Video conferencing: After Thuringia, Schleswig-Holstein relies on "OpenTalk"

Following Thuringia, the open source video conferencing solution OpenTalk is to be made available to all state authorities in Schleswig-Holstein. This was announced by the Ministry of the Interior, Municipal Affairs, Housing and Sport. In doing so, the state wants to send a clear signal for more independence from international providers and strengthen IT security in the public sector. This was preceded by a successful pilot phase. At the start, around 2,000 employees are to be given "access to a data protection-compliant and secure alternative to international providers".

OpenTalk is operated on servers in Germany, is designed to be flexibly adaptable and can be managed independently by the authorities. The code is published and available under the European Public License (EUPL 1.2) on OpenCoDE.de. According to OpenTalk, "as far as possible" with open standards and interfaces. "OpenTalk is operated entirely on site for Schleswig-Holstein in the BSI-certified Twin Data Center (TDC) data center," according to the state government there. The statewide rollout should be completed by the end of 2025.

The German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) is currently evaluating OpenTalk in accordance with CC-EAL4, "the highest possible level of confidence in a security service". Once the evaluation process has been completed, OpenTalk will be the first open source video conferencing software to achieve such a high level of certification," explains the company. The software will also comply with the Barrier-free Information Technology Ordinance, BITV 2.0.

In April 2024, it was announced that Schleswig-Holstein was switching to Linux and LibreOffice. The federal state had initially announced that it would be switching to open source in administration and schools. "With OpenTalk, we have full control over our communication channels and data in line with our open innovation and open source strategy," said Dirk Schrödter, Minister for Digitalization and Head of the State Chancellery in Schleswig-Holstein. "This is a decisive advantage over proprietary solutions from international providers –, especially in the sensitive area of public administration, where we work with sensitive data on a daily basis."

(mack)