The German state of Schleswig-Holstein has decided to migrate 30,000 computers from Microsoft products to Linux and LibreOffice.

According to The Document Foundation, the organization behind LibreOffice, Schleswig-Holstein made the decision following a successful pilot program aimed at addressing issues with using commercial software. In particular, the state administration was concerned about digital sovereignty, as highlighted by the Minister-President’s website:

Independent, sustainable, secure: Schleswig-Holstein will be a digital pioneer region and the first German state to introduce a digitally sovereign IT workplace in its state administration. With a cabinet decision to introduce the open-source software LibreOffice as the standard office solution across the board, the government has given the go-ahead for the first step towards complete digital sovereignty in the state, with further steps to follow.

We have no influence on the operating processes of such [proprietary] solutions and the handling of data, including a possible outflow of data to third countries. As a state, we have a great responsibility towards 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.

As The Document Foundation points out, the German state’s decision comes on the heels of the EU Commission finding that its own use of Microsoft 365 infringes on EU data protection regulation. The EU strictly regulates how citizen data can be used and where it can be sent. Unfortunately the European Data Protection Supervisor found that using Microsoft’s products doesn’t provide the necessary protections, we noted in our coverage of finding:

In particular, the Commission has failed to provide appropriate safeguards to ensure that personal data transferred outside the EU/EEA are afforded an essentially equivalent level of protection as guaranteed in the EU/EEA. Furthermore, in its contract with Microsoft, the Commission did not sufficiently specify what types of personal data are to be collected and for which explicit and specified purposes when using Microsoft 365. The Commission’s infringements as data controller also relate to data processing, including transfers of personal data, carried out on its behalf.

Schleswig-Holstein is clearly positioning itself as a champion of open source software and the digital sovereignty that provides.