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25th anniversary as an IT security expert

A quarter of a century of IT security full of developments, common goals and commitment. A lot has happened in these years, a lot has changed. We look back on 25 years of growth and further development.

The Governikus success story began in 1999 when we won the German government's MEDIA@Komm city competition. The aim of the competition was to create innovative electronic services for citizens and businesses. Today, Governikus employs over 300 people at five locations across Germany, has a subsidiary and has expanded its portfolio beyond e-government to include the e-justice and e-health markets. What has made us stand out over the years? The great teamwork. We develop our solutions together and on an interdisciplinary basis. Different perspectives enrich us, make us strong and, above all, make our products and therefore Governikus successful.

By the way: With a bit of luck, you could win tickets for the Governikus Summit in our anniversary quiz!

Governikus Summit: 25 years of e-government expertise and a look into the future

Where do we come from? What successes have we celebrated and what crises have we overcome? What have we laughed about, what have we discussed? What changes has Governikus undergone in a quarter of a century? At the Governikus Summit on 25/26 February 2025, we want to look back on our past decades and talk about the future of administrative digitalization. Join us as we celebrate 25 years of success and look forward to inspiring presentations, exciting discussions and networking opportunities.

To the registration
25 years - nobody thought we could achieve that. At the time, we were not predicted long-term success with our company and our software solution. However, when the Federal Ministry of the Interior showed such great interest in our software after our 4-year funding period and wanted to use it nationwide, the knot was tied. That was an accolade for us at the time. Our thanks now go to every single employee, partner and customer who placed their trust in us from the very beginning and made this journey full of innovation, partnerships and further development possible. A vote of confidence that still impresses me today.
Stephan Klein (Managing Director Governikus)

We are celebrating our silver wedding anniversary. The most important constant of these 25 years? The interpersonal relationships and incomparable commitment that have characterized Governikus from the very beginning. In recent years, we have been able to help write a great piece of German digitalization history. We have experienced the rapid digital developments at first hand and have had to and been allowed to learn a lot in the process.

What we have always paid attention to: Long-term, collegial and respectful cooperation with our customers, employees and partners. Countless people have accompanied Governikus in recent years, helped shape it and written unforgettable stories. Celebrate our anniversary with us and raise a glass to the past quarter of a century of Governikus - we are ready for another 25 years.

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Materna congratulates on 25 years of company history. We have continuously implemented numerous digitization projects in public authorities with Governikus, such as the special electronic mailbox for public authorities.
Ralf Hülsbömer (Senior Key Account Manager eJustice, Materna)

Where we come from and what shapes us

Our journey began on November 16, 1999, and we have come a long way since then. Since our foundation, we have been working to drive forward the digitalization of Germany with high-quality digital solutions in the areas of identities, communication and data. With IT solutions that make life safer and easier. Initially founded as a small start-up consisting of 10 employees under the name "bremen online services Entwicklungs- und Betriebsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG", the company was renamed Governikus in 2014. Shortly before this, the government passed the first Digital Signature Act, which was intended to create the framework conditions for the use of digital signatures in e-government and e-commerce. This opened up previously unused opportunities to digitize services from the administration and private service providers in a legally secure manner. The subsequent competition organized by the German government to put the law into practice marked the beginning of Governikus' 25-year company history, which today makes it a pioneer in e-government and e-justice.

Today, our product portfolio includes solutions for the public sector and electronic legal transactions, which are also valued in other sectors due to the implementation of national and European legal requirements. Many of the solutions are standard applications in eGovernment and eJustice, such as Anwendung Governikus, a product of the IT Planning Council, which is used throughout German eGovernment. The EGVP system of the German justice system is also based on this infrastructure. In February of this year, we expanded our product portfolio to include IT solutions for environmental protection and waste management by acquiring ITU. And that is not the end of the story, because standing still means going backwards. Our mission therefore remains the same for the future: to protect digital data and identities - for end-to-end digitalization in Germany.

Management ITU and Governikus

Together from digital change to digital advantage

Over the past two and a half decades, we have had the privilege of writing a great piece of German digitization history. We have experienced the rapid digital developments at first hand and have had to and been allowed to learn a lot in the process. We celebrated under a shower of confetti, laughed a lot, but also overcame numerous crises. We have changed and yet remained true to ourselves. What we have always focused on: long-term and respectful cooperation with our customers and partners.

Let us toast our company anniversary together and look forward to an exciting future, new products, new partners and new challenges. We would like to thank all those who have been our business partners and friends, who have remained loyal to us and who continue to encourage us to pursue our goal: To prepare you today for what you will need tomorrow.

A good occasion to look back on 25 years ...

