There has been much talk recently about making a more active effort to use European technology solutions. 55% of employees at BusinessCode have been thinking about changing to European technology alternatives in their personal lives, according to a small internal survey. A staggering 90% of respondents think we as a company should be trying to use more European technology alternatives. The most popular reasons for switching to European technology alternatives are independence, privacy and security.
It is no small task to switch to different tools – the majority of technological tools used in companies are US-based, such as Google and the range of Microsoft tools. As one respondent to the survey mentioned: the tools need to be standardised and established. This can only happen if there is an active push for these products. In this article we discuss a range of alternative European tools suitable for day-to-day use in the workplace.
Collaboration and Productivity
Let us start with tools which can be used for collaboration and productivity. Nextcloud is an open-source platform, which allows it to be self-hosted, thus offering users full control over their data. There are a variety of Nextcloud products, including Nextcloud Office which allows users to edit documents, spreadsheets, presentations and drawings in all major document formats. It also supports collaborative editing. Nextcloud Talk lets users chat and hold video calls and webinars in a completely collaborative environment. Of course, we need a calendar, contact list and mail service, all of which can be found in Nextcloud Groupware. Moreover, Nextcloud also allows for seamless integration with Microsoft products such as Teams and Outlook.
Another European open-source tool offering many of the same services as Nextcloud is Onlyoffice. Onlyoffice also offers a Jira alternative where projects can be created, tasks prioritised and deadlines set. This can all be viewed in a Gantt chart and allows for seamless integration with documents and the calendar. There are, of course, tools focussing solely on project management. For us as a software company, awork is particularly useful, as it offers multiple ways to view tasks. Users can see tasks as a Kanban board, a timeline or a list and it also offers time tracking. MeisterTask also offers a visual representation of task progress through a Kanban board. It also allows for task scheduling and calendar integration.
Are there European Chatbots?
When exploring virtual assistants, it’s worth considering the benefits of using Le Chat over more widely known options like ChatGPT. Le Chat, developed by Mistral AI, a French startup, offers a more tailored and context-aware experience. Unlike general-purpose AI models, Le Chat is designed to understand and adapt to your specific needs, making interactions more relevant and personalised. This can be particularly advantageous in scenarios where nuanced understanding and precise responses are crucial. Additionally, Le Chat places a strong emphasis on user privacy and data security, which is increasingly important in today’s digital landscape.
Where Can I Find More European Technology Alternatives?
There is no end of innovative European tech on the market, and if we are serious about becoming more self-reliant, then we need to experiment and try out this technology. Across all the AI-chatbots, the only real European alternative is Le Chat. The previous paragraph was written by the cat itself and clearly offers a genuine alternative to better known tools such as ChatGPT. If you are interested in finding out more about other alternatives, check out european-alternatives.eu, where you can find exactly the alternative you need for your requirements.
*The irony of advertising this blog post on LinkedIn is not lost on us.