Minister Caroline Stage Olsen leads the replacement of Microsoft Office with LibreOffice as a step towards digital sovereignty
In an unprecedented move in Danish public administration, the Minister of Digitalization, Caroline Stage Olsen, has announced that her ministry will begin to phase out Microsoft software starting next month, replacing Office 365 with open-source solutions like LibreOffice.
This change is part of the new national digitalization strategy for the next four years, crafted jointly by the central government, regions, and municipalities. For the first time, the strategy explicitly prioritizes digital sovereignty as a central pillar of technological development for the Danish public sector.
As the minister detailed in statements to Politiken, about half of the staff at the Ministry of Digitalization will work this summer with systems where Microsoft’s package will be replaced by open-source software. If the pilot plan proceeds as expected, the full transition of the ministry will be completed by autumn 2025.
Digital sovereignty as a political priority
The move toward open-source solutions is seen as a clear gesture of technological independence from large international suppliers, while strengthening the autonomy and digital resilience of the Danish state.
The initiative also responds to a growing concern in Europe over the control of public data, transparency in systems, and the need to avoid critical dependencies on essential digital infrastructure.
Denmark thus joins a growing movement in several European countries—such as France, Germany, and Italy—where various public agencies have already begun partial or total migrations to tools based on free software.
A pilot that could set a trend
The Ministry of Digitalization will serve as a testing ground to evaluate the impact, technical challenges, and acceptance of the change by employees. If the results are positive, this transition could extend to other ministries and local administrations.
Caroline Stage Olsen, a member of the Moderate Party (M), has been an active advocate for a more open, transparent, and sustainable approach to public technology use, and this announcement reinforces her commitment to that vision.
The minister emphasized that the change is not only about cost-saving, but also about advancing towards a digital infrastructure model that is more controllable, auditable, and ethically aligned with democratic values.
Source: politiken.dk