Estonia explores reducing reliance on US technology in public sector

Estonia is analyzing the feasibility of reducing its reliance on US technology companies such as Microsoft, Google and Amazon in public-sector IT systems, public broadcaster ERR reported on Friday.

The review comes as the State IT Center (RIT) continues transferring government and state agency workstations to a centrally managed, cloud-based system, currently built mainly on Microsoft 365.

RIT Director Ergo Tars said there are no plans to fully abandon US providers, but alternative solutions will be tested as part of a pilot project starting this fall.

Tars said the assessment is linked to broader European discussions on digital sovereignty and potential risks associated with dependence on non-European IT infrastructure, including data security, costs and service disruptions.

"If a decision were made in the European Union that American products are no longer trusted, then what situation would we be in... In that case there would not be much difference whether it is Microsoft, Amazon or Google. Then we would have to look purely at Europe-based products," Tars said.

The move aligns with similar initiatives elsewhere in Europe. France has announced plans to replace Microsoft Teams, Zoom and other foreign video conferencing tools with its own platform, Visio, across all government departments by 2027, citing security, cost savings and digital independence.

RIT estimates that around 15,000 of Estonia's roughly 25,000 government workstations could move to its centrally managed system within two years, though officials say a full shift away from US technology remains unlikely in the near term.