Digital Independence: Berlin's Cautious Farewell to Microsoft & Co.

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Berlin's administration has a problem deeply rooted in its history. For decades, it viewed functional, proprietary software solutions as the gold standard. "However, this development led to a strong dependency on these solutions and their technology providers being established in the IT of public administration," admits the city-state in its new open-source strategy. What began as an increase in efficiency in the 1990s and 2000s now dictates the digital scope of action for authorities through rising license costs and inflexible contracts. Now, a turnaround is intended.

The black-red Berlin government is driven by an overarching realization in the paper now published: "In view of growing geopolitical tensions, it is of enormous importance in the context of technological interdependencies and dependencies to rethink the existing technology and infrastructure strategy for public administration."

The document paints a picture of an administration that needs to regain control over critical infrastructures, data, and the necessary know-how. This is crucial for remaining functional. Berlin no longer wants to submit to "vendor-imposed pressure" to use manufacturer cloud systems that come with "almost non-negotiable license terms."

Public Money, Public Code

The answer to this is intended to be open-source software. Here, the source code is public, the program can be analyzed, modified, and operated independently of a single manufacturer. The state thus links the principle of Public Money, Public Code, which is already widely practiced in Germany: Software developed specifically for administration with tax money will be made available to everyone under free licenses in the future.

However, the path from theory to practice is traditionally rocky in Berlin. A look at the current state of IT modernization reveals a gap between strategic ambition and technical reality. The administration has been struggling for years to even keep its Windows-based workstations up to date.

It only recently became known that only about 12 percent of computers had been successfully migrated to Windows 11. This process should have been completed long ago. If Berlin is already failing with regular updates, the question arises as to how a paradigm shift can succeed. The strategy envisages that by 2032, at least 70 percent of the software stack at the workplace should be based on open-source solutions. This sounds ambitious but leaves a time window of almost a decade open – an eternity in the digital world.

Specifically, it states: "As a basis, a prototype will be set up that provides the OpenDesk Workbench on a 'Linux workstation'." The concept of an "open-source emergency workstation" is to be evaluated "to ensure operational capability under crisis conditions without dependence on proprietary systems." The prototype will then serve as a basis and reference model "for the feasibility analysis and development." Real speed is achieved differently.

Schleswig-Holstein is significantly further along

Critics inevitably look north at these requirements. Schleswig-Holstein is pursuing a much more consistent course and wants to say goodbye to Microsoft. Tens of thousands of workstations are already being converted to LibreOffice and Linux-based systems to save millions in license fees and gain true technological freedom.

Berlin is acting more cautiously. While the Senate emphasizes "possibility of change" and "design freedom," it builds in backdoors in the fine print. For example, it states that a pure "open-source only strategy" could limit operational capability in the short term. This is because free alternatives do not yet exist for many specialized applications. The financial options are also particularly significant: "Implementation is subject to financing and will be carried out within the scope of available funds." In a chronically strapped state, this sentence could mean the death knell for many ambitious sub-projects.

Nevertheless, the paper is considered a signal. The Senate acknowledges that the previous monopolistic structures are not only expensive but also a security risk. The licensing policies of large hyperscalers are explicitly classified as "critical" or "very problematic." To counteract this, the IT Service Center Berlin (ITDZ) is to be expanded into a competence hub for open software. According to the plan, it will function as an "anchor customer" for the regional digital economy and specifically promote local service providers that rely on open standards.

Between ambition and timidity

The concern remains that Berlin's strategy will fail due to its own complexity and the inertia of the apparatus. The document reads in places like a declaration of intent with a built-in handbrake. The administration would therefore have to prove that it not only understands the "technological solution approach of open source" as a theoretical construct but can enforce it against the resistance of established structures.

Without massive investments in personnel resources and training, digital sovereignty in the capital is likely to remain a mere buzzword. Even the Greens, while in opposition, long urged for increased use of open-source alternatives on the Spree, particularly in light of the Windows XP debacle. However, even during their participation in government, they achieved little in this regard.

(vbr)