NIPAG Projects

Facing the challenges of public administration

The NIPAG stands for independent and innovative public administration research with practical relevance. Numerous successful projects at the interface between research and practice demonstrate the diverse challenges of public administration that we encounter in the course of our research.

Use our search option to find projects in our areas of research. This page provides you with an overview of our latest projects.

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Our current projects

Projects

Development and Implementation of a Youth-Check for Berlin

The project engages with the development and introduction of a youth specific regulatory impact assessment tool (‘youth-check’) for the Federal State of Berlin. The project was introduced after the Berlin Senate passed a resolution in April of 2024 which approved the introduction and implementation of a youth-check for Berlin. The youth-check is a regulatory impact assessment tool that helps to raise awareness for the concerns of the young generation. The youth-check helps to visualise the effects of draft legislation on the young generation.

2024-09-01 13:08:00 Transformation of Public Administration Transformation of the administration | Duration: 01/09/2024 -31/07/2025 | Funding: Senate Department for Education, Youth and Family Berlin

People walking on Pariser Platz in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany

© iStock.com / Patrick Daxenbichler

Projects

Cybersecurity And The New EU Legislation

The project "Cybersecurity And The New EU Legislation" investigates the recent and upcoming legislative acts by the EU, especially the NIS-2-Directive, the Cyberresilience Act and the EU Cyber Solidarity Act.

2024-08-01 09:49:00 Digital Transformation in the Rule of Law Duration: 01/08/2024 - 31/03/2026

[Translate to English:] Eine Waage und ein Dollarzeichen auf schwarzem Hintergrund

©Conny Schneider/Unsplash

Projects

Scientific evaluation of the "Second Collective Agreement on Measures to Accompany the Reorganisation of the Brandenburg State Administration" (TV Umbau II)

The National Institute for Public Administration Germany is conducting a scientific evaluation of the TV Umbau II on behalf of Ministry of the Interior and for Municipal Affairs.

2024-07-16 11:46:00 Transformation of Public Administration Duration: 16/07/2024 - 30/06/2025 | Funding: Ministry of the Interior and for Municipal Affairs Brandenburg

Man carries white box with a plant and office supplies..

© pexels.com/Mikhail Niklov

Projects

AI used by the state: Safeguarding autonomy and human rights with transparency to citizens and support for public servants

The VW Foundation is funding a third-party project to develop an AI transparency register for public administration.

2024-05-01 12:52:00 Digital Transformation in the Rule of Law Duration: 01/05/2024 - 30/06/2025 | In Cooperation with: NExT, AlgorithmWatch | Funding: VW-Stiftung

AI in neon turquoise on point cloud with black background

© Pixabay / Gerd Altmann

Projects

European Administrative Data Spaces

The targeted exchange of data requires clearly defined functional areas. The EU Commission is therefore promoting sector-specific and cross-sector data spaces in order to establish large data pools, particularly for administration.

2024-05-01 10:16:00 Digital Transformation in the Rule of Law Duration: 01/05/2024 - 31/12/2025

Telecommunication network and Internet network across Europe

©NicoElNino/istock

Projects

Leadership in transformation, leadership development in Europe

The increasing complexity of political and administrative decisions makes leadership in the public sector all the more important. Faced with long-term challenges such as climate change, demographic change and digitalisation, the public sector and government departments are being forced to develop the best possible solutions to deliver public services under complex conditions. Leadership skills and personalities are more in demand than ever before, and in an international context there is a growing demand for the expansion of systematic personnel development measures for managers who make political and administrative decisions today and in the future. Against this background, the sub-project aims to analyse leadership development in a European comparison in order to provide the German ministerial administration with concrete recommendations for action for systematic further development at federal and state level. In the context of current and future challenges for managers, the project will examine the extent to which leadership development is already aligned with emerging change processes and what needs are manifested in this context.

2023-01-01 12:16:00 Transformation of Public Administration Duration: 01/01/2023 - 31/12/2026

Person buttoning up his suit next to flags of the European Union waving in the wind.

© Unsplash / Hunters Race & Pixabay / Dušan Cvetanović

Projects

Diversity in the public sector as a public value

Recent years have seen a proliferation of initiatives aimed at increasing and strengthening the diversity of the public sector workforce. This has been driven not only by skills shortages, but also by the recognition that broad representation contributes to greater responsiveness in public administration. By responding better and more specifically to the concerns and needs of all sections of the population, it also strengthens the acceptance of administrative actions. Ultimately, the project aims to create a 'toolbox' for the diversity-sensitive socialisation of public administration. The focus is on the state level and includes the management and professional levels embedded there.

2023-01-01 12:08:00 Civil Service Duration: 01/01/2023 - 31/12/2025

A group of different hands on a wooden table symbolizes cooperation and teamwork.