1998

The start of something big

Federal government calls for a city competition on the subject of eAdministration

1999

Start-up company

MEDIA@Komm e-government competition: the concept of an online platform for legally binding transactions wins. The Bremen Senate decides to found a company as a public-private partnership to realize the concept: bos - a young team of 10 employees, innovative, with a view to the digital future. Stephan Klein and his business partners found the citizens' portal "bremen online services".
2000

Citizens' portal "bremer online service

There will soon be no need to go to the office: bos presents secure and legally binding online transactions based on the OSCI standard. A forward-looking project, as we now know.
2001

Governikus - a fat milestone

The first standardized application for implementing the OSCI protocol - then called OSCAR - comes from Bremen. The development of this security middleware has significantly guided our path and is the basis for many innovative and solid developments.
2002

Success travels the world

The Bremen eGovernment model is in demand at the "Microsoft eGovernment Leaders' Conference" in Seattle and the "Softexpo" in Seoul. The first foundations for .NET development are also laid in 2002. The bos team grows to over 50 employees.
2003

Double victory

Federal Virtual Mailroom and "E-Government Award". In the category "The role of e-government for European competitiveness", we and the strategy of the Bremen administration are unbeatable. the (German) Federal Government secures the license rights to Governikus, which acts as the basic component of the federal government's VPS.
2004

"Governikus care project"

Eight federal states join the framework agreement with KoopA for the further development of Governikus. This means that local authorities in these states can also access the security middleware. bos - from project company to successful commercial enterprise.
2005/2006

Governikus celebrates its 5th birthday in 2006

at the CeBIT. The the (German) Federal Government, now 11 federal states and their municipalities use the latest version of Governikus. We introduce ITIL to ensure quality and service.
2007

Electronic court and administrative mailbox (EGVP)

is introduced in over 100 judicial authorities throughout Germany. And: .NET finds its way into bos development, which until then had mainly focused on Java.
2008/2009

bos goes Europe

The EU projects PEPPOL and SPOCS are keeping us busy. At national level, we are focusing our attention on the new ID card and the long-term storage of evidence. Trendsetting developments, as we will see! And: bos is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
2010

The new IT Planning Council

and the National eGovernment Strategy are launched. The Anwendung Governikus is also involved. "Work and family" certificate: In regular audits, we work to make it as easy as possible for our employees to combine work and family life.
2011/2012

The Governikus portfolio is being continuously expanded

In addition to OSCI, De-Mail is also being introduced. The result: We are equipping ourselves
for the eGovernment Act and the EU eIDAS Regulation. In order to meet the
To do justice to everything, we are setting the course for agile development methods.
2013

E-Government Act and the e-Justice initiative are here

Our customers are well prepared with Governikus! So that this also applies to
the EU regulation remains as it is, we are still in contact with the EU Commission.
We are involved with ETSI and are participating in the large-scale EU project e-SENS
on board.
2014

Governikus prevails

We turn our product brand into a corporate brand and bremen online services (bos) becomes Governikus!
In the same year, the federal government's AusweisApp2 was also published - one of the BMI's first agile software projects.
2015

Trustworthy communication

Governikus signs the charter to strengthen trustworthy communication. Bavaria joins the "Pflege Governikus" contract of the ITPLR-Anwendung Governikus .

2016

Desire for diversity in the workforce

By signing the Diversity Charter, Governikus underlines its desire for a diverse workforce. In addition, Baden-Württemberg becomes the 16th federal state to join the "Pflege Governikus" agreement.

Governikus is taking over the consortium management of the EU TREATS project with the aim of ensuring that all German eID servers are eIDAS-capable and the necessary extensions for eID applications, citizen services and service accounts are implemented in 2017.

2017

Things are moving forward

In NRW, the Servicekonto.nrw goes live on the basis of Governikus components from the Secure Identity area. Governikus is the consortium leader in the European Commission's TREATS project. The aim is to make the eID infrastructure in Germany eIDAS-capable.

2018

We focus on expansion and innovation

Relocation of the company headquarters to Hochschulring at the University of Bremen, founding of the cooperative "Govdigital eG" and opening of new branches in Erfurt, Cologne and Berlin. AusweisIDent is introduced at the same time.

2019

Shares in Governikus go to FHB

The FHB (state) takes over the shares of the private co-shareholders in Governikus KG. The City of Bremen therefore holds 55.1% and the State of Bremen 44.9% of Governikus KG.

2020

Commissioned by the IT Planning Council

IT Planning Council commissions Bremen and Bavaria to design a standardized company account for all federal states as part of the OZG; Mein UK is created. Holger Mohrmann joins the management board.

 

2021

Bigger and bigger

Governikus employs more than 200 people for the first time.

2023

Governikus is still represented

The newest branch opens in Kempten (Allgäu) on March 1.

2024

Takeover of the ITU

Governikus has signed the purchase agreement for the acquisition of Consist ITU GmbH from Hamburg. The Bremen-based IT security expert is thus expanding its product portfolio to include IT solutions for environmental protection and waste management. In addition, 300 people are already employed by us this year.

A journey through 25 years: test your knowledge and win!

We have been looking after you - our customers and partners - with passion, sweat and a portion of grit for 25 years.

Celebrate our birthday with us: quiz your way through exciting questions and, with a bit of luck, win 1 of 3 tickets for the Governikus Summit 2025 including get-together.

 

To the anniversary quiz