Auf wiedersehen to Microsoft: Why one state in Germany is going open-source and taking Denmark with it

Germany’s Schleswig-Holstein and Denmark are both phasing out Microsoft tools in favor of open-source software. The final goal is to reduce reliance on US tech and boost digital control.

Schleswig-Holstein is a northern state in Germany, and it’s declaring a somewhat independence… from Microsoft.

The government is removing Microsoft software from its public sector systems. This includes tools like Teams, Word, Excel, Outlook, and even Windows. Instead, employees will begin using open-source alternatives like LibreOffice, Open-Xchange, and Linux.

This decision will affect 30,000 government workers, including civil servants, judges, and police officers. Next in line to adapt these new rules are teachers, but that is planned only for the coming years.

Officials in Schleswig-Holstein want to make sure data is kept and controlled within Germany and not by a private company based in the United States. They say that using open-source tools helps reduce their country’s dependence on the US and its tech giants like Microsoft.

This should also reduce the costs for high license fees and sometimes added surprise costs, reports TechXplore. Open-source software is normally cheaper to maintain.

Just across the border with Germany, Denmark is making similar moves. The Minister of Digitization, Caroline Stage, is planning to remove Microsoft products from half of her department’s computers this summer. The goal is to be completely Microsoft-free by autumn. Like in Germany, Denmark wants more control over its systems and fewer ties to US-based companies.