Denmark's ministry drops Collabora office pilot after problems and no formal review
Without a formal evaluation or shared lessons, it is unclear what the ministry learned from its move away from Microsoft Office.
Denmark's digitization ministry, since merged into the Ministry for Research, Education, and Digitization, reportedly abandoned a 2025 pilot that moved 38 staff from Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel to the open-source Collabora suite. The trial was started under then-minister Caroline Stage to lessen reliance on US software and was reported as having ended before the government called a February 2026 election. Some participants described problems with formatting, blank pages and tracked changes. A Copenhagen Business School professor argues the ministry has not formally evaluated the pilot or shared what it learned. The choice of Collabora over alternatives such as OnlyOffice, OpenOffice and Calligra has not been explained.
Why it matters
The pilot was meant to reduce Denmark's dependence on American software, and it has ended without a public account of why it succeeded or failed. Staff who took part reported problems with formatting, blank pages and tracked changes. A Copenhagen Business School professor says the ministry has not evaluated the trial or passed its experience to other public bodies, which leaves the question of open-source alternatives for government work unresolved. The reasons for choosing Collabora over other options have also not been explained.
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