Homebrewed video conferencing may not be a moonshot, but you gotta start somewhere.
For months now, Europe has threatened action against American big tech companies in response to Trump’s trade war with the bloc. With recent escalations over the controversial American bid for Greenland, some European countries might follow suit.
The French government announced that it will stop using American video conferencing platforms such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom, and replace them with Visio, a French platform.
“The aim is to end the use of non-European solutions and guarantee the security and confidentiality of public electronic communications by relying on a powerful and sovereign tool,” France’s delegated minister for the civil service and state reform, David Amiel, said. “This strategy highlights France’s commitment to digital sovereignty amid rising geopolitical tensions and fears of foreign surveillance or service disruptions.”
Visio, which the French government will start using in 2027, is a part of the Suite Numérique, a set of open-source applications designed for public servants and developed by the French government in collaboration with the Netherlands and Germany.
