Infrastructure Projects Accelerated Digitally Application and Public Participation Portal for Transportation and Offshore Projects

“Apply. Inform. Participate”—under this motto, the BMV is streamlining the planning approval process for large-scale construction and infrastructure projects. The platform www.beteiligung.bund.de makes the procedures digital and more transparent. It consolidates complex application processes for transportation and infrastructure projects – ranging from waterways to highways and railways to offshore wind farms – as well as for their planning approval. Thanks to the platform’s end-to-end approach, the application process, public participation, and publication of planning decisions are handled more efficiently.

Many stakeholders, four government agencies, one portal

A vision that has become reality: All stakeholders involved in technical planning come together on a single digital platform. Project sponsors such as Autobahn GmbH, DB InfraGO, and the Waterways and Shipping Administration can apply for planning permits directly and seamlessly at www.beteiligung.bund.de.

The planning approval and public hearing authorities – the Federal Railway Authority, the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency, the Federal Highway Authority, and the Directorate General for Waterways and Shipping – retrieve the application data via an agency dashboard on the platform, engage the public, and publish all information regarding procedures and approvals.

Affected parties, environmental organizations, and public interest groups receive a transparent overview of planned infrastructure projects in their area via a central map and list view. Users can search specifically for planning approval procedures and view relevant documents. Individuals or companies affected by a planned infrastructure project can file objections via the platform. Public interest groups, such as municipalities and environmental organizations, can also participate by submitting their comments online.

From MVP (Minimum Viable Product) to an application and participation portal

Technological excellence was our top priority in the design and implementation of the digital solution. Rather than limiting ourselves to specific technologies, we asked ourselves: What does the platform need to best meet the requirements of government agencies and users? Thanks to our broad technology stack, we were able to design a perfectly coordinated architecture using tools such as Government Site Builder, Lucom, Camunda, Keycloak, and OpenLayers, which meets all of the BMV’s requirements for a modern and future-proof platform.

Even before the technology decision was made, our consultants and business analysts supported the feasibility study, identified the requirements, and developed the functional design. In approximately 90 workshops with all stakeholders, we designed the application processes to be user-friendly and harmonized the workflows.

The UX/UI phase and technical implementation required a fast pace: the information portal and the application process on beteiligung.bund.de were scheduled to go live in February 2023. By utilizing the modular ]init[ OZG base architecture with microservices for various service components, as well as a hybrid project structure combining the waterfall and SCRUM models, we were able to achieve this ambitious goal. Even after the launch of the MVP, the portal will continue to be developed in an agile manner – ultimately evolving into a fully-fledged application and participation portal.