Bridging the Policy-Service Gap for Digital-Ready Legislation

Digital public services are only as good as the policies enabling them. Yet, outdated legislative processes often hinder the seamless implementation of modern, citizen-centric digital services. Legislation and service design are still seen as two divisions, loosely intertwined at best. This is where Germany’s Digitalcheck comes in: Based on overarching principles, it pioneers a collaborative approach to bridge the policy-service divide. Developed by the German Federal DigitalService, under the direction of the German Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI), it provides policy drafters with the needed skills and tools.

To ensure digital-ready legislation, we collaborated with three different policy teams. We supported them early on with skills and expertise in technology, service design, and product development while simultaneously learning about their needs and struggles. We did not act as an experiment or think tank but as part of the team. Our goal: One team working on one mission—better legislation for better services.

This case study is for policy drafters, service owners, legal advisors, and digital transformation leaders seeking practical strategies to align policy drafting with modern service delivery. Join us as we share our learnings from the past 1.5 years:
- What digital-ready legislation entails.
- How our support informed the policies – and how the gained insights informed Germany’s Digitalcheck.
- How everyone, regardless of discipline or position, can work towards two teams becoming one.
- How leadership can support by identifying the right timing and conditions.
- How policy drafters and staff in arm’s-length bodies can convince their departments.