Schleswig-Holstein drives forward the widespread use of open source

The Schleswig-Holstein government is continuing to work on implementing its claim to "take a holistic view of digital sovereignty" and switch to free software throughout the administration. To this end, it published a strategy for "open innovation and open source" on Monday. The black-green coalition gave the go-ahead in April by switching to LibreOffice as the standard solution for office software for around 25,000 IT workstations. The new strategy now describes the further measures towards the envisaged "digitally sovereign IT workplace". This includes switching to the +1.Linux operating system on the computers. This is a distribution that is "suitable and professionally supported for use by the authorities" with a modern, easily customizable user interface.

Other measures described by the government in the paper include the switch to the open standard ODF (Open Document Format), an open collaboration platform based on Nextcloud and the groupware Open Xchange with email, calendar and address book. The plan also includes "digitally sovereign basic services, specialist procedures" and a matching telephony system called Oskar (open source communication architecture).

"As smooth as possible"

Microsoft Windows, Office, Teams & Co. should then be a thing of the past. "The prerequisite for the widespread use of open source products is that the familiar functionalities work reliably with at least the same quality," emphasizes Digital Minister Dirk Schrödter (CDU). "We will make the transition as smooth as possible for employees and support the well-planned migration process with training."

"Without smoothly functioning digital systems, public administration would not be able to work today," says Schrödter, promoting the migration. Authorities need "reliable IT components whose acquisition guarantees freedom of choice, customization options, competition and control over their own digital infrastructure". Ensuring digital sovereignty is "at least as important as energy sovereignty". It is also important to avoid strong dependencies on proprietary providers.

"Fundamental change in working culture"

The state government is also hoping for improved IT security, lower costs, more data protection and simpler interaction between different systems. The previous black-green-yellow government had set itself the goal of "completely replacing" Microsoft & Co. in 2017. The black-green government backed off somewhat in 2022, but stuck to the plan in principle.

The conditions for a changeover could hardly be better now, says Schrödter: "The clear trend towards collaborative, location-independent working in the cloud offers a unique opportunity to embark on the path to digital sovereignty at a time when a fundamental change in working culture is imminent anyway."

Schleswig-Holstein sees the promotion of the regional digital economy as a modern form of industrial policy. "Instead of investing our IT funding in license fees, we use it to finance development and support contracts," explains Schrödter. This strengthens Schleswig-Holstein as a business location overall.

Other fields of action include the establishment of an Open Source Program Office (OSPO) in the state administration, strengthening the DigitalHub.SH, which is intended to connect public offices and companies, as well as a stronger focus on more participation via open government with independently verifiable hardware and software. The state also wants to participate in the German Administration Cloud in order to join the Center for Digital Sovereignty (Zendis). The federal government is also promoting its own open-source office suite, openDesk.

(nie)