A part of the Danish government is phasing out the use of Microsoft products like Office 365.
Up to half of employees at Denmark’s Ministry of Digital Affairs will be switched to (an unspecified version of) Linux in place of Windows, and move from Office 365 to the leading open source productivity suite LibreOffice.
Denmark’s minister of digitisation, Caroline Stage Olsen, confirmed the migration is in progress to Danish media outlet Politiken (paywalled), adding that if all goes well the whole ministry will switch to using open source software by the autumn.
The move is being made to action the Danish government’s ‘digitalisation strategy’ which is making ‘digital sovereignty’ a priority for all government departments. Denmark, like many countries, wants to have greater control over its own digital infrastructure, data, and cloud services.
Of course, making the switch is one thing, whether it sticks another — something Olsen herself notes.
Should too many issues crop up, interfering with day-to-day activities of, y’know, doing government work, the plan is move back to Microsoft products while alternative solutions are sought.
But Olsen is bullish on the need to make a move, telling Politiken that “we won’t get any closer to our goal if we don’t start.”
Migratory Momentum
European governments (at varying levels) announcing plans to switch to open source software and Linux isn’t new. I’ve kind of lost track of how many times I’ve heard some German state department will do it (to the point it’s a personal meme).
But it is far more likely that making such a switch in 2025 is far less effort than in 2010 (for a variety of reasons, from abstractions to the web and cloud to cross-platform software).
The ministry isn’t alone. Two of Denmark’s biggest municipalities (Aarhus and Copenhagen) have reportedly switched from Microsoft Office products already, citing concerns over the use of US-based tech under the current new US government.
Political motivations in prioritising “digital sovereignty” aside, there is a financial benefit.
Office 365 subscriptions cost, and the end of Windows 10 later this year may require fleets of new computers able to run Windows 11 (though orgs are able to pay Microsoft for extended security updates to Windows 10 systems).
Microsoft needn’t feel singled out in all this. Olsen adds her Ministry is keen to dial down Denmark’s digital dependence on other big-tech players too.
And with an EU consultation currently looking at how to plug the the continents’ gap in cloud and AI computing, chances are we could hear about an uptick in open-source adoption by governments across all member states in the near future.