Inside the German state trying to break free from Microsoft

{"text":[[{"start":7.84,"text":"This small German state’s bid to cut loose from Microsoft has not been plain sailing. "}],[{"start":15.129999999999999,"text":"As officials in the finance division of Schleswig-Holstein had their email accounts moved to alternative open-source systems last September, messages began landing in the wrong inboxes. Some judges and police received no emails at all."}],[{"start":33.47,"text":"It was an exacting few weeks for chief information officer, Sven Thomsen, until the glitch was fixed. “It was extremely stressful,” he said."}],[{"start":44.21,"text":"But it was part of a broader push: a quest for “digital sovereignty” that has made the north German state a test case for Europe as leaders increasingly argue the continent must reduce its dependence on US Big Tech. "}],[{"start":59.86,"text":"“The important thing is that we become independent from centralised, monopolistic providers,” said Thomsen. “That is what we are striving for, step by step.”"}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":70.53999999999999,"text":"The idea has been met with scepticism, ridicule and admiration. One German IT blogger compared Schleswig-Holstein to the French comic-book hero Asterix and his “small village of indomitable Gauls” holding out against Roman invaders."}],[{"start":88.72,"text":"Schleswig-Holstein, a coastal region of 3mn people, first discussed ending its reliance on Microsoft about 15 years ago. At the time the motivation was largely financial, with officials bristling at the cost of licences and dependence on a single provider."}],[{"start":109.75,"text":"Now, amid strains in the transatlantic alliance and alarm at Trump’s threats towards Europe, local officials also see the need for homegrown solutions that protect the region’s data from the long arm of US courts. Some warn of the risk of “kill switches” or “back doors” that could allow American software to be controlled from afar."}],[{"start":134.54,"text":"“After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, everyone became aware of the dependencies we had in the realm of ​​energy supply,” said Dirk Schrödter, the state’s minister for digitisation. “I think everyone has now become aware that we have similar dependencies in the digital realm as well.”"}],[{"start":154.57999999999998,"text":"Many European countries are now pursuing various forms of “decoupling” from US tech. Austria’s armed forces have abandoned Microsoft Office, Denmark has announced similar plans and France has ordered officials to quit Zoom while launching its own secure messaging app to replace WhatsApp or Signal."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":176.36999999999998,"text":"But the effort under way in Kiel, the Schleswig-Holstein state capital best known for its annual regatta, is one of the most ambitious — and advanced — in Europe. It is being watched closely by other public authorities and the private sector, according to Schrödter. He added: “We are developing a blueprint, almost a script, for how to approach this.”"}],[{"start":200.55999999999997,"text":"The project entered its most serious phase about two years ago, when the cabinet agreed to begin actively replacing all Microsoft products and services with open-source alternatives — freely available software that developers can build upon and tweak. Well-known examples include the operating system Linux, internet browser Firefox and media player VLC."}],[{"start":225.64,"text":"That does not necessarily mean they are free. While Schleswig-Holstein saved €15mn on Microsoft licences last year alone, it is spending much of those savings on mostly German IT providers who are helping to deploy alternative products and tailor them to the needs of the government."}],[{"start":245.46999999999997,"text":"Schrödter, a member of Germany’s centre-right Christian Democrats who cites the economists Friedrich Hayek and William Baumol as inspiration, sees it partly as a quest to break monopolistic strangleholds and unleash competition."}],[{"start":262.15999999999997,"text":"He adds: “We are no longer financing technological progress elsewhere in the world; instead, we are using public funds to finance our own technological progress here at home and strengthen the digital economy.”"}],[{"start":277.04999999999995,"text":"The switchover began in earnest last year. The first big move was from Microsoft Office to open-source equivalent. That was largely glitch-free. The Teams videoconferencing software was jettisoned for a programme called OpenTalk."