Other foundational pieces need to be digital too.

00:11:59: Absolutely.

00:12:00: Things like payments.

00:12:01: Dirk Mullenweg mentioned MasterCard making its debut, signaling the importance of integrated digital payment options.

00:12:07: It all needs to connect.

00:12:08: Yes.

00:12:09: Christina Merida Zimmerman really summed it up.

00:12:11: You only get those measurable improvements in service quality with true end-to-end digital processes.

00:12:18: No more falling back to paper halfway through.

00:12:20: Okay, let's try and summarize SCCON.

00:12:23: What's the big picture?

00:12:24: The big picture is the shift is real.

00:12:27: We're moving definitively into the implementation phase.

00:12:30: It's happening now.

00:12:31: Driven

00:12:31: by what?

00:12:32: Driven by practical AI applications, underpinned by a strong demand for digital sovereignty, and enabled by common platforms like the Deutschlandstak and Newt's.

00:12:41: And the focus is squarely on

00:12:43: delivering measurable public value, not just launching tech, but making a tangible difference to citizens and businesses, moving from outputs to outcomes.

00:12:51: So the technology is maturing, the platforms are emerging, the political will seems to be there, but there's still that lingering question, isn't there, that critique we heard.

00:13:00: You mean the feedback from Sweden that Shubnam Elif Kokalo Obrich mentioned about bureaucracy and hierarchy being the real bottlenecks?

00:13:07: Yeah.

00:13:07: Voices like Zara Usdirk and Dr.

00:13:09: Nina Boom can't bring you back to that.

00:13:11: And Joshua Roach, Christine Nakvesnikolik, framing it as ultimately decisional, not technological.

00:13:16: The tech and ideas are often ready.

00:13:18: But are the organizations ready to adapt?

00:13:21: to make the hard choices, to actually use these new tools effectively and break down those internal barriers.

00:13:28: That seems to be the crux of

00:13:29: it.

00:13:29: So that leaves a final thought for you, our listeners.

00:13:32: The convention showed the sovereign tools, the AI accelerators, the platform approaches are increasingly available.

00:13:39: The question is, how will you navigate?

00:13:41: the internal landscape, the decision-making processes to ensure your projects leverage these tools, not just to produce outputs, but to deliver those real tangible outcomes for citizens.

00:13:52: That's the challenge ahead, moving beyond the tech to the transformation itself.

00:13:57: If you enjoyed this deep dive, new episodes drop every two weeks.

00:14:00: Also check out our other editions on cloud insights, sustainability and green ICT, digital products and services, health tech, defense tech, ICT and tech insights and artificial intelligence.

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