{"id":3239,"date":"2026-04-13T12:00:57","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T12:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dsrnews.eu\/magazine-eur\/?page_id=3239"},"modified":"2026-04-28T13:47:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T13:47:06","slug":"interview-clemens-moslinger-cio-austrian-federal-chancellery-0122","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.dsrnews.eu\/magazine-eur\/edition-01-2026\/interview-clemens-moslinger-cio-austrian-federal-chancellery-0122\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview Clemens M\u00f6slinger CIO Austrian Federal Chancellery – 0122"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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FORESIGHT<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Austrian CIO Clemens M\u00f6slinger on sovereignty, resilience, and the realities of government IT<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u201cIn a crisis, the government must still be able to operate\u201d<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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When Clemens M\u00f6slinger talks about digital resilience, he does not start with technology. He starts with responsibility. \u201cIf a company cannot operate during a crisis, it\u2019s a problem for that company,\u201d he says. \u201cBut when a crisis hits a country, everybody turns to the government. That means the government must always be able to operate.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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TEXT: SANDER HULSMAN\u00a0 IMAGE: European Resilience Summit<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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As CIO of the Austrian Federal Chancellery, M\u00f6slinger carries exactly that responsibility: ensuring that the government of Austria can function under any circumstances, including cyberattacks, geopolitical disruptions or even large-scale infrastructure failures. His perspective on digital sovereignty and resilience is therefore not theoretical. It is operational. And increasingly, it is European.<\/p>

Clemens M\u00f6slinger<\/a> recently participated in the European Resilience Summit in London<\/a>, where he was part of the panel discussion \u2018Resilience on the global scale\u2019. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of ERS Vienna.<\/p>

From paper courtrooms to digital government<\/h4>

M\u00f6slinger\u2019s journey into government IT started in 2010, when he became CIO of Austria\u2019s Constitutional Court. At the time, the organisation was still heavily dependent on paper-based processes. \u201cThe IT environment was basically from the 1980s,\u201d he recalls. \u201cOur task was to bring the Constitutional Court into the digital era.\u201d<\/p>

Over the next eight years, he led the transformation of the court\u2019s processes, replacing paper workflows with digital systems. \u201cWe redesigned all the processes and created a completely digital workflow from lawyer to lawyer. There were no interruptions where you switch back to paper and then digital again.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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You cannot just install technology and expect everything to work. You have to understand the processes first<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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For the court system, the impact was significant. \u201cSuddenly the whole legal process could run digitally. That changed the speed, efficiency and transparency of the system.\u201d<\/p>

The project also gave him deep insight into how complex public sector organisations operate. \u201cYou cannot just install technology and expect everything to work,\u201d he says. \u201cYou have to understand the processes first.\u201d<\/p>

Building cybersecurity from scratch<\/h4>

In 2018, M\u00f6slinger was asked to move to the Federal Chancellery and establish a completely new department: cybersecurity. \u201cAt that time, there was no cybersecurity department in the Chancellery,\u201d he explains. \u201cSo, my job was to build it.\u201d<\/p>

He became CISO of the Federal Chancellery and was responsible for strategic cybersecurity policy for the Austrian government. That included implementing the European NIS Directive and contributing to discussions around it. It did not take long before the role was tested. \u201cWe experienced the first really large cyber incident affecting the Austrian government,\u201d he says.<\/p>

The attack targeted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and required a coordinated response involving government leaders, security agencies, and law enforcement. \u201cIt was the first big cyber crisis for the Republic of Austria. We learned a lot from that.\u201d The experience reinforced a lesson that would later shape his thinking about digital sovereignty. \u201cIn a crisis, the government must be able to act immediately. There is no time to discover that systems are unavailable.\u201d<\/p>

From CISO to CIO<\/h4>

Last year, M\u00f6slinger became CIO of the Federal Chancellery, expanding his responsibilities beyond cybersecurity to the broader IT landscape of the Austrian government. The structure of that landscape is unusual. Austria currently has thirteen federal ministries. Under the constitution, each minister heads an autonomous organisation. \u201cIn Germany, the ministries are formally under the Federal Chancellery,\u201d he explains. \u201cBut in Austria, every ministry is its own highest entity.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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We brought together the people who actually do the work not just the managers<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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That means the Chancellery cannot simply impose centralised IT policies. \u201cEveryone can theoretically do what they think is best for their ministry.\u201d Instead, coordination, and collaboration become essential. \u201cWe try to bring people together, share best practices, and align strategies,\u201d he says.<\/p>

Building communities across government<\/h4>

To strengthen collaboration across the public sector, M\u00f6slinger helped establish several networks connecting government technology leaders. These include CIO, CISO, and digitalisation communities where professionals from different ministries meet regularly to exchange experiences. One initiative he is particularly proud of is the creation of a federal cloud community. \u201cWe brought together the people who actually do the work (cloud architects, GDPR specialists, AI experts), not just the managers,\u201d he explains.<\/p>

The initiative has already grown beyond the federal government. Austria consists of nine regional states, known as Bundesl\u00e4nder<\/em>. Initially the community focused only on federal institutions, but demand quickly emerged from the regional level. \u201cSo, we opened the community to the Bundesl\u00e4nder as well,\u201d he says.<\/p>

At a recent meeting, around eighty participants attended. \u201cThe feedback was extremely positive. People finally had the opportunity to exchange experiences and discuss real problems.\u201d For M\u00f6slinger, the key to collaboration is simple: people need to know each other. \u201cIf you know someone personally, it becomes much easier to work together.\u201d<\/p>

