After a successful pilot project, the federal state Schleswig-Holstein of northern Germany decided to drop Microsoft Windows and Office to install Linux and LibreOffice (and other free and open source software) on the 30.000 computers used in local government.
As he says Document Foundation:
"Independent, sustainable, secure: Schleswig-Holstein will be a digital pioneer region and the first German state to introduce a digitally dominant workplace information technologys in his state administration.
With Cabinet's decision to introduce open source software LibreOffice as a standard Office solution across the board, the government has given the green light for the first step towards full digital dominance in the state, with further steps to follow."
But why did they make such a move?
"We have no influence on the operating procedures of such [proprietary] solutions and the handling of data, including possible data outflow to third parties countries. As a state, we have a great responsibility to our citizens and companies to ensure that their data is kept safe with us, and we must ensure that we are always in control of the IT solutions we use and that we can act independently as a state."
This follows the European Data Protection Supervisor's (EDPS) finding that the European Commission's use of Microsoft 365 violates data protection law.
