We at Nextcloud have remained true to our vision: empowering collaboration without compromising on privacy. This year has been a testament to that commitment. Together with the passion of our global team and the support of our community we have not just build the best open-source collaboration tools, but expanded our dedication to open source itself.

In this annual wrap-up, we want to take a moment to celebrate this year’s achievements. Join us as we continue to reimagine what’s possible – shaping a world where open source, privacy and connection come together and drive progress for the greater good. 

~ Nextcloud team

Charting global growth

Nextcloud is used around the world by private individuals, communities, enterprises, and governments. In 2024, millions of new users gained access through hundreds of new enterprise customers. In the wider community, exact numbers are difficult to come by but there are some 400-500K servers online and this number also continues to grow steadily, with tens of thousands of new deployments across the globe from the US to France, from Australia to Indonesia and South Africa to Hawaii.

These numbers convert in the change Nextcloud brings about, contributing to a more connected, privacy-respecting, transparent, and safer digital world – where we interact with government services, access our education, cast votes in elections, fill forms on websites and call our colleagues and friends through video chat.

Change starts with people

This year, our team has grown significantly, reflecting our success. With 20% increase in size we are now 118 strong united by a shared vision across 23 countries. That includes 7 working students who get a chance to learn the ropes at Nextcloud. While we have expanded into a bigger office space in Berlin, we remain proudly remote-first, reflecting the flexibility and global collaboration that define our culture.

A spirit of fellowship: Nextcloud community

As an open-source project, Nextcloud thrives not just on code but on the people behind it. Thanks to all the developers, translators, maintainers, and other enthusiasts that contribute, Nextcloud has grown into the platform of choice for those who value privacy, security, and transparency. Let us share some facts about Nextcloud in 2024!

Shaping collaboration of tomorrow with Nextcloud Hub

The efficient Nextcloud Hub 8

Launching Nextcloud Hub 8 under the “Regain control over your time” theme, we made it all about efficiency. With Nextcloud Assistant 2.0 bringing innovative AI features, interactive widgets connecting our apps further, advancing chat and sharing tools and ambitious architecture undertakings, this release gave you more control than ever before.

The connected Nextcloud Hub 9

Our latest release brought a major visual redesign to the platform, resulting in a slicker experience all around. But it’s not all about the looks – with a growing stack of federation features, automation centralizing under Nextcloud Flow, and further efforts to elevate performance and scaling, Nextcloud Hub 9 made headlines this September as an “Explosive release”.

Nextcloud Talk: the open-source answer to Teams

In an unrestful world of today, dependency on centralized, opaque systems under strong foreign influence is a ticking clock. It is time the open-source world had a real answer to Microsoft Teams. Nextcloud Talk is the only open-source conferencing hub that seamlessly integrates chats, video meetings and webinar functionality in one powerful, privacy-respecting platform.

We are wrapping up 2024 with a strong standalone release of Nextcloud Talk, celebrating its reinvention within Nextcloud’s product portfolio. New desktop application, new AI features, new streaming capabilities, simplified and mindful collaboration, and reinforced security (again!) – we invite you to meet the new Nextcloud Talk.

Standing ground against Big Tech

In an attempt to slow down the antitrust case backed by Nextcloud and other members of the Coalition for level playing field, Microsoft has unbundled Teams from the Windows ecosystem. Such “malicious compliance” is one of the common instruments in the Big Tech arsenal used to resist the limiting market regulations. A legislation like EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) could protect fair competition further, once it targets Microsoft’s cloud products that squeeze numerous local providers from the market.

With this struggle still far from over, some results of our common efforts are evident. Earlier this year, Germany has officially recognized Microsoft as a tech giant and made it “subject to extended abuse control”, three years since the formal antitrust complaint.

When the global IT so evidently lacks digital sovereignty and resilience, we naturally consider the fight for a fair trade a part of our mission.

AI with ethical integrity

Like we said in one of the early introductions to our AI tools, some AI is hype and some is substance. And we want to give you the substance. Nextcloud does become a better version of itself with the evolving AI stack, helping you get some tasks done quicker.

The back-end, the UX, the features, and the models you can use to power up Nextcloud Assistant – this year our engineers and contributors have done work to be proud of. From context-aware features with Nextcloud Assistant 2.0 and chat UI and platform-wide integration in Nextcloud Hub 9 to new open-source AI models – you can enjoy a fully AI-powered workspace.

And most importantly, you stay in control of this powerful technology. To build the system that you can rely on and keep your data yours, you can refer to our Ethical AI Rating and decide what AI you want to use in Nextcloud Hub.

