Progress and challenges in the Thuringian state control center project

On August 26, 2024, Jena's head of security Benjamin Koppe welcomed the district administrator of the Saale-Holzland district, Johann Waschnewski, and his counterpart Marko Wolfram from Saalfeld-Rudolstadt to an exchange and working meeting. The focus was on current developments at the joint regional control center in Jena and the Thuringia state control center project.

At the heart of the discussion was the SWR television documentary on differences in the German rescue service areas, which was recently discussed in specialist circles, as well as the current challenges arising from the new project design of the Thuringian Ministry of the Interior and Municipal Affairs (TMIK) for the state control center project.

A central topic was the update of the funding guideline, which expired in January 2024 and regulated both the framework conditions and the funding opportunities for municipalities in the context of the control center structural change. With the realignment of the state project, pairs of control centers between Jena and Gera, Erfurt and Nordhausen as well as southern and western Thuringia are planned in Thuringia. The current draft of the new funding guidelines for the continuation of the state project shows that the framework conditions and funds are to be adapted to the new direction by the TMIK. This will have a significant impact on investments within the partnership between the Saale-Holzland district, Saalfeld-Rudolstadt and Jena as well as on the partner control center in Gera and the whole of Eastern Thuringia. The resulting need for coordination and harmonization is enormous.

It is planned that the state steering committee, consisting of the TMIK and all participating districts and independent cities, will meet again in November 2024 to discuss the content and strategic direction of the project. Since the last meeting in April 2024, there have been personnel changes at municipal level throughout Thuringia, particularly in Eastern Thuringia.

"Our aim is to combine all factors in such a way that we ensure the greatest possible safety for our citizens, maintain the service quality of our regional control center and at the same time keep an eye on costs. It could take up to ten years to complete project phase 2, which is now a prerequisite for full funding. If you consider that the original TMIK report was published back in April 2018, it becomes clear what dimensions such a project can reach. Our aim is to ensure that the Jena regional control center continues to be well staffed and equipped in the future and to establish full and permanent redundancy with our partner control center in Gera in the event of full capacity utilization."

Benjamin Koppe, who has been involved in the project from the outset, summarizes the discussion with the two district administrators.