A break with symbolism:
For fear of sanctions, the International Criminal Court is replacing US technology with a package from Germany – and could thus be at the beginning of a trend.
(Christof Kerkmann,10/30/2025 - 04:06)

Düsseldorf. It is a decision with political explosiveness: out of fear of reprisals by US President Donald Trump, the International Criminal Court (ICC) plans to make itself independent of technologies from the USA. According to Handelsblatt information, the international institution in The Hague, the Netherlands, is replacing Microsoft's workplace software through the German Open Desk solution.

The program package that Microsoft is to replace comes from the Center for Digital Sovereignty (Zendis), a federal company. Its mission is to strengthen the digital independence of public administration by resolving “critical dependencies on individual technology providers”. Open Desk as a program package with components from eight European software manufacturers is a central element.

Read more: