Italy’s Ministry of Defence has quietly replaced Microsoft Office with LibreOffice across over 100,000 military computers. The LibreDifesa project was designed to save public funds and improve long-term autonomy.
But beyond the cost savings, the defense sector has emphasized the importance of verifiability and security in national IT systems. In doing so, Italy is strengthening cloud computing security at one of the most sensitive levels of government.
Italy’s defence establishment rarely makes waves in tech media, yet its LibreDifesa project is rewriting procurement orthodoxy. Frustrated by spiralling Office 365 renewals—deemed “strategic debt” by the Corte dei Conti—the Army began pilots in 2016, moving 5 000 PCs to LibreOffice. By 2024 the figure exceeded 100 000 across all armed forces, saving an estimated €29 million. But the project is now less about spreadsheets than doctrine. The Ministry’s 2025 Digitalisation White Paper links document sovereignty to NATO Article 3 obligations: if allies must “develop resilience,” then owning the document stack is as vital as fuel logistics. LibreDifesa’s playbook is rigorous. Step 1: convert all editable formats to ODF and purge macros that call proprietary DLLs. Step 2: integrate digital-signature modules that comply with eIDAS. Step 3: containerise LibreOffice Online behind a hardened reverse proxy so classified briefs never touch foreign SaaS. Analysts highlight a side benefit: every euro saved on licences funds cyber-range exercises, closing the loop between thrift and preparedness. The Army’s CIO reports that, post-migration, patch cycles shortened because security fixes ship through the upstream LibreOffice channel instead of quarterly Microsoft bundles—an unsung boost to cloud computing security in a sector where zero-day latency can cost lives. LibreDifesa’s success has spurred the Ministry of Justice to run its own LibreJustitia pilot, suggesting that defence once again sets the pace for civilian IT reform in Italy.