The Presidential Hackathon in Taiwan – initiated by former Digital Minister Audrey Tang – shaped Taiwan's model of civic participation and enormously strengthened trust in state institutions there. We are now bringing this exact format to Germany: as Deutschland, was nervt? Was geht? – the first nationwide civic hackathon.

This is a joint initiative of SPRIND and the Federal Ministry for Digitalization and State Modernization (BMDS). The format is being implemented by an interdisciplinary team from the Digital Democracy Lab of SPRIND.Society (Jeannette Gusko, Leon Erichsen) and the State Modernization and Bureaucracy Reduction Division of the BMDS (Division Director Thomas Müller, Advisor Julian Buck). This dual structure ensures that new digital participation formats are tested and that the resulting ideas actually find their way into administration. What makes this format particularly special: not only the BMDS is involved – all other ministries whose topics are touched by civic ideas are also included. Bureaucracy reduction is a cross-cutting issue and can only work across departments.

The process runs in four phases:

1. In the submission phase, over 27,000 citizen submissions were collected via the BMDS's Einfach-Machen portal and the Hackathon website, identifying where administration slows down everyday life. We tested various AI-supported input formats – such as a citizen hotline – and investigated which access channels best reach citizens.
2. In the voting phase, all of Germany decides via quadratic voting which topics should be tackled first – a method that not only reflects majorities but also the intensity of preferences.
3. In the implementation phase, tech teams apply with solution proposals for the most important citizen problems, develop prototypes in multiple stages, and receive funding of 25,000 to 100,000 euros.
4. At the end of the year, the best teams present their solutions at the Minister Pitch before Federal Minister Karsten Wildberger. The most compelling solutions will be integrated into the federal administration in 2027 if successful.

What matters to us is the handling of the entire pool of ideas. Not every submission results in a solution through the hackathon – but none are lost. We track what happens with the citizen ideas. Ideas that can be pursued outside the hackathon are forwarded to relevant authorities or used as inspiration for policy, civil society, and start-ups.

Deutschland, was nervt? Was geht? pursues two innovation goals: First, we are testing whether the format leads to greater trust and self-efficacy among participants – whether people feel that something actually changes through their participation. The process is accompanied by research so that the effects become measurable. Second, we are seeking leap-innovative administration solutions that, if successful, are actually integrated into the federal administration – with political backing from all participating ministries. The central hypothesis: civic participation unfolds its power only when linked with direct political will for implementation. This is exactly the bridge we are building – together with the BMDS and all responsible ministries.