}],[{"start":293.97999999999996,"text":"Then came email, requiring a shift from Microsoft’s Exchange and Outlook to open-source alternatives Open-Xchange and Thunderbird. The migration involved 44,000 accounts and about 110mn items including emails and calendar entries."}],[{"start":313.35999999999996,"text":"The first 29,000 accounts were transferred without problems. But then came the malfunction, which was sporadic but caused serious headaches. "}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":325.24999999999994,"text":"“That put us back in the Stone Age,” said Michael Burmeister, director of one of the region’s courthouses and the spokesman for a judges’ association. “We had to go back to using the telephone and fax.” He added: “We were lucky that there were no major violations of the rule of law.”"}],[{"start":346.22999999999996,"text":"The cause was a problem at the state’s data centre, with a component failing to forward data packets correctly. “It was a technical error — a misconfiguration,” said Thomsen. “It was not the fault of the new software or the software provider. But it cost us almost three weeks.”"}],[{"start":365.97999999999996,"text":"Despite that setback, the state is ploughing ahead. This year it aims to move from the Windows operating system to Linux. Other plans include replacing its Cisco-made telephony platform with open-source alternatives Kamailio and Asterisk."}],[{"start":382.30999999999995,"text":"Officials are seeking to integrate their new systems with AI-powered assistants using Llama, Meta’s open large language model, which they say provides more control and confidentiality. There are plans to use technology from France’s Mistral in future. "}],[{"start":398.50999999999993,"text":"The state was already using localised data storage through Dataport, a specialised IT service provider for a group of north German states. "}],[{"start":408.9599999999999,"text":"For the foreseeable future, hardware will remain mostly US-made. Both Schrödter and Thomsen use HP laptops — with phones made by Apple and Samsung. "}],[{"start":421.3399999999999,"text":"Critics say that employees of the Schleswig-Holstein government are suffering a loss of functionality after the ease and efficiency of familiar Microsoft products."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":433.8299999999999,"text":"Sven Neumann, head of a local police union, estimates officers are working two or three extra hours a week to deal with shortcomings, risking goodwill towards the project. "}],[{"start":445.55999999999995,"text":"“I think we have to be careful not to overwhelm our colleagues,” he said. “It wouldn’t take much for someone to explode and say, ‘This is all rubbish.’” "}],[{"start":455.5899999999999,"text":"He points to the cautionary tale of Munich, which in 2017 abandoned a 13-year project to adopt Linux instead of Windows amid technical problems and fading political support."}],[{"start":468.88999999999993,"text":"Schrödter caused particular irritation during the email crisis by saying: “You don’t learn to ride a bike just by watching.” That comment was seen by some as an attempt to shift the blame on to workers for lacking gusto."}],[{"start":482.5799999999999,"text":"Some experts and big tech companies warn open source software may carry greater cyber security risks. In a high-profile 2021 incident, hackers including Chinese state-backed groups launched more than 1mn attacks on companies worldwide through a previously unnoticed vulnerability in open-source software called Log4j."}],[{"start":509.11999999999995,"text":"Thomsen says managing cyber security under the new set-up is more complicated. Instead of dealing with Microsoft alone, they must co-ordinate with more than half a dozen providers. "}],[{"start":520.67,"text":"But he says that open source software is not inherently more vulnerable — in fact, he says, the public nature of the code makes it easier to stress-test. “I can commission a third party and say, ‘Please check the following system.’ It doesn’t require any co-operation from the software developer.”"}],[{"start":541.8,"text":"Schrödter rejects the idea that the Schleswig-Holstein project is somehow brave or adventurous. Products such as the email server Open-Xchange are “not some exotic solution”, he says, but rather a system already adopted by more than 220mn users."}],[{"start":561.8399999999999,"text":"The digitalisation minister says that he is keenly aware of his responsibility but he wouldn’t describe the task as one that requires courage. Instead, he said: “You have to be convinced that you’re on the right track, doing the right thing — and persevere in the face of resistance.”"}],[{"start":588.61,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1775181349_3227.mp3"}