Digital Sovereignty: Learning from France

V Video conferences are now part of everyday life for most office workers. As a rule, software from US providers such as Microsoft, Google, Zoom, Cisco is used. France is now taking a different approach: it is introducing the domestically hosted and open source-based video conferencing software Visio for all state institutions. The pilot phase has already been completed and the switch from Big Tech to the French Visio should be completed the following year.

And Germany like that? The Bundeswehr is getting a new cloud service and is working with Google for it. In Bavaria, the finance minister there wants to extend contracts with Microsoft in order to use their software in the state administration for another five years. The The city of Hanover is planning to change its school platform to Microsoft. Digital independence? Doesn’t seem to be a priority.

Of course there are positive examples in Germany too. For example, Schleswig-Holstein, which is in the middle of switching to open source software, i.e. software in which the programming code is public. But there is a lack of general awareness of the risks of relying on US services. Just one example: Trump can order US companies to stop providing critical services, for example to individual customers or entire countries. Then companies and authorities in Germany would quickly lose services that are essential to them.

Of course, switching is not easy and cannot be done overnight, as the example of Schleswig-Holstein shows. The dependencies on services like Microsoft have grown over the years. And many users react angrily when they find the button for printing in the top right corner instead of in the middle at the top left. But that’s more of a reason to make a switch quickly. Because those who remain dependentruns the risk of having to look for alternatives very suddenly and involuntarily.