Governikus application
of the IT Planning Council

About the Notified Bodies
Woman in wheelchair writes on Flipboard

The scope of services of the Application Governikus has been expanded considerably over the years. Originally designed as middleware for data transmission based on the OSCI transport protocol, in which signatures and cryptography as well as authentication already played a major role, the Application Governikus now contains products and function modules for the application areas eID, secure data transmission, encryption and decryption, electronic signatures/seals and their verification as well as TR-ESOR-compliant preservation of evidence.

With the use of Governikus components, numerous implementation projects or scenarios can be realized, for example

  • interoperable user accounts in the portal network,
  • Authority/justice communications including identity management functionalities,
  • Identity management (IDM) e.g. in e-billing scenarios etc.

By introducing the e-file, the Application Governikus provides  building blocks that are essential for digital administrative work without media discontinuity.

In particular, the Application Governikus enables legally compliant processing and confidential end-to-end encrypted transmission of data and documents. It includes comprehensive, SAFE-compliant identity management (e.g., with the identity card [PA] or electronic residence permit [eAT], certificate-based, by means of user name and password, as an IdP proxy or eIDAS token), e.g., to ensure written form replacement in accordance with the E-Government Act.

Man with headset smiles at PC

Interoperability, standards and legal requirements

The portfolio of the Application Governikus is consistently (further) developed taking into account international standards and legislation. This includes among others

  • EU directives,
  • EU regulations,
  • DIN and ETSI standards
  • and the implementation of technical guidelines issued by the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI).

Thus, the Application Governikus ensures interoperable handling of European eIDs, signatures/seals and their verification as well as other so-called trust services. The legal requirements for mutual recognition of European eIDs resulting from the eIDAS Regulation of the European Commission are supported by the components of the Application Governikus.

In the context of advancing digitization in administration, the importance of standardized function modules for recurring tasks(basic services) for secure administrative services is increasing. Thus, Governikus modules can also be used in the implementation of the Online Access Act (OZG).

Answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ)

The products included are the middleware and server products of the Governikus Suite (COM Tauri, COM Despina, DATA Deneb, DATA Varuna), Governikus ID Panstar, ID Crucis, ID Mercury, Governikus DATA Pavonis, DATA Pluto and the client products Governikus COM Vibilia and Governikus DATA Boreum.
In addition, the application contains subcomponents of the TR-ESOR certified product Governikus DATA Aeonia for evidence-preserving long-term storage.
The Governikus application is available to federal, state and local governments throughout Germany. The Application is accessed and supported by the so-called "Notified Bodies" (see also Access & Support).
No! Maintenance of the Governikus Application is financed via the Governikus maintenance contract, to which all federal states have signed up, and the federal VPS maintenance contract.

The contract with the states also includes continuous further development. The costs are borne proportionately by the states in accordance with the Königssteiner Schlüssel. Additional developments can be commissioned separately by the federal government as needed via the federal VPS contract.

The use of the further developments by the federal government and the states is available to all participants.
The Governikus Application is continuously developed further in line with demand and in coordination with our customers. In a regular exchange of experience and coordination, legal and technical innovations and challenges are discussed with representatives from the federal and state governments in the "Operator Committee" and "Technology Committee" bodies and then presented to the "Steering Committee" body. This committee decides twice a year on the existing use of funds for maintenance and support.
The IT Planning Council coordinates cooperation between the federal and state governments on information technology issues, adopts IT interoperability and IT security standards, manages e-government projects and plans or further develops the interconnection network. To clarify its mission, the IT Planning Council adopted a National E-Government Strategy (NEGS) back in 2010, which was updated in 2015. To implement the NEGS, e-government projects are anchored under the umbrella of the IT Planning Council, which also includes the IT Planning Council Applications.

Notified bodies for state authorities & local authorities

Baden-WĂĽrttemberg

Ministerium des Inneren, fĂĽr Digitalisierung und Kommunen Baden-WĂĽrttemberg
Willi-Brand-StraĂźe 41
40173 Stuttgart

Frank Schiele
Ref. 51: IT Coordination
Phone: 0711 | 231-3516
E-mail

For municipalities

Come.ONE
Krailenshaldenstrasse 44
70469 Stuttgart

KM Clearinghouse
E-mail

Free State of Bavaria

For the provision of the products from the application Governikus:

IT Service Center of the Free State of Bavaria
Virtual mailroom (VPS support)
St.-Martin-Strasse 47
81541 Munich

Tel.: 089/2119-4705
E-mail

For support questions:

Governikus GmbH & Co. KG on behalf
of the IT Service Center of the Free State of Bavaria
University Ring 4
28359 Bremen

