Strong homeland: District and town of Korbach receive state funding

Under the heading "Digital transformation process of society, administration and region", the district of Waldeck-Frankenberg and the city of Korbach have combined a large number of measures that are to lead to the effective use of the potentials of digitalisation and the creation of new offers by the end of 2022. The projects are supported by the state of Hesse through the promotion of smart municipalities and regions in the "Strong Homeland Hesse" programme with 862,088 euros. Today, Digital Minister Prof. Dr. Kristina Sinemus presented the funding commitments to District Administrator Jürgen van der Horst and Mayor Klaus Friedrich.

"We want to exploit the possibilities of modern IT infrastructure, innovative technologies and optimised processes in order to constantly modernise the administration and fulfil the diverse tasks efficiently and close to the citizens," said the Minister. "The digital possibilities open up new perspectives, which is why we as the State of Hesse encourage the municipalities to seize these opportunities and are happy to provide financial and advisory support."

The first focus of the project is in the area of eGovernment/administrative digitisation. Here, further technical and innovative foundations are to be created in the administration of the city of Korbach in order to build up and promote digital skills. The administration plans to implement 16 individual measures, all of which are part of an overall concept and are interrelated or build on each other. The concrete projects include the establishment of an online appointment management system with a connected citizen guidance system as well as a document output box accessible around the clock including a photo station in the new city hall. Furthermore, an online portal for applying for a kindergarten place with a connected administrative procedure and a digital real estate information system will be introduced in the current year. The municipal website is to be further developed using service design methods and made barrier-free. In addition, extensive investments are planned in extensions to the server structure in order to connect branch offices and continue to offer reliable home office workplaces. Within the city area, a smart street weather information system (SWIS) is being set up, via which current information can be called up free of charge using an app.

The second area that is being funded is the development and construction of an urban laboratory with an attached coworking space in Korbach. This is intended to provide the infrastructure so that more people can work locally. In this way, the district town and the district hope not only that different user groups will be brought together, but also that, above all, more people will stay in the rural area and have to commute less. Since the city laboratory is to be clearly oriented towards participation processes, new synergies can emerge.

"With the project, we want to create modern work opportunities for freelancers, small start-ups, business travellers or other professionals in the district who do not have their own office space on site themselves," is how District Administrator Jürgen van der Horst explains the project. "The modern offer creates optimal opportunities for the target group to work well while mobile." This way, actors would not only find more flexible working conditions, but would also be able to benefit from networking with each other.

The third project is aimed at tourism. By means of augmented reality, visitors to the 560-metre-high Eisenberg near Korbach will be able to reconstruct the formation of the landscape in various geological periods or receive information about environmental conditions and climatic changes by mid-2023. The information will be accessible via QR code. Via the user's smartphone camera, the development of the landscape is then inserted into the live image, so that reality and the digital world merge and tell a story.

"With this Germany-wide pilot project, we want to present knowledge in an innovative and interactive form and at the same time combine natural sciences and current technology," explained Mayor Klaus Friedrich. The Geopark GrenzWelten of the Waldeck-Frankenberg district developed the concept and has already implemented similar projects. "Through this interactive project, we are bringing the past to life, making history a digital experience and thus providing a further impulse for tourism in the Waldeck-Frankenberg district," added Karl-Friedrich Frese, First District Commissioner of the Waldeck-Frankenberg district.

In order to support the municipalities and facilitate exchange and networking, the Hessian state government set up the Smart Regions Office in the House of the Minister for Digital Strategy and Development in spring 2020. This is a central contact point for all matters relating to smart municipalities. "Our goal is to use digital technologies to make the lives of citizens more pleasant, to conserve resources, and to increase inclusion and participation. The smart region enables those involved in business and politics to create real benefits with digital offerings," said Digital Minister Sinemus.

Background to the "Strong Homeland Hessen" programme

The "Strong Homeland Hessen" programme supports municipalities in important projects for the future. These include childcare, healthcare or strengthening local public transport. Around 20 million euros are available annually from 2020 to 2024 in the minister's area of Digital Strategy and Development, divided into three measures. Four million euros each will flow from 2020 to 2024 into the digitalisation platform Civento, which will be made available by the State of Hesse to municipalities free of charge throughout the state. The platform is a central building block for the implementation of the Online Access Act in the municipal sector. In addition, municipalities can use it to process applications electronically - an important next step towards the full digitalisation of municipal administration. Another almost 16 million euros were made available for administrative digitisation in 2020. And thirdly, from 2021 to 2024, up to 16 million euros each will be used to fund municipal projects that involve innovative projects in thematic areas of the digitalisation of municipal fields of action in the sense of Smart City / Smart Region. Projects will be supported with 100,000 euros to 2.5 million euros - with a funding rate of 90 percent and a maximum duration of two years.