© Unsplash / Clay Banks

Projects

Taking skills into consideration in recruitment and career development in the public sector - a European comparison

The public administration is increasingly becoming the largest employer in Europe, making modern recruitment and development policies of paramount importance. Human resource management also requires a medium-term perspective to enable the necessary planning of staffing needs. There is a growing need for recruitment and development tools that take into account informal skills, especially those of managers. Matching job supply and demand requires a strategy that enables the right selection of people with the right professional and technical skills, as well as the right soft skills, such as social skills, teamwork and resilience. Traditionally, public sector issues are mainly discussed at national level, although European standards sometimes overshadow national path dependencies. The project therefore aims to fill a research gap by involving experts from theory and practice from selected European countries in addressing individual research topics, in order to obtain recommendations for action for the German public administration from this 'internal perspective'.

2023-01-01 12:00:00 Transformation of Public Administration Duration: 01/01/2023 - 30/06/2026

A woman fills out a form at a desk, in the background a man sits in front of a laptop and notebook.

© pexels / Sora Shimazaki

Projects

Public values and the attractiveness of the public sector in European comparison

At the heart of public values, which in simple terms can be understood as the principles that the general public consider beneficial to community life, is the orientation of state action towards the common good. This in turn is secured and promoted by a number of principles, such as adherence to the constitution and the law, loyalty to one's employer and meritocracy, which hence can also be seen as public values in a broader sense. One focus of the analysis will centre around the discussion of public values in the context of a leadership role in the public sector. The question of the general expectation of public sector managers, their ethical commitment and the optimal institutional conditions for value-based management will be explored. In addition, the role of soft law and the relationship between administrative law (administrative regulations, ministerial circulars, etc.) and provisions with external effects will be examined.

2023-01-01 11:56:00 Civil Service Duration: 01/01/2023 - 31/12/2025

A group of people standing in an office in a circle and holding each other by the shoulders

© iStock.com / peopleimages

Projects

Predictive task-based skills planning and development

Demographic change is leading to a change in the structure of work in public authorities. The number of employable people will go down, the workforce will become older and more heterogeneous, and it will become much more difficult to recruit newly qualified staff in competition with the private sector. In addition to demographic change, various changes (e.g. the introduction of new technologies to convert analogue processes into digital ones) and new tasks, as well as the digital transformation itself (i.e. the adaptation of entire business processes or models to reflect the digital changes) are leading to new ways of working in public authorities, which mandate that employees adapt quickly to these changes. The development of skills needs to be planned proactively to ensure the performance of the administration in the future. The project builds on this need by focusing on skills planning and development in public administrations. The aim of the project is to develop a basic methodological model for forecasting tasks and the associated skills requirements, which is specifically tailored to the differentiation in levels and tasks in public administrations.

2023-01-01 11:55:00 Transformation of Public Administration Duration: 01/01/2023 - 31/12/2026

A woman places sticky notes on the wall in an office in front of the team

© Unsplash / Jason Goodman

Projects

Administration survey

The current research programme at the National Institute for Public Administration Germany includes undertaking an administrative survey for the public administration in Germany. This instrument for surveying public administration staff has already been established in other countries, including Australia, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. However, it has not yet been implemented systematically in Germany. While thematic or institutional surveys have been conducted, a comprehensive survey of administrative staff across different levels of administrative and policy areas has not yet been undertaken. The National Institute for Public Administration Germany administrative survey aims to fill this gap in the research landscape.

2023-01-01 11:48:00 Transformation of Public Administration Duration: 01/01/2023 - 31/12/2028

Desk with laptop, tablet and lots of documents with analyses, tables and diagrams.mputer-und-tablet

© iStock.com / Anton Brehov

Projects

Knowledge management in public administration

To respond effectively to the systemic challenges of multidimensional transformation of the administration, it is essential to optimise existing governance resources. Knowledge represents one of these critical resources for managing a wide range of administrative tasks. In this way, knowledge helps to improve the capacity of the administration to act by enabling administrative staff to access relevant information, to check the quality of this information, to derive knowledge from it and to make decisions based on this knowledge on how to carry out their tasks. The aim of the research project is to develop a concept for integrated knowledge management in order to make existing knowledge available for administrative practice in the best possible way in the future.

2023-01-01 11:28:00 Transformation of Public Administration Duration: 01/01/2023 - 31/12/2026

Hand of one person on a laptop with a digital network to several people.

© Pixabay / Buffik

Projects

Recruitment using public value strategies

The public sector faces increasing challenges in attracting and retaining sufficient numbers of skilled staff through traditional methods. In addition to the impact of demographic change, competition from the private sector for talent is also a concern. In this context, it is vital to identify strategies for attracting skilled professionals and motivating existing employees to remain in the public sector.

