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ZDNET Highlights
- France is shutting down US videoconferencing services in favor of its own open-source program.
- Visio is being deployed now and will replace other services by 2027.
- Visio is part of a much larger EU move towards digital sovereignty.
This isn’t about the French government not trusting American tech companies… sorry, actually, it is. It’s all about France not trusting American companies with its data or services.
As David Amiel, French Minister-Delegate for Civil Service and State Reform, said: France is committed”To reclaim our digital freedom. We cannot afford to expose our scientific exchanges, our sensitive data and our strategic innovations to non-European actors.”
Also: Europe’s plan to ditch US tech giants is built on open source – and it’s taking hold
Therefore, France is ousting American tech giants from the French government. They Moving civil servants from Microsoft Teams and Zoom to a home videoconferencing platform called Visio – All in the name of sovereign control over its digital infrastructure.
Paris has taken this decision as a strategic break from dependence on American cloud and collaboration platforms. The French government is apparently linking this to the broader principle of “digital sovereignty.” This EU-based movement, which has been around for over a decade, is dedicated to proposing that EU countries should trust native EU tech companies, cloud services and platforms.
Non-European platforms will not be renewed
EU officials argue that relying on US-hosted services exposes government discussions to foreign laws, such as 2018 US Cloud ActWhich authorizes the US government to access data even when the servers are located on European soil.
Moving on to the practical details of the new videoconferencing scheme, the MIT-licensed, Open-source Visio It will be rolled out across all ministries and state agencies, becoming the default and eventually the exclusive videoconferencing tool for French government employees. Visio has no relation to the Microsoft diagramming and flowcharting program of the same name.
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Going forward, licenses for Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Webex, GoToMeeting and all other non-European platforms will not be renewed as departments relocate, with full deployment targeted by 2027.
France’s Interministerial Directorate for Digital Affairs (DINUM) developed Visio as a sovereign videoconferencing platform for the French State. Netherlands and Germany have also helped in its development. The program was created using DjangoOpen-source Python web framework; feedbackJavaScript libraries for building user interfaces (UIs); And livekitA scalable video conferencing system. Visio offers features like HD video calls, screen sharing, and chat.
It has been tested for about a year and already has about 40,000 regular users, with an expansion path to about 200,000 workers in the near term.
Also: Why even an American tech giant is now launching ‘sovereign support’ for Europe
Visio is part of a broader suite numeric The project is a family of open-source sovereign software programs designed to replace US services like Gmail, Slack, and other collaboration tools currently used by the French administration. As a modern conferencing product, Visio offers AI-powered transcription and speaker recognition, built on the French start-up’s technology. Pianotand integrates with existing secure messaging systems as Chapwhich runs on matrix protocol.
Officials said the software stack was developed with support from France’s cybersecurity agency ANSI to harden encryption and meet national security requirements.
France is taking this step not only to support digital sovereignty and improve security. The Elysée is also selling switches to save money and encourage local industry. Government estimates suggest that switching off external videoconferencing licenses could save around 1 million euros per year for every 100,000 users switching to Visio. The move is closely aligned with an EU-level effort to reduce reliance on major US cloud and software vendors; European Parliament Recently Adopted Resolutions Urge greater control over critical digital infrastructure and AI platforms.
When digital sovereignty becomes policy
France pivots to land at a time of rising transatlantic tensions over data security, antitrust and industrial policy. It also sends a clear signal that at least one major EU state, at the highest level, is keen to enshrine digital sovereignty as policy rather than a distant aspiration. Several other EU entities – including Austrian ministries, the Austrian military, the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, Danish government organizations and the French city of Lyon – are abandoning Microsoft programs in favor of domestic European alternatives.
Also: German state replaces Microsoft Exchange and Outlook with open-source email
Not everyone in Europe is enthusiastic about digital sovereignty. Börje Ekholm, CEO of Swedish telecom equipment firm Ericsson, said this recently in Davos. European discussions over sovereignty are “dangerous” And efforts to create domestic alternatives to American technology will drive up prices in the region.
Be that as it may, if Visio can match the usability and uptime of US companies while keeping data within European legal jurisdiction, Paris will have set a template for other countries seeking to move away from reliance on US technology.
