German municipalities explore AI to increase administrative efficiency

German municipalities are exploring the potential of artificial intelligence and digitalization to increase administrative efficiency and reduce personnel costs. Discussions suggest that instead of duplicating roles across many small local offices, authorities could benefit from centralized management and standardized workflows. AI could handle repetitive tasks such as structuring data from forms, suggesting text formulations, and checking data plausibility, allowing human staff to focus on complex cases.

In Bremen, the Senate is set to adopt a specific AI strategy involving 39 projects, including the establishment of a central AI competence center. Developed with support from the University of Bremen and involving input from approximately 18,000 employees, the strategy aims to use AI tools to speed up application processing, such as in housing benefit offices. The strategy emphasizes that AI will not make independent decisions—such as approving or rejecting applications—and ensures that all processed data remains within the Bremen administration.