2023-01-01 11:18:00 Civil Service Duration: 01/01/2023 - 31/05/2026

Zwei Menschen schütteln sich die Hände.

© Unsplash / Cytonn Photography

Projects

The police use of robots

The arsenal of the German police is increasingly expanding to include robotised quadrupeds: the ‘Spot’ model from Boston Dynamics, for example, delights millions of people with its dance choreographies and slapstick-like demo videos. These robots have now also been encountered by the population of Shanghai, New York, Los Angeles and Honolulu, as well as visitors to Singapore's parks - each time in the service of the police and regulatory authorities. Spot’ has also been deployed in Germany, after the state of North Rhine-Westphalia acquired two of them. The ‘Police Robots’ project looks at the use of police robots from a legal and ethical perspective.

2023-01-01 10:24:00 Digital Transformation in the Rule of Law Duration: 01/01/2023 - 31/12/2025

Four-legged police robot ‘Spot’ in action in a burnt-out building

© LZPD NRW

Projects

Task focussing: Organisational and procedural aspects

The topic of task focussing in public administration is a prominent focus of the current research programme at the National Institute for Public Administration (NIPAG). The hierarchical line structure of public administration is proving to be inadequate in the context of new, complex tasks. The complexity and multidimensionality of the tasks and problems faced by public administrations are increasing, and the solutions to these problems require considerable effort under the use of existing resources. The resolution and management of such tasks could be significantly enhanced by collaboration between different departments and domains (to varying degrees), for example by using matrix structures with adaptive teams. Despite the inherent challenges, a greater emphasis on task orientation appears to be essential for an effective and forward-looking public administration. In this multi-year research initiative, the NIPAG is assessing and collecting data on the successful implementation of task-oriented working methods.

2023-01-01 09:10:00 Transformation of Public Administration Duration: 01/01/2023 - 31/12/2026

A person touching a screen with circles.

© Pixabay / Gerd Altmann

Projects

New Work in public administration

New Work is an approach that describes the transformation of the modern workplace. It encompasses not only new forms and models of work, but also changes in social structures and the demands placed on employees. It therefore encompasses the organisational, societal and individual levels. The National Institute for Public Administration Germany is designing a tailor-made model project for the administrations in ministries to develop new forms and models of work with the help of New Work approaches. The implementation of the model in each participating ministry will be accompanied by empirical surveys. This will primarily allow rapid access to results and secondly deliver reliable conclusions for medium and long-term planning of work forms and models.

2023-01-01 08:38:00 Civil Service Duration: 01/01/2023 to 31/12/2027

A group of people sit at a table and work on laptops

© Unsplash / Annie Spratt

Projects

The Transformation of the public sector in Europe

The aim of the project is to produce a handbook on civil service law in Europe. This will be achieved by conducting a rigorous legal analysis and integrating findings from empirical sciences, in particular public administration, political science and sociology. This analysis will be carried out in collaboration with the scientific community from different EU countries. The handbook will be structured in such a way that the first part will examine the impact and significance of the changes on selected national European public sector laws, while the second part will assess the effectiveness and impact of the changes on public sector law in Europe. The first part will consist of country-specific reports, which will form the core, while also covering EU public sector law. The second part will focus on the establishment of common European standards for specific areas of public sector law, based on comparative analyses. Finally, the third part will draw conclusions by examining the transformation and Europeanisation of the civil service, in particular in terms of changes in the relationship between state and society, a revised conceptualisation of public administration and increased integration into the European multi-level system. It will also identify future challenges and propose practical recommendations.

2022-04-06 08:53:00 Civil Service Duration: 06/04/2022 to 31/07/2025 | Funding: Fritz Thyssen Foundation

Flags of various European countries waving in the wind

© Unsplash / Antoine Schibler

Projects

Preparation of two expert reports on the evaluation of the Schleswig-Holstein Freedom of Information Act (IZG-SH)

In Schleswig-Holstein, the Freedom of Information Act (Informationszugangsgesetz - IZG-SH) requires public authorities to make certain information available to the public, such as directives, circulars, contracts, expert opinions and statistics. In its current form, the Act also provides for the establishment by the state of a central electronic information register and central information register offices. Since the beginning of 2020, it has been possible for public authorities to publish the information to be provided on the Schleswig-Holstein Transparency Portal. Section 16 of the IZG-SH provides for a review of the application and effects of the amendments to the Act. The state parliament of Schleswig-Holstein is to be informed of the results of the evaluation in two reports (2022 and 2025). The National Institute for Public Administration Germany was commissioned in February 2022 to prepare parts of this evaluation. The commissioning party is the Ministry of the Interior, Rural Areas, Integration and Equal Opportunities of the State of Schleswig-Holstein.

