Case Study – Amnesty International Germany and XWiki
2025/10/27
XWiki is a GOLD sponsor of Open Source Experience and shares with us one of its successes in implementing an open source document management solution at Amnesty International. This global organization committed to defending human rights for over 60 years, with a presence in more than 150 countries. The organization focuses on critical issues such as freedom of expression, protection against torture, abolition of the death penalty, and refugee and migrant rights, through the passionate work of millions of members and volunteers.
The challenge
As an organization deeply rooted in volunteer-driven collaboration, Amnesty International Germany sought a collaborative knowledge management solution that reflected their values of openness, adaptability, and shared ownership. While familiar with tools like Typo3, the organization was looking for more suitable alternatives capable of serving a large user base while remaining flexible and affordable.
Identified needs
Amnesty International Germany had specific requirements for their new platform:
- Create an interactive knowledge base for members
- Provide a toolbox to build an intranet according to specific and evolving needs
- Implement a knowledge management system for numerous users with fast and easy access to information
- Integrate with an external identity provider to manage access and permissions
- Facilitate a process-based interface with Salesforce CRM
- Allow users to edit their profiles and search for other users
- Include features to inform users about updates to blogs, news channels, and newsletters
- Present a clear overview of planned events with custom forms for registration and participation
The proposed solution
After comparing several options and testing the tool through a local installation, Amnesty International Germany chose XWiki for its flexibility, cost-efficiency, and open-source community support. KnowledgeBase Consulting (KBC), an XWiki SAS Premium Partner specializing in supporting German organizations, led the project.
The solution included six key elements:
- Deployment of a cloud-hosted XWiki instance
- Development of a process-dependent interface to Salesforce CRM
- Coordinated integration with the Single Sign-On (SSO) solution
- Implementation of a playground subwiki for iterative co-development and testing
- Weekly alignment meetings between KBC and Amnesty International
- Training of the project manager for autonomous maintenance
Each partner played a distinct and complementary role. KBC provided technical consulting and support, training, and co-development of features. Amnesty International Germany defined the requirements, co-developed features, and managed the project. XWiki SAS provided hosting, server setup, domain configuration, and diagnosis.
Results
Amnesty International Germany’s technical team, already experienced in web technologies, quickly embraced XWiki’s extensibility. Following training from KBC, they began independently maintaining and evolving the platform.
The organization now benefits from a growing number of engaged intranet users, a flexible platform aligned with their needs, an internal team capable of driving future enhancements, and a clear structure for managing knowledge and community participation. As Board member and XWiki Tech Lead Jutta Schnabel notes, the approach brings together the community’s needs, volunteer enthusiasm, and programmers’ expertise to build tailored functionalities.
To learn more about XWiki’s approach and how the company can support you in your knowledge management projects, visit Open Source Experience on December 10-11 in Paris.
XWiki is a GOLD sponsor of Open Source Experience.
Register here to meet XWIKI team