Why sovereignty suddenly matters<\/h4>

While digital sovereignty has been discussed in Europe for years, M\u00f6slinger believes the geopolitical landscape has changed the urgency of the debate. \u201cIf you had asked me three years ago about our relationship with the United States, I would have said they are our friends,\u201d he says. \u201cBut the world is changing.\u201d<\/p>

Concerns about geopolitical tensions, intelligence laws and technological dependencies are becoming more prominent. At the same time, many large technology vendors are moving their services entirely into the cloud. \u201cThey are ending on-premises options and forcing customers into cloud services,\u201d he says. For governments, that can create uncomfortable dependencies.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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How can we be sure that no backdoors are introduced, or that security fixes are delivered quickly and safely?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Building on that perspective, M\u00f6slinger also raises critical questions about the role of open-source communities in government environments. \u201cOpen-source communities are very important,\u201d he says. \u201cBut who are these communities? Who are the people behind them, and how can we be sure they act in the interest of the common good?\u201d<\/p>

He points to potential risks when critical components are maintained by only a limited number of contributors. \u201cIs that truly resilient? How can we be sure that no backdoors are introduced, or that security fixes are delivered quickly and safely?\u201d For governments, he argues, this raises fundamental questions about trust, governance, and the need for continuous oversight of critical software components.<\/p>

The blackout scenario<\/h4>

To explain his thinking, M\u00f6slinger often uses a simple scenario. Imagine a nationwide blackout. \u201cIf a private company cannot operate during a blackout, its competitor probably cannot operate either,\u201d he says. \u201cBut when a crisis happens, the entire country looks to the government.\u201d<\/p>

That means government systems must remain operational even when other infrastructure fails. \u201cIf I move all our services into cloud data centres outside Austria, and the connection is gone, what happens?\u201d He pauses for a moment. \u201cThen the Chancellor goes on television and says: I\u2019m sorry, we cannot manage the crisis because we cannot access our systems.\u201d For M\u00f6slinger, that scenario is unacceptable.<\/p>

Bringing critical systems back<\/h4>

As a result, the Austrian government is identifying critical services that must always remain operational. \u201cThese core services need to be as close to us as possible,\u201d he says. In practice, that means moving certain systems back into government-controlled data centres.<\/p>

At the same time, the government is exploring open-source alternatives to large commercial platforms. One example is the replacement of VMware with Proxmox. For M\u00f6slinger, Proxmox is just one example of a broader shift. \u201cIt\u2019s an Austrian company based in Vienna, with development happening locally. We would be crazy not to use it,\u201d he says.<\/p>

Across the Austrian government, similar initiatives are emerging. The Ministry of Defence, for example, has rolled out LibreOffice across its organisation and actively contributes improvements back to the open-source community. The Ministry of Economics has adopted the Nextcloud stack, using its full suite of applications.<\/p>

For M\u00f6slinger, the strategic value is clear. \u201cThe key factor is choice. I decide what I use, and if I no longer want to use it, I can switch. That decision should be mine<\/span>,<\/span> not dictated by a vendor.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Not all services need to be treated the same way. \u201cIf the website of the Chancellery goes offline, it\u2019s not ideal, but it\u2019s not critical,\u201d he explains. \u201cBut some services must always be available.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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If the private sector offers twice as much, it becomes very difficult to attract people<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The real constraint: resources<\/h4>

Despite clear strategic priorities, implementation is not always straightforward. \u201cOur biggest challenge right now is budget,\u201d he says. Across Europe, government IT budgets are under pressure while technology costs continue to rise. \u201cMany cloud services are becoming more expensive, while our budgets are shrinking.\u201d<\/p>

At the same time, governments struggle to compete with the private sector when hiring skilled professionals. \u201cIn government, salaries are fixed,\u201d he says. \u201cIf the private sector offers twice as much, it becomes very difficult to attract people.\u201d<\/p>

Life as a security leader<\/h4>

Before becoming CIO, M\u00f6slinger spent eight years as CISO of the Federal Chancellery. It was a role that came with significant pressure. \u201cThere are things I can change, and things I cannot change,\u201d he says. \u201cYou have to accept that you cannot solve every problem in the world.\u201d<\/p>

But some responsibilities cannot be ignored. \u201cIf my phone rings at night, I answer it. That\u2019s part of the job.\u201d<\/p>

Looking beyond the Austrian bubble<\/h4>

While his work focuses on Austria, M\u00f6slinger believes resilience ultimately requires European cooperation. \u201cMany countries still operate within their national bubbles,\u201d he says.<\/p>

Breaking those bubbles is one of the reasons he supports the European Resilience Summit (ERS) Vienna 2026. \u201cI travel a lot and visit other governments because I want to see how they solve problems.\u201d<\/p>

He actively brings these insights back to Austria. \u201cLast year, I organized visits for Austrian government CIOs to Germany,\u201d he explains. \u201cIn Th\u00fcringen, we saw a highly automated open-source data centre, and in Schleswig-Holstein, the government has fully transitioned to open source.\u201d<\/p>

For him, these visits are essential. \u201cIt\u2019s important to see how it can be done and to speak directly with the people who implemented it. Where did they face challenges, and what would they do differently next time?\u201d<\/p>

He also highlights the importance of supply chain visibility, pointing to the United Kingdom as an example. \u201cThe UK has a very detailed overview of its supply chains. That\u2019s something we will all need in the future.\u201d<\/p>

Sharing those experiences across Europe is essential, he believes. \u201cWe all face similar challenges. If we collaborate and exchange ideas, we can become stronger together.\u201d And that, ultimately, may be the real meaning of digital resilience. \"\"<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Clemens M\u00f6slinger & ERS Vienna<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Clemens M\u00f6slinger is a member of the Advisory Board of ERS Vienna. This board includes many influential Austrian CIOs who work together on strategies for digital resilience and innovation. Read more about:<\/p>