Empowering the Public Sector with OpenProject: An Open Source alternative for project management
At a time when digital sovereignty and transparency are essential for governmental institutions, OpenProject offers secure, open source project management and team collaboration software tailored to public sector needs.
Whether it’s resource-heavy infrastructure projects or multi-stakeholder policy implementations, public administrations across Europe are already leveraging its flexible features, such as work packages, Gantt charts, agile boards, time & cost tracking, wikis, and meeting management. This helps them to professionalize workflows while maintaining full control over their data.
OpenProject in Public Sector implementations
Many different public institutions already rely on OpenProject to manage their projects and organize their teams. They have implemented a wide range of use cases. We spoke personally with some of our customers and would like to give a short overview of how they use OpenProject to achieve their goals.
The Federal IT Cooperation (FITKO)
Within the openDesk framework, FITKO uses OpenProject for centralized coordination of IT standardization and to prepare and conduct the IT Planning Board Meetings. Key benefits include meeting management, documentation workflows, Nextcloud integration to link work packages and documents, and secure multi-stakeholder collaboration.
Read the case study: FITKO and OpenProject
Bureau de district d’Enzkreis
At the District Office Enzkreis OpenProject supports major projects like implementing the Bundesteilhabegesetz and internal change initiatives. What are its strengths for this organization? Visualization in Gantt charts, real-time information exchange, efficient meeting agendas and minutes, and @-mentions for easy communication.
Read the case study: District Office Enzkreis and OpenProject
Ville de Constance
Through features like Gantt charts, Kanban boards, and integrated resource planning, Constance transformed its construction management and facility maintenance into collaborative, transparent, and accountable processes and manages their public order office seamlessly in one platform.
Read the case study: City of Constance and OpenProject
City of Chemnitz
As a hub for hundreds of public and culture-related projects, Chemnitz works with OpenProject to manage multiple projects with standardized templates, which accelerated project planning by 80%. It benefits from its self-hosted on-premises version to maintain their data sovereignty.
Read the interview: City of Chemnitz and OpenProject
City of Cologne
City of Cologne is managing a huge project portfolio in OpenProject and is actively contributing as a sponsor for project portfolio management, the Nextcloud integration, and scheduling and progress reporting features.
Brandenburg State Parliament
OpenProject plays a central role in advancing digital governance and transparency for the State Parliament of Brandenburg. With its flexible agile boards, meeting management, and workflows, the parliament coordinates initiatives, legislative processes, and digital strategy implementation. Teams streamline planning, track tasks, and collaborate smoothly across departments, all while maintaining full data sovereignty by self-hosting.
Explore how OpenProject supports the public sector and helps customers succeed.
From strategy to execution: How PMFlex guides public sector success
OpenProject doesn’t just handle individual projects. It aligns perfectly with structured public sector methodologies like PMFlex. PMFlex is a – flexible – adaptation of the European PM² standard for project management. As a comprehensive strategy management solution, it links strategic goals with specific key performance indicators and enables end-to-end control at the portfolio, program, and project levels.
Using PMFlex as a framework, organizations clearly define roles, like Project Core Teams and Steering Committees. Along with phases and phase gates, while still being able to work agile inside the execution phase.
Example with PMFlex: On portfolio, program, and project levels
Public institutions often manage complex initiatives on multiple levels. With OpenProject, these align with PMFlex structures:
| PMFlex Level | In OpenProject | How it helps |
|---|---|---|
| Portfolio | Portfolio overviews (project lists, dashboards, reports) | Aligns initiatives with political goals and digital agendas. |
| Program | Aggregated views via parent projects with subprojects, global user visibility | Ensures synergy across interrelated projects and shared resources. |
| Project | Phases, gates, agile boards, work packages, wikis and more | Keeps teams on track, transparent, and audit-ready. |
In addition to the features mentioned above, OpenProject’s Meetings module offers the possibility to discuss tasks, risks, and strategies easily and in an audit-proof manner within the system at all levels. And, of course, the highly specific roles and permissions system in OpenProject allows all stakeholders to do exactly what their role requires – no more, no less.
In this way, public organizations can easily track progress on PMFlex indicators, prepare for formal gate reviews, and document results for stakeholders and audit institutions – all in one secure, open source environment.
Top features for the Public Administration
| Feature | Benefit |
|---|---|
| Work packages | Clear task assignment, status tracking, visibility |
| Gantt charts | Long-term planning, dependency management |
| Agile boards | Hybrid workflows, flexible prioritization |
| Time & cost tracking | Budget oversight, resource balancing |
| Meetings module | Streamlined agendas, documented decisions |
| Wikis | Knowledge base, shared documentation |
| Nextcloud integration | All important documents linked to work packages |
These features, powered by OpenProject, significantly reduce administrative overhead, foster team collaboration and informed decision-making, and help organizations remain GDPR compliant.
Data sovereignty is more than a buzzword
At OpenProject, data sovereignty is a core principle and not just a buzzword. Public sector organizations can choose between secure cloud hosting in a certified European data center or full control through self-managed on-premises installations. Both options ensure complete ownership and control of sensitive data, in full compliance with European regulations.
OpenProject is fully open source, licensed under GNU GPL v3. Its source code is publicly available on GitHub and openCoDE, providing full transparency and auditability. This openness not only strengthens trust, it enhances security by enabling early detection and resolution of potential vulnerabilities.
Free from vendor lock-in, organizations are empowered to adapt and extend the software as needed. For those seeking additional features and expert support, OpenProject GmbH offers affordable Enterprise packages that are still significantly more cost-effective than proprietary solutions like Microsoft Project or Atlassian Jira.
Ready for digital transformation?
OpenProject empowers public organizations to break free from siloed communication, manual tracking and workflows, and costly vendor lock-ins. By combining open standards with robust collaboration tools, it enables secure, transparent, and efficient governance.
Curious how OpenProject can support your administration? Get in touch with us and we are happy to share more insights into our different use cases.
