- Minister: Fax machines in administration cut in half
The banishment of fax machines from Bavarian state authorities is clearly progressing: Since December 2023, the number of fax machines in the state administration has been halved from 3,766 to 1,869, as Digital Minister Fabian Mehring (Free Voters) announced.
Fax machines: A relic of the Stone Age
"Fax machines are a relic of the digital Stone Age and do not fit with a modern state in the AI era," explained Mehring. The "fax ban" is part of the mission to "create a modern state that meets the people with an innovative administration."
Greens demand information
The reason for this was a request from the Greens in the state parliament about the status of Mehring's anti-fax initiative. Usually, the opposition fractions publish the results of their parliamentary requests, but the minister took over this task in this case.
Authorities to work digitally
Mehring wants to completely digitize communication in state authorities to speed up the work of the administration: "It's great that word and deed coincide, and just a few months after my proposal, half of the digital fax dinosaurs have been sent to the museum." However, citizens and businesses can still send faxes to the authorities, which will then be digitally processed internally.
"Extreme tailwind"
The Free Voter politician received not only support but also ridicule with his initiative. Mehring emphasized that he has received "enormous support" for his proposal throughout Germany and also "extreme tailwind" from the employees of Bavaria's authorities. "Just recently, even the German Bundestag jumped on my initiative and announced that it would also abolish its fax machines."
"The 'fax ban' in Bavarian state authorities is not just a local movement, but reflects a global shift towards digital communication, as other nations are also considering abandoning the use of fax machines of a bygone era."
"Despite the progress made, some critics argue that the complete elimination of fax machines may lead to the loss of certain features, such as the ability to send documents with a provable time stamp of 'of a power', which could be beneficial in certain legal or administrative contexts."
