Six German states can now choose a sovereign cloud in schools
Schools can opt for their data to stay in Europe.
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- Schools in six German states can use IONOS-hosted file storage and collaboration tools.
- The platform keeps school data in German data centers and aims to support digital sovereignty.
- Gov Digital awarded IONOS the contract as part of Germany’s Educational Cloud Infrastructure initiative.
- European education systems are reducing reliance on US cloud providers over privacy and lock-in concerns.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
Schools in 6 German states will be able to adopt a sovereign cloud solution for file hosting and collaboration.
Germany’s cooperative of public-sector IT providers, Gov Digital, has awarded a hosting provider, IONOS, the contract to offer a file-hosting and collaboration solution (KoDaS) to the country’s education system.
The solution will be available in schools across the German states of Berlin, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Rhineland-Palatinate.
KoDas is part of the Educational Cloud Infrastructure (PCI) initiative, which aims to build a unified and secure cloud platform tailored to schools’ needs.
The solution is based on IONOS Nextcloud Workspace, and will provide teachers and students with a complete digital workspace for file storage, collaborative document editing, and communication.
Our cloud solution, developed in Germany, stands for security, reliability, and above all, digital sovereignty – which is indispensable, especially in the education sector,Achim Weiß, CEO of IONOS
The platform operates exclusively in IONOS Cloud, whose data centers are located in Germany.
Data privacy is a major argument for cutting dependence on American technologies. US laws, such as the 2018 Cloud Act, compel American companies to provide data requested by US law enforcement agencies, regardless of where it is stored.
However, American cloud providers claim they share data only on rare occasions to assist US law enforcement in criminal investigations.
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Digital sovereignty in European schools
The company announces its offering to German schools as part of a broader European digital sovereignty push, in which national and regional governments are moving away from American technologies in favor of local, open-source alternatives.
The education sector has also embraced digital independence efforts.
IONOS notes that its software is already used in France, where the Ministry of Education provides it to 500,000 users and plans to expand it to 1.2 million employees.
The Danish Data Protection Agency banned the use of Google’s cloud-based Workspace software suite in schools in 2022, citing violations of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
In May 2026, Dutch universities established a committee dedicated to achieving digital autonomy, arguing that they couldn’t wait for Europe or the Dutch government to take action against Big Tech.
They cited concerns that dependence on a limited number of dominant market players creates vendor lock-in with unpredictable price increases, a lack of transparency, and difficulties in switching to other suppliers.