- France will replace Microsoft Teams and Zoom with the national Visio platform
- Visio has been tested for a year and supports forty thousand users
- Visio’s AI transcription and speaker registration are powered by French startup Pyannote
The French government has confirmed that it will replace Microsoft Teams and Zoom with a domestically developed video conferencing platform called Visio.
The change is planned to be implemented across all government departments by 2027 and is part of a broader strategy to reduce dependence on foreign software providers.
Officials cited concerns about security, data sovereignty and the possibility of foreign surveillance as the main motivations for the move.
Sovereign digital ecosystem
Visio has been in testing for about a year and already supports around 40,000 users within French government networks.
It is a central part of France’s Suite Numérique plan to provide public officials with online collaboration tools to replace US online services.
Unlike commercial platforms, Visio and its associated tools are intended exclusively for government use.
It is hosted on the sovereign cloud of Outscale, a subsidiary of Dassault Systèmes, which ensures that all user data remains within French jurisdiction.
This infrastructure is expected to limit exposure to foreign network disruptions and potential regulatory pressures that have previously affected Europe’s dependence on US cloud providers.
Visio also incorporates AI-powered capabilities, including meeting transcription and speaker journaling, developed in conjunction with French startup Pyannote.
The government noted that switching to Visio could generate significant cost savings and estimated a reduction of approximately €1 million per year per 100,000 users.
Visio is part of a broader effort to integrate office software and productivity tool alternatives into government workflows.
By adopting local options, the French administration aims to create an internally coherent ecosystem capable of replacing multiple foreign applications.
The change also reflects a broader European concern about dependence on US IT infrastructure, especially after major cloud disruptions last year.
“The objective is to put an end to the use of non-European solutions and guarantee the security and confidentiality of public electronic communications by relying on a powerful and sovereign tool,” said David Amiel, Minister of Public Service and State Reform.
“This strategy highlights France’s commitment to digital sovereignty amid rising geopolitical tensions and fears of foreign surveillance or disruptions to services.”
While the measure prioritizes data security and sovereignty, its implementation will require extensive coordination and training.
Government IT departments must integrate Visio with existing internal systems and ensure service continuity during the transition.
Visio will offer more control, but its ability to fully match the functionality and scalability of established business platforms remains uncertain.
Through Euronews
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