2022-02-15 09:32:00 Transformation of Public Administration Duration: 15/02/2022 - 31/10/2025 | Funding: Ministry of the Interior, Rural Areas, Integration and Equality of the State of Schleswig-Holstein

A person sits in front of a laptop with digital symbols for justice and files.

© iStock.com / anyaberkut

Projects

Implementation of the youth-check in Thuringia (Phase 3)

After the National Institute for Public Administration Germany (NIPAG) developed a concept for the implementation of the youth-check at state level for the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the State of Thuringia (TMBJS) in 2020, based on the experience gained at the federal level, the cabinet has now approved the implementation of this concept on 23 November 2021. The youth-check Thuringia will initially be implemented by the NIPAG as a model project for three years. This will make Thuringia the first German state to systematically assess the impact of state laws on young people. What is new here is that young people are involved in a consultative way in the assessment of the impact of legislation. To this end, the NIPAG will work closely with the Youth Participation Support Centre of the TMBJS. During the three-year project phase, the NIPAG will examine all draft legislation from the ministries.

2022-02-01 09:49:00 Transformation of Public Administration Duration: 01/02/2022 - 31/12/2024 | Funding: Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the State of Thuringia

Group of young people, a young person is interviewed with a microphone

© TMBJS / Leon Glatzel

Projects

Support for the implementation of the Act to Strengthen Children and Youth (KJSG)

The project forms part of the reforms initiated by the Act to Strengthen Children and Youth (Kinder- und Jugendstärkungsgesetz - KJSG), which was passed in 2021. It serves to provide support to local authorities that need to restructure their administrative structures in this context. On behalf of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ), the National Institute for Public Administration Germany is supporting a pilot test of new administrative structures in the field of integration support for children and young people with disabilities in up to five model communities until December 2025. The project comprises the development of a pilot test concept, scientific support for the model local authority areas and the creation of transfer services based on the findings. These will take the form of roadmaps and guidelines, which will be made available to all local authorities. This will facilitate the nationwide restructuring of the relevant administrative structures in the local authority areas from 2028 onwards.

2022-01-01 10:23:00 Transformation of Public Administration Duration: 01/01/2022 - 31/12/2025 | Funding: Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth

Four people, each holding a piece of the puzzle and putting them together.

© pexels / Diva Plavalaguna

Projects

Evaluation of five authorisation standards (Sec. 21(2) and (3), Sec. 57(4), Sec. 58, Sec. 59 and Sec. 61) of the Saxony Police Act (Sächsische Polizeivollzugsdienstgesetz - SächsPVDG).

The Free State of Saxony revised its legislation pertaining to the police with the Act on the Restructuring of Police Act of 11 May 2019. Amongst other things, various authorisation standards were to be adapted and extended to take account of technological developments, the changed risk situation and the changed legal framework. Some of the adapted authorisation standards in the Saxony Police Act (SächsPVDG) include an evaluation requirement. The Ministry of the Interior of the State of Saxony commissioned the National Institute for Public Administration Germany to undertake the evaluation project.

2020-03-15 10:20:00 Transformation of Public Administration Duration: 15/3/2020 - 30/06/2025 | Funding: Ministry of the Interior of the State of Saxony

A sign with the word ‘Police’.

© Unsplash / Marcel Strauß

Projects

Competence Centre Youth-Check (ComYC)

The youth-check helps to raise awareness of young people’s concerns during the legislative process. It is a regulatory impact assessment tool to analyse the impact of federal legislation on young people aged between 12 and 27 years In order to raise awareness of the concerns of young people at an early stage in the legislative process, the youth-check is applied to proposed legislation during the draft bill stage. The youth-check is carried out by the Competence Centre Youth-Check (ComYC). The ComYC is an independent unit with a unique expertise in youth-specific regulatory impact assessment in Germany. It is the only scientific institution in Germany that carries out an accompanying regulatory impact assessment (ex-ante assessment) for all federal government bills.

2017-08-01 12:41:00 Transformation of Public Administration Duration: 01/08/2017 - 31/12/2022, from 01/01/2023 indefinitely | Funding: Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth

© KomJC

Projects

Impact of EU law/ECJ jurisprudence and ECHR/ECtHR jurisprudence on the civil service

There is a pressing need for research on the impact of EU law and the ECHR on the civil service in Germany. The National Institute for Public Administration Germany analyses relevant decisions of the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights and draws up practical guidelines for administrative practice. These practical guidelines present the subject matter, the facts and the reasons for the decision in a concise form, evaluate and classify them in terms of European law, and consider the implications for German law.

2016-10-01 12:00:00 Civil Service Duration: 01/10/2016 - 31/12/2028

Statue of Justitia with the scales of justice in front of the flag of the European Union.

© iStock.com / Arsenis Spyros