On 2 April, the ongoing ‘Öffentliches Gestalten’ series discussed ‘Checks & balances’ – how we apply healthy scrutiny to strengthen trust in democracy and our current form of government. Speakers included Dr Niklas Kossow from CityLAB Berlin and Ann Cathrin Riedel from NExT.
Week #158 at the Digital Service: Notes for 5–9 May 2025
In week 158, the new government took over, and the first-ever Ministry for Digitalisation and State Reform was created. The minister was appointed and got a significant remit. Martin participated in roll-out and kick-off workshops for design systems and a cross-government brand. He also prepared events for the upcoming Global Accessibility Awareness Day.
Week #156 at the Digital Service: Notes for 21–25 April 2025
Martin recorded a podcast conversation on service design and the Service Standard in his week 156 at Digital Service. He also helped make a prototype for the new Service Standard home and planned the next peer reviews as well as forthcoming community events.
Week #155 at the Digital Service: Notes for 14–18 April 2025
Martin had a shorter week 155 at Digital Service. He participated in various content workshops, led a cross-government community event on automation and AI, and opened up new design roles.
Week #154 at the Digital Service: Notes for 7–11 April 2025
In week 154 at Digital Service, Martin travelled to Amsterdam for the 3-day User Needs First International Design in Government conference. He spoke, contributed to a podcast, recorded his colleagues’ sessions, had many conversations, and distributed the latest edition of The Service Gazette.
Week #153 at the Digital Service: Notes for 31 March–4 April 2025
In week #153 at Digital Service, Martin visited the DigitalAgentur Brandenburg, participated in a Service Standard content workshop, and wrapped up the latest Service Gazette.
Week #152 at the Digital Service: Notes for 24–28 March 2025
Martin went westwards in his week 152 to attend the annual congress of the IT Planning Council in Hanover. He also witnessed another justice service going live and put in a 3-day vacation and weekend shift to get the latest Service Gazette to the finishing line.
Week #151 at the Digital Service: Notes for 17–21 March 2025
In week 151, Martin met with senior executives of GovTech Singapore. He did some hands-on work related to Service Standard content structure and greeted the new user research operations working student. Martin also recorded bits for a podcast.
Week #150 at the Digital Service: Notes for 10–14 March 2025
Celebrating week 150 at Digital Service, Martin participated in a Service Standard content kick-off workshop, contributed to ongoing value estimation for service transformation work and planned upcoming community formats.
Week #149 at the Digital Service: Notes for 3–7 March 2025
In his week 149 at Digital Service, the DIN specification underpinning the updated Service Standard for the German government was published. Martin co-ran a meetup on ‘Better voting, better democracy’. He also started planning out the upcoming Service Gazette.