Belgium is the next European country to take communication between public workers into its own hands. No more WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger, it's Beam from now on.
*Beam has been developed by the state-backed company Belgian Secure Communications (BSC). It will eventually be used by around 750,000 public sector employees and military personnel.*
#DigitalAutonomy #BigTech #SecureCommunication #Matrix
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It should come as no surprise that Beam is based on Matrix.
France and Germany have set a good example, France has TChap, Germany uses BwMessenger and TI-Messenger, all based on Matrix.
Let's hope all other a European countries and the EU itself will follow these examples, fast...
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@TimothyRoes That's what I hope too.
I've been trying to convince people to use #Matrix since 2018, with limited success, but news like this should give us extra leverage 😎
@TimothyRoes What's their biggest problem? "It's too complicated"? "Not yet another chat app"?
Onboarding is a key component, which requires a nicely configured server and Luddite-friendly documentation.
The latter is a lot more work than the former...
@TimothyRoes Ouch, difficult for me to understand that, I'd rip that box open as soon as it's delivered.
Tricky to get the uninterested on board. Mayby some subtle coercion by only sharing the fun stuff on #Matrix, and laughing loudly when a new message arrives..?
But you work in law, maybe that classic Monty Python sketch holds some truth? 😇
@TimothyRoes I have more or less blackmailed people to join, simply by leaving #WhatApp long ago. When Suckerberg bought it, that was my cue.
At that time they had the choice to keep in contact via Signal, SMS or e-mail, or not at all. I lost many connections there, but not the really important ones: the people that found it worthwhile to keep in touch.
Matrix is trickier, especially if you already "forced" people to Signal before...
But then, news items about governments starting to use #Matrix should help people understand that maybe it's the future.
Woefdram
Timothy Roes