Roadmap

On this page, we publish information about the things we plan for Sciebo in the future.

Short-term

• Implementation of BSI IT Baseline Protection. To better assess sciebo’s data protection level, the service will be secured according to the BSI IT Baseline Protection standard. The existing security level will be documented, and potential improvements will be implemented. This process will start in the first half of 2026.

Medium-term

• Update to Nextcloud 35. This is expected to take place in February 2027.
• Migration to new hardware. To ensure capacity for future growth, sciebo is being migrated to new hardware. The vast majority of this process will take place transparently in the background. Due to the scale of the project, completion is not expected until late 2026.
• A data management solution for sciebo, known as bridgit (https://sciebo-rds.github.io/), is set to become available soon. Bridgit focuses on data annotation and exporting data to external repositories.
• Improving Overleaf integration in sciebo. The current Overleaf integration in sciebo relies on a relatively old version of the Overleaf software. We are working on upgrading to a newer version to enable additional features. Unfortunately, it is not yet possible to predict how long this process will take.
• Improvements to account management. We are currently working on linking account validity periods more closely to university affiliation. In the long run, this will eliminate the need for the renewals currently required. We are also investigating the possibility of using university credentials for login instead of separate sciebo credentials.

Ongoing

• Desktop and mobile client updates. We will continue to release new versions of the branded clients as soon as they become available to us and no bugs are detected. We are currently testing version 34.0.4 and hope to release it during calendar week 41. In version 34, Nextcloud has significantly overhauled the user interface, and we hope users will find it easier to navigate.
• The branded iOS client is still awaiting release but should be ready for distribution soon.
• As part of our strategic planning, we are examining whether and how sciebo can be further expanded into a digitally sovereign workspace. This could involve integrating additional features such as video conferencing, an email client, a documentation platform, project management tools, chat functions, and AI support. However, we are still evaluating which specific tools might be used.

Long-term Perspective

Sciebo’s overarching goal is to provide a secure, reliable, and innovative cloud service that meets the needs of higher education institutions and undergoes continuous development. Sciebo’s strategic priorities include ensuring data security, enhancing usability, and integrating new technological trends to guarantee a digitally sovereign workplace. Looking ahead, we also aim to provide access to Sciebo for institutions not currently participating, though we must first establish the necessary financial and legal frameworks to do so.

Completed

• Update to Nextcloud 32. In addition to the usual improvements in stability and usability, there are notable new collaboration features. For instance, content from a wider range of apps can now be shared with users on other instances. More information on the release can be found at https://nextcloud.com/blog/nextcloud-hub25-autumn/
• Update to Nextcloud 33. According to Nextcloud, this release brings significant performance improvements for large-scale installations like sciebo. More details at https://nextcloud.com/blog/nextcloud-hub26-winter/
• Update to Nextcloud 34. This includes several bug fixes that we had previously only been able to integrate manually via patches.