IT emergencies: Local authorities are working on an emergency plan

Whether it be cyber-attacks, data theft or data centre outages: the district of Waldeck-Frankenberg and the towns and municipalities within the district are currently working on a joint plan for IT emergencies. The aim of this collaboration is to ensure that the authorities remain able to function effectively in crisis situations through mutual support and joint measures.

: Rapid and unbureaucratic administrative assistanceThe focus here is on how local authorities can best prepare for IT emergencies – and, in the event of a crisis, remain capable of acting through rapid and unbureaucratic mutual support. As recently as 2023, the district – following a cyberattack on Südwestfalen-IT – supported one of the affected districts, the Hochsauerlandkreis, by having HSK staff carry out vehicle registrations for several weeks at the premises of the Waldeck-Frankenberg district. This is a classic example of rapid administrative assistance, which the Waldeck-Frankenberg district and its local authorities have also agreed to provide to one another in the event of an emergency.

Sharing resources, agreeing on cooperation
This could, for example, involve sharing VPN access or laptops, but also providing emergency staff or suitable premises – depending on the specific needs of the affected local authority in the event of an IT emergency. The aim is also to establish a shared pool of emergency laptops, which affected local authorities can then access quickly. Support measures provided by the state should also be utilised in this regard.

In order to put the concept into practice, work is currently under way on a public-law agreement between the district, the towns and municipalities, which will set out the details of inter-municipal cooperation. To this end, representatives of the towns, municipalities and the district meet at regular intervals to work on the emergency plan and make preparations for an emergency. In addition, an application for inter-municipal cooperation (IKZ) funding is to be submitted to the State of Hesse. Joint emergency drills are also planned.

Providing swift, pragmatic and supportive assistance in an emergency
“As we have seen from the example of the Hochsauerland district, IT emergencies can affect any local authority and significantly restrict its ability to function,” says District Administrator Jürgen van der Horst. This could affect the district, towns and local authorities in equal measure. “Through the planned inter-municipal cooperation, we aim to provide swift, pragmatic and supportive assistance in an emergency, so that services for the public can continue to function with as few restrictions as possible,” says the District Administrator. “That is why we are already coordinating our efforts and proactively drawing up a contingency plan – in the hope that we will not have to put it into practice.”