PLAIN: a data analysis platform for the entire German federal administration
Published 24.04.2024
The public administration works with large amounts of data and has started to use artificial intelligence (AI). In order to process this data securely, the federal administration needs robust and efficient tools. To this end, the Foreign Office’s IT department, in cooperation with Bundesdruckerei GmbH, has developed the PLAIN platform – a powerful technical infrastructure for data analysis applications and the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
The New Data Analysis Standard for the Federal Government
PLAIN (Platform Analysis and Information System) enables the public administration to make decisive progress in the use of data for political action. In accordance with the Federal Government’s data and digital strategy, PLAIN is the cross-departmental infrastructure that lays the technological foundation for AI and data applications in the Federal Administration. The aim of PLAIN is to establish a standard platform for the entire federal administration to securely process and analyse large, heterogeneous data sets – without thematic restrictions. This platform provides the Federal Government’s ministries and subordinate federal authorities with a solution to increase their political analysis capabilities and implement many of their data-driven, demanding tasks and projects.
Data Sources for a Wide Range of Application Scenarios
Federal ministries and subordinate authorities can use PLAIN like a “toolbox” for innovations in the use of data and AI as required. This is because the basic technical structure is open to all areas, which means that the data and sources as well as the specific applications can be adapted to the respective needs of the users.
The data processed in PLAIN comes from various public sources and reports and can be supplemented with data from the user’s own sources. This results in various possible applications and topical areas for evaluation – be they data-based analyses, map creation, modelling, text mining or the use of large language models. These applications and others can be used for domestic and foreign policy topics, for example. The application scenarios are accordingly diverse: the platform can help record pandemics and political crises based on data and derive possible developments, monitor and optimise the use of funding activities nationally and abroad, plan land management based on climate change or predict the criticality of supply chains.
The departments are free to either develop their own applications and run them on the platform or use the platform with a set of standard tools. In both cases, there is no need to redevelop the technical infrastructure. This is because PLAIN is designed as a cross-departmental, shared architecture and infrastructure. This significantly reduces the individual workload of each department with regard to the provision and use of analysis applications, and it increases both the exchange of knowledge and the degree of innovation.
Data and Facts at a Glance
Period:
Since autumn 2022; productive operation of version PLAIN 1.0 since June 2023; subsequent version PLAIN 2.0 from the end of 2024
Client:
Foreign IT Dept. of the Federal Foreign Office
Topics:
- Data analysis, data room
- Artificial intelligence (AI)
- Data ecosystem
Technologies and methods:
- Data lake
- Data warehouse
- Data visualisation with touch pad
- Development environment / IDE
Results
A central standard platform for the federal administration’s data analysis applications
Integration of many data sources covering different topics
Preservation of digital sovereignty through a “make, don’t buy” approach – extensive “Made in Germany” development
Accessibility across the entire platform in accordance with BITV 2.0
Development of a dynamic platform that is being expanded into a collaborative ecosystem
Realisiert nach dem „Einer-für-Alle“(EfA)-Prinzip, das eine zentrale Entwicklung von Leistungen vorsieht, die dann von allen genutzt werden können
Digitally sovereign using the Federal Government’s own technology
The world is becoming increasingly complex and volatile. Digitisation generates enormous quantities of data that are needed for making reliable decisions. Data science and artificial intelligence offer governments the opportunity to quickly evaluate these quantities of data and make the right deductions.
If results gleaned from data are used for political decisions, it must be ensured that the federal authorities retain sovereignty over the tools, technologies and infrastructures used at all times. The state remains digitally sovereign when it builds up its own resources. PLAIN contributes to the development of a federal administrative data room and to the preservation of digital and technological sovereignty.
PLAIN: large quantities of data securely evaluated and prepared in a user-friendly way
The joint project between the Foreign Office’s Foreign IT Dept. and Bundesdruckerei GmbH was created using agile development methods and is fully in line with the “as-a-service” concept: The platform offers a huge store of raw, unstructured data (data lake) as well as already filtered information on various topics (data warehouse). Users can supplement the continuously updated and curated data from a variety of open sources with their own data sets.
PLAIN was designed as a complete, automated infrastructure solution consisting of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS).
In order to gain insights from the data, appropriate applications are needed. The project partners provide a powerful development environment with state-of-the-art data analysis tools. As if on an open plain – the second meaning behind the acronym – users can now build AI-supported data analysis apps tailored to their needs and receive significant support from the Bundesdruckerei GmbH team in doing so. This opens the door to create forecast models, trend analyses and information graphics that can be conveniently accessed in the individualised dashboard, for instance.
On the Way to a Collaborative Data Ecosystem
Thanks to PLAIN, federal ministries and their subordinate departments benefit from a wealth of data that can be used individually by those involved to identify political trends and support those responsible for policy in the decision-making process. PLAIN offers individual users their own secure environment and the possibility to collaborate with other departments. The sovereignty of the departments and projects remains unrestricted – especially with regard to the data being collected and analysed. The barrier-free platform is open to various end user groups, including:
- the management level for decision-making;
- the specialist level for consumption of data;
- data analysts and data scientists, for whom data research and visualisation usually involves a great deal of manual effort;
- researchers who can create AI models and comprehensible analyses via the analyst environment.
The federal authorities are users of PLAIN – but there is the possibility for more: all departments using the platform are free to make their applications available to other users and to use their services in return. The aim is to form networks in which service providers can also be integrated through precisely tailored rights management. It would be possible to set up marketplaces for tools, data and analyses according to the “one for all” principle. Departments could even combine their software to create new innovations. The interfaces between the partners are organised by the PLAIN hub of Bundesdruckerei GmbH. Such a collaborative and lively data ecosystem serves a larger purpose: departments coordinate their work with data and can thus dovetail their policies more closely.
Questions and answers about the project
The Federal Foreign Office and Bundesdruckerei GmbH are working together closely to develop PLAIN using agile methods. In the current project, the Foreign IT Dept. of the Federal Foreign Office is assuming the role of overall project manager. As the contractor, Bundesdruckerei GmbH is responsible for project management as well as for platform development and operation. The specially designed PLAIN hub analyses requirements from specific client projects and provides support for the development of individual apps. Bundesdruckerei GmbH also advises on the integration of new technologies and carries out the onboarding of end users.
There are no limits: PLAIN is a platform that can be used in any area. Many data sources are currently available, covering topics such as peace, conflict, health, climate and government. Each department that connects to PLAIN can also connect its own data sources. The application scenarios are accordingly diverse: the platform can help record pandemics and political crises based on data and derive possible developments, monitor and optimise the use of funding activities nationally and abroad, plan land management based on climate change or predict the criticality of supply chains.
The Bundesdruckerei team implemented PLAIN using agile development based on Scrum on behalf of and in close collaboration with the Federal Foreign Office. The focus is on the requirements of the users. The interdisciplinary teams combined existing skills and technologies with the strengths of other teams for efficient collaboration. Together, the team developed an innovative platform that is based on open-source approaches and pursues a best-of-breed strategy among the Federal Government’s departments.
Are you interested in working as a developer on socially relevant and innovative projects such as PLAIN? We are always on the lookout for IT talent to enrich our team and the project. All our current IT job vacancies can be found in our job portal.
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