France is accelerating a government-wide shift away from US technology platforms, replacing tools like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft Office with French and open-source alternatives. The push, which has been building since at least 2023, intensified in 2026 amid ongoing tensions between the Trump administration and Europe.
More than 40,000 French government staff have already begun using Visio, a homegrown video-calling platform, with a full transition away from US-based video tools planned by 2027. The platform, built on technology from French firms Outscale and Pyannote, supports calls of up to 150 people and includes AI transcription. Separately, messaging app Tchap has reached 420,000 active users, with 20,000 civil servants joining each month.
These tools are part of a broader productivity suite called LaSuite, developed by DINUM, France’s digital transformation ministry. The suite includes instant messaging, email, file sharing, document editing, and spreadsheet tools. All data processed through these alternatives must be stored in France with providers approved by the national cybersecurity agency ANSSI.
Stéphanie Schaer, head of DINUM, told WIRED the goal is for the French government to maintain control over its technology and keep data stored locally. “We are not dependent on just one actor that will tell us you have to use my video conference,” she said. French budget minister David Amiel has also called for the state to “break free” from American systems.
All central government agencies in France must submit plans to move away from US tech — covering office software, antivirus, AI, and databases — by this fall. On April 23, 2026, France also announced it would migrate its national health data platform from Microsoft to local cloud provider Scaleway. The Netherlands has taken a similar step, moving its open-source code off GitHub onto government-hosted servers.
The broader European shift is driven by concerns over data security, the unpredictability of US policy, and changing pricing — and France’s moves may signal the direction other governments on the continent could follow.
Source: WIRED