Schleswig-Holstein Advances Open-Source Migration Across State IT

Authorities in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany’s northernmost state, are advancing an open-source migration that now spans office software, email, collaboration tools, directory services, telephony planning, Linux-based workstations, and AI assistance. The programme is documented in a Capgemini interview with Dirk Schrödter, head of the State Chancellery and Minister of Digitalisation of Schleswig-Holstein, and in state government updates issued between 3 April 2024 and 21 April 2026.

The significance is not limited to replacing one workplace suite with another. Schleswig-Holstein is presenting open source as a way to reduce structural dependence on proprietary vendors, retain control over government data, manage licensing exposure, and build public-sector digital infrastructure around open standards. For Drupal agencies, public-sector teams, and open-source contributors, the case shows how policy commitments can become procurement, migration, and operating decisions.

In the Capgemini interview, Schrödter framed digital sovereignty as the ability to understand, manage, and independently develop digital infrastructure, influence IT operating processes, control government data storage, and prevent unwanted data outflows. He also linked the strategy to rising licensing costs, security concerns, and legal exposure connected to non-European frameworks such as the U.S. Cloud Act. The interview positions open source as the state’s route to reducing dependence on a small group of global technology providers.

A 3 April 2024 government release said the cabinet decision made LibreOffice the standard office package for state administration and marked the first step toward a digitally sovereign IT workplace for around 30,000 state employees. The release listed six project areas: Microsoft Office to LibreOffice, Microsoft Windows to Linux, Nextcloud and Open-Xchange with Thunderbird for collaboration and email, a directory service to replace Microsoft Active Directory, compatibility work for LibreOffice and Linux, and an open-source telephony solution.

The email migration reached a major implementation point in 2025. A 6 October 2025 update said the state completed the move from Microsoft Exchange and Outlook to Open-Xchange and Thunderbird on 2 October 2025 after a six-month transition involving more than 40,000 mailboxes and more than 100 million emails and calendar entries. The update said Nextcloud was replacing Microsoft SharePoint step by step as the central collaboration platform, OpenTalk was being used for video conferencing, Linux was being tested as a Windows alternative, and telephone systems were also expected to move to an open-source solution.

A 4 December 2025 update said LibreOffice had become the binding office standard across state ministries and authorities. The state said nearly 80% of workstations outside the tax administration were using LibreOffice, with Microsoft Office and Outlook already removed or being removed from those systems. It also said the migration was saving more than €15 million in licensing costs, with €9 million in one-time investments planned in 2026 for migration and further development of open-source solutions.

Schleswig-Holstein is applying the same sovereignty logic to AI. A 21 April 2026 announcement said the LLMoin pilot had started for 1,000 employees and would support email, presentation, and report drafting, as well as document evaluation and information structuring. The state said LLMoin was developed by Dataport for public administration requirements and uses the open-weight model GPT-OSS-120B instead of the proprietary model GPT-4.1. The model initially runs through IONOS and is expected to move to Dataport’s own data centre in summer 2026.

The European Commission’s Open Source Observatory placed the work in a wider public-sector context in a 16 February 2026 report, describing Schleswig-Holstein as a leading public administration adopting open-source software. The report also noted the state’s Open Source Programme Office and said more public administrations are questioning reliance on proprietary software. That context reinforces the central point of the migration: Schleswig-Holstein is treating open source as a staged operating model for reducing public-sector dependence, not as a single software replacement project.