The city of Jena strengthens its IT department

The city of Jena is continuing to drive forward the digital transformation of its administration and is taking the next decisive step. To this end, it is reorganizing its IT department. A draft resolution, which will be presented to the city council on 16.11.2022, provides for IT to be set up independently as an optimized government-run company in future. The resolution is also intended to approve an initial economic and staffing plan that will strengthen the IT department in the long term. Investments of almost 30 million euros and 14 new jobs are planned over the next five years.

Lord Mayor Dr. Thomas Nitzsche says: "I already formulated the goal of a digital and process-optimized administration when I took office. Since then, the central project and process management has been anchored in the organization. We are now taking the next step and developing IT into a powerful partner for the administration in order to implement future topics such as the Online Access Act in a way that benefits our teams and the citizens of Jena. IT is crucial to the success of these future issues. With the planned expansion, we are creating the necessary conditions for this."

Complex tasks and strengthening IT

The challenges facing IT are manifold. On the one hand, increasingly complex tasks have to be solved that are set by the federal and state governments. On the other hand, IT must counteract the already noticeable shortage of skilled workers and the incipient wave of retirements by developing applications that optimize internal administrative processes and save time, while at the same time being as citizen-friendly as possible. In addition, data protection and security are becoming increasingly important due to the rise in cybercrime. These requirements can only be met by a strong and effective IT system.

Benjamin Koppe, the department head responsible for finance and digitalization, emphasizes: "Despite tight city finances, it is necessary to change existing IT structures and equip them with additional personnel and technical resources. After all, the digitalization of the administration, taking into account all legal requirements, is a mandatory municipal task and a clear priority. I am convinced that this investment will pay off in the long term and benefit all citizens."

IT becomes a public service

The high importance that IT must have in the city administration in the future is reflected in the restructuring. The department will be separated from the city's own municipal real estate company, Kommunale Immobilien Jena (KIJ), and will form its own municipal enterprise in future. Just like the in-house operations, this Regiebetrieb will have a high degree of economic independence and be able to work in an agile manner, but will be very closely linked to the core administration in terms of content. As with the in-house operations, it will be assigned to a municipal electoral official. Mayor Gerlitz, whose department currently already includes geoinformatics and who has previously held professional responsibility in the IT sector, will take over responsibility for this new municipal enterprise.

Mayor Gerlitz comments: "I am convinced that the path we have chosen to establish a pure IT management company will ensure greater dynamism and agility in the necessary further development of the municipal IT infrastructure. Today, hardly any of our public services are conceivable without IT support, which is another reason why we need a strong internal partner who is exclusively dedicated to this task."

Experienced IT expert to head up the new public administration company in future

In Dr. Arndt Döhler, the city of Jena has gained an experienced and competent IT expert who, as head of the IT management company, will drive forward the restructuring together with the team and develop and implement the city's future IT strategy. Dr. Döhler studied industrial engineering and earned his doctorate in computer science at Jena universities. His professional career took him via BMW, Schott and the administration at the University of Jena to Intershop, where he has held various management positions over the last 12 years, most recently as Director Research and Product Manager for BI (Business Intelligence), AI (Artificial Intelligence) and IoT (Internet of Things). Since 01.07.2022, he has headed the IT department at Eigenbetrieb Kommunale Immobilien der Stadt Jena.