openDesk 1.3: One, two, and three!
openDesk 1.3 marks the start of our monthly release cycle, introducing new features for Office and Projects, improvements to deployment, and extended support for external secrets and Kubernetes.
NewsopenDesk 1.0 is here!
Today, the Centre for Digital Sovereignty (ZenDiS), together with its partners, officially presented openDesk version 1.0 at the Smart Country Convention (15–17 October 2024, in Berlin).
The office and collaboration suite integrates powerful open-source applications under a single, cohesive interface to enable efficient digital teamwork. Features include:
Word processing and spreadsheets
Email, contacts, and calendar functionality
Cloud storage
Chat and video conferencing tools
Project management module
Wiki system
Unified UX & UI for digital collaboration
openDesk 1.0 is built on well-established enterprise-grade components from Collabora, Element, Nextcloud, Nordeck, Open-Xchange, Univention, OpenProject and XWiki. By seamlessly integrating these technologies into a consistent user interface (UI), openDesk delivers a smooth and user-friendly experience (UX). The collaborative features create new possibilities for online teamwork.
Enterprise-grade operations & full-service package
With the launch of version 1.0, openDesk is now available in two editions: the Community Edition, which has already been accessible on the open-source platform openCode, and the Enterprise Edition, now offered with two professional hosting models: The self-hosting option allows deployment in an organisation’s own data centre, supported by ZenDiS’s partner B1 Systems. Alternatively, the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model is hosted in the sovereign data centres of the German cloud provider StackIT.
With openDesk, we're providing our colleagues in public administration with a totally flexible office and collaboration suite that enables completely new ways of working together while strengthening digital sovereignty. This combination is truly unique.
More digital autonomy, less vendor lock-in
ZenDiS has intentionally chosen open-source software for openDesk, directly aligning with the official “Strategy for Strengthening Digital Sovereignty in Public Administration IT” adopted by Germany’s IT Planning Council in 2021. The strategy underscores the role of open-source software in ensuring transparency, interoperability, and freedom from vendor lock-in.
The digital workplace is the backbone of public administration, which makes us particularly vulnerable to critical dependencies. With openDesk, we now have a viable alternative to proprietary solutions. This is a major step toward an essential strategic goal: increasing our digital sovereignty to secure long-term integrity and operational capability.
openDesk runs directly in browsers, making it operating system-independent and accessible from any device without the need for local installation.