At a time when artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming the operating system of administration, the focus is shifting to the technological foundation. Open source (OS) has evolved from an ideological niche to a strategic necessity. Two pillars are crucial for this change: transparency of public funds and long-term independence from infrastructure providers.
Public money, public code: A principle of efficiency
Behind the "Public Money, Public Code" initiative is the conviction that software financed with taxpayers' money should be available to the general public. This approach offers tangible benefits for public administration:
- Enabling reuse: Once developed, solutions can be shared via repositories such as Open CoDE or through ZenDiS (Center for Digital Sovereignty). This avoids costly duplicate developments between municipalities and federal states.
- Legal certainty through standard licenses: The use of licenses such as the EUPL (European Union Public Licence) ensures that software projects can be flexibly adapted and expanded without creating legal grey areas when sharing.
Experience shows that the willingness to disclose code increases the quality of development - as the solutions are designed for portability and cooperation from the outset.
Avoiding vendor lock-in: sovereignty in the age of AI
In the past, proprietary software solutions often led to close ties to individual providers. This risk is particularly serious in the sensitive field of artificial intelligence. A vendor lock-in not only restricts technological flexibility, but can also jeopardize sovereignty over sensitive data.
A sovereign approach therefore relies on technological openness:
- Portability: AI applications based on open source models are not tied to the cloud infrastructure of a single manufacturer. They can be operated in the federal cloud, by municipal IT service providers or in secure on-premise environments.
- Auditability: To ensure citizens' trust in AI-supported processes, the decision-making process must be traceable. Open source code can be audited by security authorities and data protection officers ("white box"), which makes compliance much easier.
Conclusion: openness as a strategic standard
In the context of administrative digitization, open source is more than just a technical detail; it is the prerequisite for a viable and independent digital infrastructure. If specialist procedures and AI models are based on open standards, this secures the innovative strength and fiscal responsibility of the state in the long term.
The transition to these models requires a rethink in procurement and close cooperation between the administration and IT partners who see digital sovereignty as a common goal.