Tel.: 0421/20495-925
E-mail

Berlin

IT-Dienstleistungszentrum (ITDZ)
Berlin Street 112-115
10713 Berlin

Matthias Teubner
Tel.: 030 | 902 22-6629
E-mail

Brandenburg

Brandenburgischer IT-Dienstleister
Steinstrasse 104-106
14480 Potsdam

E-mail

Free Hanseatic City of Bremen

The Senator for Finance
Rudolf-Hilferding-Platz 1
28195 Bremen

Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg

Dataport AöR
Altenholzer Str. 10-14
24161 Altenholz

Dataport Governikus Support
E-mail

Senatskanzlei Hamburg
Office for IT and Digitalization
City Hall Market 1
20095 Hamburg

Lena KeĂźler
Tel.: 0176 42869005
E-Mail

Hesse

For state authorities

HZD Hessische Zentrale fĂĽr Datenverarbeitung
Mackenzeller Str. 3
36088 HĂĽnfeld

Peter Farnung
Phone: 06652 | 187-2141
E-mail

For municipalities

ekom21 - KGRZ Hesse
Carlo-Mierendorff-Strasse 11
35398 Giessen

Customer Service
Tel.: 0641 | 9830-3388
E-mail

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

For state authorities

DVZ Datenverarbeitungszentrum Mecklenburg-Vorpommern GmbH
LĂĽbecker Str. 283
19059 Schwerin

Support
E-mail

For municipalities

Special purpose association for electronic administration in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (eGo-MV)
Eckdrift 103
19061 Schwerin

Support
E-mail

Lower Saxony

IT.Niedersachsen
Göttinger Chaussee 259
30459 Hanover

Support
E-mail

ITEBO GmbH
DielingerstraĂźe 39/40
49074 OsnabrĂĽck

Zweckverband Kommunale Datenverarbeitung Oldenburg (KDO)
Elsässer Street 66
26121 Oldenburg

Frank Slotta
Phone: 0441 | 9714-209
E-mail

North Rhine-Westphalia

For state authorities

Landesbetrieb Information und Technik Nordrhein-Westfalen (IT.NRW)
Wall Street 51
40476 DĂĽsseldorf

Christian Halter
Phone: 0211 | 94 49-3775
E-mail

For municipalities

citeq - Stadt MĂĽnster
ScheibenstraĂźe 109
48153 MĂĽnster

Nina Rönick
Tel.: 02 51| 492-1808
E-mail

Grazyna Niggemann
Tel.: 02 51 | 492-1826
E-mail

Dortmunder Systemhaus
DeggingstraĂźe 42
44141 Dortmund

Hagen – Stadt der Fernuniversität
Department of Information Technology and Central Services

Eilper Street 132-136
58091 Hagen

Marco Hasken
Tel.: 02331-207-5038
E-mail

Jörg Stöckmann
Tel.: 02331-207-3461
E-mail

Lower Rhine Municipal Computer Center (KRZN)
Friedrich-Heinrich-Allee 130
47475 Kamp-Lintford

Dr. Lars van der Grinten
Phone: 028 42 | 9070-0
E-mail

Rhineland-Palatinate

State Office for Data and Information (LDI)
Valenciaplatz 6
55118 Mainz

Helpdesk
Phone: 061 31 | 605-360
E-mail

Saarland

Ministry of Economy, Innovation, Digital and Energy
Franz-Josef-Röder-Strasse 17

66119 SaarbrĂĽcken

Carolin Fichtner
Phone: 0681 | 501-2832
E-mail

Special-purpose association for electronic administration in Saarland - eGo-Saar

Daniel Merckel
Tel.: 0681 | 85 74 20 40
E-Mail

Free State of Saxony

State Enterprise Saxon Information Technology Services (SID)
Riesaer Str. 7
01129 Dresden

Robert Schenkel
Tel.: 03 51 | 3264-7227
E-mail

Saxony-Anhalt

Ministry of Infrastructure and Digital Affairs of the State of Saxony-Anhalt
Turmschanzenstrasse 30
39114 Magdeburg
E-mail

Dataport AöR
Altenholzer Str. 10-14
24161 Altenholz

Dataport Governikus Support
E-mail

Schleswig-Holstein

Ministerium fĂĽr Energiewandel, Landwirtschaft, Umwelt, Natur und Digitalisierung
Niemannsweg 220
24106 Kiel

E-mail

Dataport AöR
Altenholzer Str. 10-14
24161 Altenholz

Dataport Governikus Support
E-mail

Free State of Thuringia

ThĂĽringer Landesrechenzentrum
Ludwig-Erhard-Ring 8
99099 Erfurt

E-mail