From Early Adopter to Leader: Schleswig-Holstein's Open Source Evolution

Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost German federal state, is a leading public administration adopting open source software. With its “Open Innovation and Open Source Strategy” published in November 2024, it became the first federal state to pursue this path in Germany. A spokesperson of the Schleswig-Holstein government informed that “Schleswig-Holstein fully completed the migration of its state administration email system — comprising more than 44,000 mailboxes and 110 million emails and calendar entries — to Open-Xchange and Thunderbird.” The state also moved 80% of the ecosystem to the open source office suite LibreOffice, with the further commitment to switch all work laptops to Linux and integrate open source cloud storage software. These are major successes in Schleswig-Holstein’s open source journey, which already started in 2020, when the state decided to reduce its dependency on proprietary software.

Nicole Beckendorf, Head of the Open Source Programme Office (OSPO) of Schleswig-Holstein, observes that six years into the transformation, "others look to us and feel it is valuable that someone has made a solid start, that we can demonstrate the potential". She finds that more public administrations are questioning their use of proprietary software, something which their digital minister, Dirk Schrödter, involves himself in through media engagements, conference appearances and collaborations.

Through their switch to open source, Schleswig-Holstein saved a total of €15 million in licensing fees. After accounting for switching costs and other expenses, €9 million was reinvested into the open source ecosystem. Transparency was essential in this decision according to Ms. Beckendorf, “it was important to us not to put the released funds into black boxes”. Beyond transparency, informational symmetry and privacy were also significant considerations for the state.

Schleswig-Holstein recognises the open source community as a crucial source of innovation. Ms. Beckendorf emphasises that "innovations must meet a need," adding that the state wants "to make sure that solutions can also be utilised by others." To support open innovation, the Schleswig-Holstein created the State Programme for Open Innovation, organised by DigitalHub.SH. The programme aims to create synergies between municipal governments' needs and open source companies' innovation, based on the state's open innovation strategy. Ms. Beckendorf's OSPO supported the programme's concept, which is now in its third round.

The OSPO, led by Ms. Beckendorf, has been crucial in supporting the state's digital transformation. Conceived in January 2025 and officially opened in June 2025, it serves as a state-wide point of contact for all open source matters. The office receives inquiries on open source topics and bundles them to identify synergies across the state. It provides guidance by managing requests and supporting migrations to open source solutions. As Ms. Beckendorf explains, "the OSPO enables dialogue and provides insight into our inner workings". The office also maintains an inventory of the state's existing open source resources and usage gaps, with plans to create concrete guidance documents to support employees' open source journeys.

The OSPO is staffed by Ms. Beckendorf full-time and one part-time support staff member, but collaborates with a wide variety of allies across government. Situated in the Strategy and Compliance unit of Schleswig-Holstein's digitalisation department, Ms. Beckendorf receives support from within her unit and cooperates with government digital initiatives like DigitalHub.SH. Ms. Beckendorf finds that "there is always support, depending on what is necessary".

In the new year, Schleswig-Holstein aims to consolidate its wins in open source. This includes strengthening the role of the OSPO as a point of contact to public sector departments. They also want to build up their external work, revising their communication strategy, further improving their public presence and continuing to work collaboratively. They will continue seeking partnerships with others, considering that “there is already a strong community that wants to find one another and deepen cooperation.”

Schleswig-Holstein itself is building up its external collaboration on digitalisation. "Furthering innovation is especially possible through cooperation and the building of alliances," Ms. Beckendorf reflects. This collaborative approach is evident in their efforts to bundle open source needs with Thüringen, where the states are looking into an administrative arrangement. State representatives are also looking beyond Germany's borders: during a delegation trip to Estonia, they discussed best practices for the use of X-Road platform, and explored potential collaboration between the two administrations.