For this reason, the Department of Social Affairs has been developing innovative digital solutions for years that are tailored—in collaboration with the various divisions—to the actual needs of the field. The approach is this: digitalization not for its own sake, but deployed where it creates tangible added value—for employees as well as for citizens. 

“A modern social services administration needs digital solutions that serve people. Our goal is to relieve employees of avoidable administrative tasks and give them more time for the actual professional work with citizens,” says Dr. Patricia Becher, Head of the Social Services Department. “Experience in Wiesbaden shows that successful digitization occurs above all when administration, expertise, and technology work closely together.” 

The Department of Social Affairs in Wiesbaden has been relying on tailor-made digital applications for years. In many departments, custom digital solutions have been developed efficiently and tailored to specific needs. One example is the “Cockpit” management tool, which is used in various areas of the social services and job center. It provides staff with an overview of cases and tasks and supports more efficient processing through technical features. 

Other specialized in-house developments, such as WillkommenBaby or SWISH, demonstrate how digital solutions can be deployed specifically where standard procedures fall short:
· WillkommenBaby supports workflows in the Early Intervention unit of the Office of Social Work. The application digitally maps the entire process—from scheduling appointments and planning routes to automated correspondence, documentation, communication, and reporting. This simplifies workflows, improves data quality, and saves valuable time.
· SWISH was developed for the Social Work team in shelters. The application consolidates information on clients, contact histories, documents, correspondence, and occupancy issues into a single centralized solution. In the future, SWISH is intended to be used by multiple departments and integrated with the citywide CAFM system Archibus. This will result in better planning capabilities and improved collaboration. 

Another key focus is the “Digitization of Administrative Work” project at the Social Services and Job Center. The goal is end-to-end digital input and output management, combined with ongoing process digitization and automation. 

In the future, incoming documents will be automatically recognized and classified after scanning and made available digitally to the responsible staff members. They will then be filed in a structured manner in the document management system. The dispatch of notices and letters is already digitally integrated: Since 2020, documents can be automatically transferred to the print queue, printed, placed in envelopes, and mailed. 

In addition, further automation capabilities are being utilized: Data can be extracted from documents and automatically transferred to specialized systems via interfaces or Robotic Process Automation (RPA). This creates end-to-end digital processes that go far beyond mere electronic record-keeping. 

It is important to note that the digitization of administrative work is more than just the introduction of an electronic file system. While a purely electronic file system does change workflows, it often creates additional manual work involved in scanning, assigning, tagging, and filing documents. This is precisely where the Social Benefits and Job Center in Wiesbaden comes in with its comprehensive system: What happens after scanning is largely automated. This reduces additional effort, increases efficiency, and lays the foundation for further automation steps. 

“Digitization in public administration does not mean simply mapping as many processes as possible using technology. What is crucial is to rethink workflows and develop intelligent solutions that actually reduce the workload,” explains Dr. Becher. 

In light of the shortage of skilled workers, demographic change, and rising demands on public services, an efficient digital administration is becoming increasingly important. At the same time, nationwide developments such as welfare state reform, the Social Platform, and the D-App are creating new framework conditions for digital administrative processes. 

Further development therefore requires flexible, modular, and interoperable systems that can also accommodate future requirements such as registry modernization and nationwide standards. Equally important are stable technical foundations—ranging from high-performance IT structures to secure and affordable server and network solutions. 

“Digitization is not an end in itself. It must serve people, simplify administrative procedures, and noticeably reduce the workload on staff. Only when digital solutions are developed in collaboration with users can they realize their full potential,” said Dr. Patricia Becher. 

The Department of Social Affairs of the state capital of Wiesbaden demonstrates that digitalization with a sense of proportion is possible—provided it is developed with a practical focus, implemented with technical reliability, and consistently tailored to the needs of both employees and citizens.