Great news today the French government have launched their own Visio video conferencing tool #digitalsovereignty
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Great news today the French government have launched their own Visio video conferencing tool #digitalsovereignty
But the PR stories, while explaining it is French built, don't mention it is Open Source and based on LiveKit - so any government can reuse what they have done.
@jim is this much different from jitsi?
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Great news today the French government have launched their own Visio video conferencing tool #digitalsovereignty
But the PR stories, while explaining it is French built, don't mention it is Open Source and based on LiveKit - so any government can reuse what they have done.
@jim On their Websites, the government says clearly that it is open source: "Suite #Visio. Simple. Open-source."
Visio website: https://lasuite.numerique.gouv.fr/produits/visio
They have also new products to stop with Google & Co: mail, docs, transfer, chat: https://lasuite.numerique.gouv.fr/ and their Mastodon Channel @lasuite#DINUM responsable for the #transition has an own server here: https://social.numerique.gouv.fr/about Collaborators like the @cnrs are here with several accounts.
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Great news today the French government have launched their own Visio video conferencing tool #digitalsovereignty
But the PR stories, while explaining it is French built, don't mention it is Open Source and based on LiveKit - so any government can reuse what they have done.
@jim one of the groups behind it is doing a talk at #fosdem this week https://fosdem.org/2026/schedule/event/THRG3E-la_suite_coop_model_for_digital_commons/
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@gfkdsgn These systems are intranet systems for the state and administration, and also for military. Therefore, they developped a completely independent system. https://www.numerique.gouv.fr/sinformer/espace-presse/souverainete-numerique-etat-visio-solution-visioconference-agents-publics/
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Why does a Zoom alternative need AI?
if LiveKit has US AI dependencies, that defeats the whole purpose of using it.
@Phosphenes They developped French AI, placed in France, using them for subtitles and transscripts of conferences. If you know the amount of papers in French administration, this can be a help. https://www.numerique.gouv.fr/sinformer/espace-presse/souverainete-numerique-etat-visio-solution-visioconference-agents-publics/
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@jim strange concept of Open Source in France. Why don't they use existing Free Software projects and give some money and help to them to increase the distance from the US? And after them all other EU countries. Moving seriously to Linux using Linux and FreeBSD servers and so on...
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@jim Bold choice of them to choose a name that is trademarked by Microsoft for an existing software package that's been around since 1992...
@j0ebaldw1n Visio is a normal word in French, the abbreviation of visioconférence. Normal words can't be trademarked so easily - and they use it only for France.
You can be sure that the state can afford the best solicitors.
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@humanhorseshoes @jim
It's MIT licenced, so if you know what you're doing, yeah.@ananas @humanhorseshoes @jim The linked article says no, so that's a little confusing.
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Great news today the French government have launched their own Visio video conferencing tool #digitalsovereignty
But the PR stories, while explaining it is French built, don't mention it is Open Source and based on LiveKit - so any government can reuse what they have done.
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@j0ebaldw1n Visio is a normal word in French, the abbreviation of visioconférence. Normal words can't be trademarked so easily - and they use it only for France.
You can be sure that the state can afford the best solicitors. @NatureMC @j0ebaldw1n @jim I find it very hard to believe that Microsoft doesn't already hold a trademark on the word that is valid in France.
https://branddb.wipo.int/en/similarname/brand/FR501998098727661
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@NatureMC @j0ebaldw1n @jim I find it very hard to believe that Microsoft doesn't already hold a trademark on the word that is valid in France.
https://branddb.wipo.int/en/similarname/brand/FR501998098727661
@gcvsa Let that be a problem for the French state's lawyers! BTW, the French product is called "Suite Visio" and it's part of "LaSuite" https://lasuite.numerique.gouv.fr/ (you have 23 trademarks for that word and they can co-exist because they are different.)
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@NatureMC @j0ebaldw1n @jim I find it very hard to believe that Microsoft doesn't already hold a trademark on the word that is valid in France.
https://branddb.wipo.int/en/similarname/brand/FR501998098727661
@gcvsa @NatureMC @jim They do, French trademark registration FR98727661, which applies to computer software and communication via an online service https://data.inpi.fr/marques/FR98727661?q=#FR98727661
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Great news today the French government have launched their own Visio video conferencing tool #digitalsovereignty
But the PR stories, while explaining it is French built, don't mention it is Open Source and based on LiveKit - so any government can reuse what they have done.
@jim Très bonne nouvelle ! 🇨
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Great news today the French government have launched their own Visio video conferencing tool #digitalsovereignty
But the PR stories, while explaining it is French built, don't mention it is Open Source and based on LiveKit - so any government can reuse what they have done.
@jim daily reminder that the secret french service signed a three year contract with palantir
https://21stcenturywire.com/2025/12/17/outsourcing-security-the-palantir-paradox-at-the-heart-of-french-intelligence/So I would not say the digital sovereignty is here
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@jim any idea why they created a new one instead of using Element Call or Jitsi? Especially Element Call would be more or less compatible with Tchap they are already using. Does Visio have any technological advantages over them?
@cos @jim
Short answer seems to be : scalability.
They have calling integrated in tchap, but don't advise it for calls with more than 2 people, they also have a jitsi-based service called "WebConf" which is advised for up to 50 people. Visio is up to 150 and Webinaire 350. All based on different technologies. -
@gemlog @jim We've not taken a look at that yet. So I can't say how compatible it would be.
We're trying to build from the idea of a multicast Internet, which is not the same design principle that this is being built on. They need to build an alternative for now with the internet that we currently have. Which isn't designed for multicast.
I do welcome having alternatives to zoom for our governmental infrastructure to use.
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@jim Can any EU citizen or company use this?
@humanhorseshoes @jim
Short answer : no, not just like that.
Slightly longer answer :
You could self-host the software on a server or find someone else that does it and would grant access to you thanks to it being open source, but the French state only offers its own hosted service ("Visio" etc.) to its employees. -
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