Kubernetes as a Key Technology for Implementing the OZG in Saarland

Digital administration in Saarland is at a standstill. Only 29% of administrative services have been digitized under the Online Access Act (OZG) according to the Bitkom Länderindex, placing it last in the national comparison. Yet, there is no shortage of skilled professionals: the proportion of computer science trainees and students is above average. So, what is the issue?

One reason is technical: the administrative IT in Saarland is often based on outdated monolithic architectures. New services are difficult to integrate, scaling is complex, and reusability of existing components is lacking. This is where Kubernetes comes into play—as a foundation for modern, containerized administrative platforms.

Why Kubernetes?

Kubernetes is not just a hype. It is today’s de facto operating system for distributed software. Especially in the public sector, it offers three crucial advantages:

1. Standardization instead of chaos:

With Kubernetes, microservices, specialized procedures, and administrative services can be operated uniformly—regardless of the programming language, development team, or specific use case. This reduces maintenance costs in the long run and simplifies the transfer of services between municipalities.

2. Automation and resilience:

Kubernetes clusters monitor themselves. If a service fails, it is automatically restarted. Scaling happens dynamically—depending on the load. In a federal IT landscape with limited resources, these features are invaluable.

3. Portability and sovereignty:

A Kubernetes cluster runs anywhere: locally in the data center, on bare-metal servers, or in the cloud. This allows public entities to choose—whether to rely on a regional provider or use their own infrastructure. This is essential for digital sovereignty.

Why local? And why not in the public cloud?

Using Kubernetes is not a free pass for outsourcing to large hyperscalers. Where administrative data is processed, different rules apply. Cloud Act, extraterritorial access rights, and lack of legal certainty make US services highly risky for OZG services—even with GDPR certificates.

The solution lies in sovereign infrastructure: Kubernetes on local, ISO-27001-certified hardware, operated by European providers whose business model is not based on data exploitation.

Local expertise is available—we show how it’s done

At ayedo, we have been developing sovereign IT infrastructures for use in public and regulated environments for years. Our systems run in European data centers, are certified according to ISO 9001 and ISO/IEC 27001, and thus meet the highest standards of quality and information security.

We do not use Kubernetes as a buzzword, but as a foundation for scalable, secure, and service-centered architectures. We think in solutions, not products: modular, portable, transparent. We support authorities and municipal IT service providers in building and operating their Kubernetes clusters—locally, auditable, legally sound.

What is sold as innovation elsewhere has long been part of our everyday life. We believe in open standards, technological independence, and digital infrastructures that can be fully understood and controlled.

Conclusion

The sluggish implementation of the OZG in Saarland is not a resource problem but an infrastructure problem. Those who try to force microservices into legacy environments will fail. Those who want sovereignty and security need local operators, open-source standards—and Kubernetes as a technological foundation.

The good news: the technology is here. The expertise is too. The German Administrative Cloud Strategy shows the way—now the public sector in Saarland just needs the courage to move away from outdated structures.

It is not too late. But it is time.