Editorial Views
Policies must be developed with ‘digital sovereignty’ in mind
Recently, the French government has made the decision to cease the use of US-owned platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft’s Meet, along with other similar "online video conferencing platforms" within government offices. The decision indicates that France aims to eliminate the use of video conferencing software from the US or any foreign nation across all levels of government and the private sector by the year 2027. Officials stated that numerous sensitive and significant state matters are being discussed on these platforms, and the data from these discussions is stored on US servers, which compromises France’s digital sovereignty. Simultaneously, it was announced that France will spearhead efforts to promote the implementation of a coordinated 'digital sovereignty' policy among European Union member states. In a related development, another European nation, Austria, has declared its intention to gradually phase out the use of Microsoft’s Office software, opting instead to adopt its own Office suite universally. This decision has been made by the royal family.