Ready for mission-critical, enterprise deployment

Enterprise support for Roundcube

Since Roundcube joined us, Nextcloud began to receive requests from large hosting companies for support. In August Nextcloud introduced the first official offering of enterprise support for Roundcube! It is tailored specifically for mail providers running large instances with thousands to millions of end users. We also offer our services to help businesses, universities and the public sector, but our offering makes the most sense for larger installations.

Process automation at scale with Nextcloud Flow

Shortly before Nextcloud Hub 9, Nextcloud has presented the first automation-enabled open source platform for implementing the Online Access Act (Onlinezugangsgesetz, OZG) in Germany and similar use cases in other countries. The Nextcloud Flow toolbox provides administrations with a digitally sovereign tool for offering and automating public services online and for exchanging the underlying processes among themselves.

BITV 2.0 certified Nextcloud

Nextcloud Enterprise has been awarded a German BITV 2.0 certification that is based on WCAG 2.0 benchmark. This means that the enterprise and public sector users can be confident in the accessibility standards of Nextcloud. The platform is designed with all users’ needs in mind, suitable for people with limitations and requirements for non-standard input devices and additional measures like a screen reader. Contact your sales representative if you require the certification.

Award-winning achievements

Platinum CloudComputing-Insider Award

The IT Awards celebrate outstanding IT solutions across various categories. This is our 8th nomination, bringing us Platinum.

World Summit Award Germany

Nextcloud has been recognized with the World Summit Award Germany in the Government & Citizen Engagement category.

Connecting globally, inspiring locally: 2024 events

Top 3 most watched Nextcloud webinars in 2024:

• Overcome workflow challenges with Nextcloud Flow
• Introducing Nexcloud Hub 9
• How to set up Nextcloud for scale

Browse all

Nextcloud Community Conference 2024

This September, we hosted our annual community gathering in Berlin once again. With attendance beating all the records, we certainly scaled up – and so did the program! Our guests – about 200 open-source enthusiasts, Nextcloud lovers, and team – were joined by speakers of a great caliber: computer scientist, author and spokeswoman of the Chaos Computer Club Constanze Kurz, and professor Björn Lundell, a researcher and Software Systems Research Group lead at the University of Skövde.

As always, Nextcloud Community Conference is a platform for our community to showcase their projects and discuss modern day wins and challenges of open-source! You can find the recordings of all the lightning talks in a dedicated YouTube playlist.

Nextcloud Enterprise Day in Paris, Munich and Frankfurt

Nextcloud Enterprise Day is gaining a momentum each year. Over two hundred enterprise and public decision makers attended our first event in Frankfurt in 2024. Featuring keynotes by leading voices across industries, product announcements and roadmap sneak peeks, and ample opportunities for networking and optimizing your platform, it provides a premier setting to explore and advance privacy, digital sovereignty, and digitalization. The success prompted us to organize two more events, in Munich and Paris.

This year, we hosted Nextcloud Enterprise Day in three cities:

Nextcloud Enterprise Day Munich

Nextcloud Enterprise Day Frankfurt

Nextcloud Enterprise Day Paris

Each year, Nextcloud Enterprise Day events grow in relevance among enterprise audiences, evident in rising attendance and enthusiasm. In 2025, we aim to amplify their impact by exploring new formats and locations.

This year’s content highlights

This year has been busy for our content team. Numbers speak: 154 blog articles, 9 Nextcloud Podcast episodes, 59 videos, 14 community newsletters, an a lot more content across social media and other channels. Here are some of the most popular pieces for you.

The best of our blog in 2024

• Be connected with Nextcloud Hub 9
• The open-source answer to Microsoft Teams
• Regain control over your time with Nextcloud Hub 8
• Nextcloud in the CloudComputing-Insider Awards 2024
• Nextcloud releases Assistant 2.0 and pushes AI-as-a-Service
• Sendent: An Outlook add-in to protect your data
• How to protect yourself against deepfake scams in video calls
• Nextcloud Talk: open-source online video conferencing software
• How to secure your data daily with an open-source file sync and backup tool
• Nextcloud Global Scale: local data and limitless scalability at commodity cost

In conversation: Nextcloud Podcast episodes

• Open source and Nextcloud in government: Insights from Sven Thomsen, Schleswig-Holstein’s CIO
• Constanze Kurz: mass surveillance, Snowden, and the future of digital politics
• Bechtle and Nextcloud: Navigating Digital Transitions in the Public Sector
• Lea Gröber: Understanding self-hosting and security through Nextcloud
• Open source dynamics, philosophy, and community: Jos Poortvliet’s Nextcloud insights
• A fireside chat with Nextcloud founder Frank Karlitschek
• MagentaCLOUD + T-Systems: Building a 2.2M User Nextcloud
• The Nextclouder’s Journey with Julien Veyssier
• Empowering through open source: Nextcloud’s Director of Engineering Andy Scherzinger

Videos you loved

We published 59 videos with 356K+ views and about 15.5H hours total watch-time! Here are 10 most watched videos this year:

• Introducing Nextcloud Hub 9 – the world’s leading open source collaboration platform!
• Introducing Nextcloud Hub 8: Nextcloud AI Assistant 2.0, Context Chat, and Teams
• Nextcloud Photos 2.0
• Introducing Nextcloud Files
• Automate your business processes with Nextcloud Flow

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More reasons to develop for Nextcloud!

