Work4Germany 2026: Fellowship support for the federal government's modernization agenda

As the digitalization partner for public administration, DigitalService has set itself the goal of sustainably advancing the digital transformation of Germany. The aim is to make user-centered digital services the standard in public administration.

To achieve this, DigitalService works closely with the federal government to develop and operate innovative digital solutions through interdisciplinary teams while establishing the necessary foundations. Even before DigitalService was founded, the Tech4Germany and Work4Germany fellowship programs brought technical and methodological expertise to the administration, helping to bring the benefits of new working methods to life and improve the implementation of digitalization projects.

DigitalService was established in October 2020 as a federally owned limited liability company and is wholly owned by the federal government. It emerged from the non-profit start-up 4Germany, which was founded in 2019.

Work4Germany is a fellowship program that has been bringing together methodologically strong transformation experts (called “fellows”) from the private sector with employees from federal ministries and top federal agencies since 2020. During the six-month fellowship, the teams work on cross-divisional challenges, redesign workflows, and focus on iterative and user-centered ways of working in projects in the context of administrative digitalization. Methods are understood as tools – even beyond the fellowship. This opens up new scope of action and design and creates very tangible benefits for managers, teams, projects and processes. With Work4Germany, DigitalService is driving the transformation of work culture at the federal level from within. The teams are supported by an experienced fellowship team and tailored exchange formats.