The Consistent Use of Data to Effectively Combat the Pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed many weaknesses in the German public sector. These include the backlog in digitalization and the lack of data collection and availability. Instead of acting in a data-driven manner during the crisis, policymakers and public sector decision-makers continue to operate in a data desert that makes effective crisis response difficult. The situation has changed little even more than a year after the pandemic began. Improved data collection and data-driven monitoring could enable targeted and effective actions to be taken proactively and locally, rather than relying primarily on blanket and expensive lockdowns.