Summary

The Open Source Business Alliance (OSBA) launches the second round of its competition for open-source projects in public administration. For the first time, an Artificial Intelligence category is being added. The competition addresses the federal government's growing dependency on Microsoft licenses, whose costs rose to 481 million euros in 2025 – a development that contradicts declared goals of digital sovereignty.

People

Topics

  • Digital sovereignty
  • Open-source software in public administration
  • Federal government's Microsoft dependency
  • Artificial intelligence in public administration

Clarus Lead

The OSBA calls on authorities and administrations to submit innovative open-source projects by June 30, 2026 under the motto "Modern Administration. Innovation. Digital Sovereignty." The new AI category addresses strategic interest in technological independence. The competition gains relevance given the 38 percent increase in Microsoft spending (2024–2025) to nearly half a billion euros – a direct contradiction to the federal government coalition's goals of promoting European alternatives and digital sovereignty.

Detailed Summary

The competition builds on the successful first edition, which received 42 applications and cast just under 5,700 votes in the community voting. The Government Site Builder (GSB 11) from the Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and State Modernization won the Community Award 2025 – a TYPO3-based system for accessible government websites that is already used by more than 250 websites and should help reduce licensing costs. Other winners were the data platform CIVITAS/CORE and the "Access to Justice" project from the Federal Ministry of Justice.

The third round is supported by the Center for Digital Sovereignty (ZenDiS) as the ideological sponsor. ZenDiS operates its own open-source alternatives to proprietary software with openCode and openDesk. Financial support comes from SUSE and Capgemini, both signaling strategic interest in strengthening European technological independence. The awards ceremony will take place at the Smart Country Convention (October 13–15, 2026) in Berlin.

The political context is intensifying: While the coalition agreement promotes digital sovereignty and European alternatives, the federal government's Microsoft spending in 2025 has increased by 75 percent since 2023. The OSBA criticizes this discrepancy and argues that millions in licensing fees could be saved through genuine open-source modernization.

Key Messages

  • New AI category addresses public administration's need for technological independence
  • Microsoft dependency grows: 481 million euros in licensing costs in 2025 (+38% YoY, +75% since 2023)
  • Strategic contradiction between coalition goals and actual spending policy
  • Open-source success stories (GSB 11, CIVITAS/CORE) demonstrate cost-saving potential
  • ZenDiS and OSBA position themselves as central actors in digital sovereignty

Critical Questions

  1. Evidence: What concrete cost savings has the Government Site Builder (GSB 11) realized so far, and what data basis supports the statement of usage by "more than 250 websites"?

  2. Conflicts of Interest: To what extent does financial support from SUSE and Capgemini influence the selection criteria and evaluation of submitted projects?

  3. Causality: Is the increasing Microsoft dependency causally attributed to the competition, or are there structural reasons (e.g., legacy systems, path dependency, specialized procedure requirements) that do not directly influence the competition?

  4. Feasibility: What concrete barriers (technical, organizational, legal) currently prevent faster migration of administrative resources to open-source alternatives?

  5. Target Audience: How is it ensured that smaller municipalities and authorities with limited IT capacity can participate in open-source projects?

  6. Measurability Criteria: According to which metrics are projects evaluated in the new AI category, particularly regarding data protection and algorithm transparency?

Sources

Primary Source: Open-Source Competition 2026: New AI Category for Public Administration – heise online

Verification Status: ✓ 2026

This text was created with the support of an AI model. Editorial responsibility: clarus.news | Fact-checking: 2026