Open source in governance: left behind rather than dependent?

The digitalization of the administration is making progress – at least that’s what Federal Interior Minister Nancy Feser (SPD) said at the opening of the Smart Country Convention of the industry association Bitcom at the Berlin Exhibition Centre. The question is not if, but rather how it will be digitalized: The goal is simplification, Feser emphasized. 90 percent of access to federal administrative services is already digital, and BundID is now used by more than 4 million citizens.

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Work is also progressing on a European digital identity wallet and authorities’ transition to IPv6 by 2030, the interior minister said. However, security is a priority at this time, as well as fighting crime, including in the digital world. What Feser didn’t say: Although his ministry is the patron of the event, the House no longer has a stand of its own. A reflection of the priorities in the upcoming 2025 federal budget, in which the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) has put a red pencil to digitalisation.

Savings from open source?

Perhaps some money can be saved by not renewing expensive license agreements for software for which cheaper open source alternatives exist? This discussion comes up again and again, especially in times of austerity. And with the launch of OpenDesk there is a theoretically usable alternative to at least some parts of the well-known offerings. But it is not enough.

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Uwe Pressler of IT services provider Bechtle demanded that the volume of public sector licensing should make people think. The requirements for software in the public sector are high and the number of parallel goals should not be underestimated: reusability, control, security, data protection and the question of how to compensate for the wave of retirements already underway in the administration. Is. Open source solutions are often the obvious choice.

Especially in new areas such as low-code applications for administration, old mistakes are currently being repeated, Tim Neugebauer from the Leipzig IT service provider DMK e-Business points out: With proprietary solutions and platforms, government agencies. ​​Once again you will be forced to lock yourself into providers. There are also different “one-size-fits-all” applications on the market for online access law solutions.

To improve this, the Center for Digital Sovereignty (ZENDIAS) should bring together projects and credible solutions Via OpenCoDE Platform Make an announcement. Department head Leonhard Kugler explained that the translation of the open source definitions into official German was successful and important for public sector procurement. ZenDiS has also taken over rights clearing for over 500 different licenses – so the administration knows what it is doing.

Depend on open source service providers?

Discussants did not fully agree on whether open source software brings with it increased security. Uwe Pressler explained that his company mainly works with large, established open source solution providers to meet the needs of public administration. There is a trend toward managed services and security operations centers as an integrated service. Isn’t this just replacing one dependency with a new dependency? At the very least, Presler argued, there is the possibility of code reviews and changing providers.

In any case, Kugler made it clear that Zenidis could not afford to be a large software manufacturer and quality assurance provider. Development work should rest on developer communities and companies. Bechtle’s representative, Presler, said the administration could not afford it, especially considering future staffing levels.

Whether open source or closed source applications are used is still a political decision. Pressler says he wants a clear decision. Neugebauer emphasized that so far much depends on the purchasing conditions, such as “supplementary contractual conditions for the purchase of IT services” – and on the question of operational implementation. Political declarations of intent are written much faster than software. Finally, according to Kugler, it has so far been the range of functions that has been the decisive factor in purchasing – not whether the product fits sensibly into the overall architecture of public administration. These are all questions that are currently being intensely discussed internationally – and here, for once, Germany is ahead of the debate in other countries.

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