In an era where digital sovereignty is becoming a strategic priority, France is leading by example with a bold and pragmatic initiative: La Suite Numérique. Developed under the leadership of the Direction Interministérielle du Numérique (DINUM), this suite provides a fully open source, privacy-first ecosystem of collaborative tools specifically designed for public institutions — yet open to broader civil society and digital commons.
A Sovereign, Secure, and Open Digital Workspace
With its mission to “Create. Organize. Collaborate.”, La Suite Numérique offers a viable and mature alternative to proprietary platforms like Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. But unlike those commercial products, it is grounded in three non-negotiable principles:
- Digital sovereignty: full control over infrastructure, code, and data.
- Open source: all code is available on GitHub and code.gouv.fr, inviting transparency and collaboration.
- French and European legal compliance: all services are hosted within France on SecNumCloud-certified infrastructures by ANSSI (France’s National Agency for Information Systems Security), ensuring full GDPR compliance and resistance to extraterritorial regulations like the US Cloud Act.
Core Tools of La Suite Numérique
📝 Docs (Beta)
Docs is a modern, open source collaborative text editor that focuses on content over formatting. Built using Django REST, Next.js, and BlockNote.js, Docs enables:
- Real-time collaboration with granular permissions.
- AI-assisted editing (summarize, rephrase, beautify, translate).
- Offline editing and automatic syncing.
- Drag-and-drop block editing for text, tables, media, and files.
- Version history and export options in .odt, .doc, and .pdf.
Perfectly positioned as a sovereign alternative to Google Docs or Notion, Docs is designed for productivity, collaboration, and data ownership.
🔐 ProConnect
At the heart of La Suite Numérique lies ProConnect, a single-sign-on (SSO) authentication layer for secure access to all public digital services. ProConnect manages user identity while enabling:
- Integration with other French public platforms (Résana, WebConf, Webinaire, Audioconf).
- A seamless and consistent experience for public sector employees.
- Interoperability and easy integration for third-party services — including certified partners like Whaller, the French-made secure enterprise social network.
🛠 Complementary Services
ProConnect also provides streamlined access to a growing set of tools for messaging, conferencing, and collaboration — all hosted on sovereign, trusted infrastructure. These include:
- Résana (collaborative workspaces).
- Webinaire and WebConf (web conferencing).
- Audioconf (secure audio conferencing).
🛡️ Privacy and Security by Design
La Suite Numérique is designed from the ground up to offer end-to-end security and user autonomy. This includes:
- End-to-end encrypted services.
- Hosting exclusively within French borders.
- Adherence to strict data retention and protection policies.
- Transparency and traceability in all components.
No data is sent to or processed by non-European platforms. This guarantees resilience to geopolitical interference, and full alignment with European digital sovereignty goals.
Empowering Local Governments with La Suite Territoriale
La Suite Numérique also scales down — not just up. Through the La Suite Territoriale program, smaller municipalities (under 15,000 inhabitants) gain access to tools previously reserved for central administration. Deployed via the Agence Nationale de la Cohésion des Territoires (ANCT), this initiative ensures that digital modernization doesn’t leave smaller communities behind.
Each local entity can self-host or access pre-configured instances of La Suite tools, accelerating adoption without sacrificing autonomy or budget.
🌍 A European Collaboration for Open Digital Innovation
The La Suite Numérique project is not just French — it’s European by design. Built through a partnership between France’s DINUM and Germany’s ZenDiS, and now expanding to onboard countries like the Netherlands, this ecosystem is an example of how states can build together.
Its open codebase and modular architecture invite contributions from the private sector, developers, and civil society alike. The goal? Create an inclusive, open digital commons that serve both the public interest and public service.
Some of the key repositories and partners include:
🔄 Migration and Adoption Support
La Suite’s team offers full support for organizations wishing to migrate from proprietary systems. Services include:
- Audit and integration planning.
- Compatibility with existing workflows and tools.
- Expert-led training and demonstrations.
- Roadmap visibility and continuous updates.
Public sector IT teams can schedule a personalized demo to evaluate Docs, ProConnect, and the broader ecosystem, while benefiting from ongoing technical support.
Conclusion: Building the Future of Digital Public Infrastructure
La Suite Numérique is not just a suite of tools — it is a strategic initiative that embodies the European vision of digital autonomy, ethical innovation, and shared value.
In a world where the default is outsourcing critical digital infrastructure to foreign tech giants, La Suite Numérique offers an alternative: transparent, scalable, and open by default.
It’s a roadmap that other countries could — and should — follow. Because true digital transformation isn’t just about technology. It’s about values, trust, and putting citizens and public institutions back in control of their digital destinies.
