Teams | Collaboration | Customer Service | Project Management

It’s great to see another European government, this time Belgium, using the Matrix open standard as the foundation for digitally sovereign communications. Matrix enables digital sovereignty through decentralisation, self-hosting and interoperability. As a result, it gives governments full control over their data and operations.

‍For EU government organizations and critical infrastructure operators, end-to-end encryption is no longer an architectural choice — it is a regulatory obligation. NIS2, which came into force across EU member states in October 2024, explicitly requires essential and important entities to implement encryption as part of their cybersecurity risk management measures. GDPR Article 32 has required encryption of personal data since 2018.

‍Shadow IT in government is not a fringe risk — it is a systemic one. A NinjaOne survey of 400 public sector managers across the US, Europe, and Oceania found that 49% of public sector employees rely on unauthorized software to complete their work, with 52% actively bypassing security policies. Gartner estimates that shadow IT accounts for 30 to 40 percent of IT spending in large enterprises, with Everest Group putting the figure at 50 percent or more.

‍ ‍ Secure messaging for European governments is no longer a niche IT concern. It is a core requirement for operational continuity, legal compliance, and national security. The question for senior decision-makers is not whether to act, but which architecture can meet the full stack of regulatory and threat requirements simultaneously.

‍ Government agencies face a fundamental question when choosing communication tools: who ultimately controls your data? For public sector organizations handling sensitive citizen information, classified communications, or cross-agency coordination, the answer matters enormously.

We entered the UK public sector market with a simple belief: government organisations deserve employee experience technology that matches the importance of their mission. Today, that belief has evolved into a thriving partnership with some of the UK’s most critical public institutions.

In this episode of Wire Uncut, we spoke with Bozhena Pieniazek, VP of Marketing at Meister, a company building productivity tools for teams that want to move off pen and paper and away from Big Tech.

Ever tried getting help from a government agency and found the experience less than ideal? If you have, you probably know that customer service in the public sector often feels complicated and slow. However, a shift is underway as more government agencies recognize the need to improve the public sector customer experience. Many public sector organizations are now actively working to make interactions smoother and more positive.