it-sa 2026: Visit eperi at Europe's leading cybersecurity trade show

Local governments today face significant pressure to digitize: a shortage of skilled workers, rising citizen expectations, hybrid work models, and the demand for modern administrative processes are compounded by stringent requirements for data protection, information security, and digital sovereignty. Especially when using international cloud platforms such as Microsoft, many government agencies are therefore faced with a key question: How can they leverage productivity gains without relinquishing control over sensitive data? Using a real-world example from Dortmund, this presentation demonstrates exactly how this balancing act was successfully achieved. The city uses Microsoft 365 as a modern collaboration and work platform with features for communication, document editing, teamwork, and mobile work. At the same time, a technical security approach was implemented that encrypts particularly sensitive content even before it is stored, thereby protecting it from unauthorized access. The focus is on an architectural model that does not treat data protection as an afterthought but enforces it technically: Content remains unreadable to unauthorized third parties—including platform operators. At the same time, employees can continue to work with the applications they’re accustomed to, without adding complexity to their daily routines. The presentation specifically highlights:

• What was the initial situation and what regulatory requirements existed within the administration?
• Why Traditional Protective Measures Alone Were Not Enough
• How Modern Cloud Usage and Carrier Exclusion Can Be Combined
• What organizational and technical success factors shaped the project
• What measurable efficiency gains have been achieved in day-to-day administrative operations
• What lessons other municipalities and public institutions can learn from this

Participants will gain a realistic insight into a successfully implemented digital transformation project in the public sector, going beyond theoretical strategy papers. The presentation is aimed at CIOs, CDOs, IT leaders, data protection officers, and decision-makers at the federal, state, and local levels who want to enable modern collaboration while strengthening digital sovereignty.