With our developer program, you get an opportunity to create apps for hundreds of thousands of Nextcloud servers deployed across the globe. With our App Store, you get free promotion and an opportunity to publish apps for both end users and businesses.

Create new apps or build on top of the Nextcloud platform using 11 available app tutorials. This year, we added 2 new tutorials: a ‘hello world’ app tutorial and a guide to using Github Codespaces as a developer environment.

Other important improvements for developers this year include:

• Getting help from Nextcloud translator community with Transifex
• New mechanics in AppStore: donations, enterprise support
• Support for AI apps
• Support for external UI injection

Develop for Nextcloud

New integrations

We designed Nextcloud to fit effortlessly into your existing workflows – by offering a wide range of integrations with popular tools and platforms, and an ability to create unique Nextcloud-ready apps in any programming language. This year, we introduced integrations with popular apps XWiki and Paperless-ngx, added new AI models to power up Nextcloud Assistant, and enabled enterprise support for a range of apps, working together with teams behind them.

New app integrations:

Paperless-ngx

XWiki

Enterprise support for apps:

Mailvelope

Dovecot

Stalwart

New AI models supported:

NeuralBeagle14 7B

Smaug-72b

LLama3

Let’s make it awesome in 2025!

If you made it this far, we hope this hefty read has brought you a personal reason to celebrate alongside us. From millions of new users choosing privacy to an ever-expanding deployments of servers worldwide, Nextcloud continues to connect people and organizations without compromising control over their data. And our story as a community-driven project is told by people. So today we thank you for being a part of it.

Cheers to reaching new heights together in 2025!

The post Nextcloud powering the digital workspace of tomorrow: 2024 in review appeared first on Nextcloud.

By 2025 the most popular Microsoft Office products fall out of support, including the most widely used Office versions: Microsoft Office 2016 and 2019. Microsoft’s recommendation? Move, of course, to their subscription-only Microsoft 365 offering which changes the scope of data privacy, access, and the financial relationship SME’s depend on — becoming subject to sudden price changes, like the previous up-to-25% price hikes.

We believe there’s a need for a real alternative.

The clock is ticking

Currently more than 80% of small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) in Germany use Microsoft Office packages that will have reached end-of-life next year, including Office 2016 and Office 2019. Essentially, “support for Office 2016 and Office 2019 will end on October 14, 2025 and there will be no extension and no extended security updates.” states Microsoft. Without an upgrade “you could expose yourself to serious and potentially harmful security risks.” And… they’re right.

Why businesses hesitate with Microsoft 365

Microsoft’s recommendation to move to Microsoft 365 carries significant implications for essential everyday office tools in enterprises. Data show that enterprises are hesitating to upgrade, with market share of Office 2010, 2013, 2015 and 2019 remaining stable in the last 24 months. Why the hesitation to upgrade?

We can think of a few reasons.

The financial implications

The soon-to-expire versions of Microsoft Office follow the traditional licensing model, which SMEs expect and appreciate for it’s predictability. With Microsoft’s suggested move to Office 365, that model gets thrown away for the monthly subscription model with cloud services. Which leads us to question…

Price control: increased prices at any time

There’s an incentive to lock you into recurring pricing through subscriptions that cause price control: the ability for them to raise prices at any point, leaving SMEs at the mercy of their new subscription overlords.

The reason this is so effective?

Cancelling is painful: the vendor lock-in guarantee

Subscription models provide a perfect vendor lock-in scenario, creating this dependency and making it both difficult and costly to switch providers if the service does not meet expectations. Another step to this vendor lock-in includes the technical challenges associated with a massive migration from a subscription service.

What about my data privacy?

Is it acceptable that internal documents, Intellectual Property, and private communications are the new building blocks for Microsoft’s AI models?

Moving to Microsoft 365 also drastically changes the expectations of data privacy, sovereignty, and transparency. With the suggestion to move the entire office suite to Microsoft’s cloud, your data may no longer be solely yours.

Microsoft’s Privacy Statement even states “As part of our efforts to improve and develop our products, we may use your data to develop and train our AI models.”

Even the European Commission this year was found to infringe on its own EU data protection laws through its use of Microsoft 365, which “failed […] to ensure that personal data transferred outside the EU are afforded an essentially equivalent level of protection as guaranteed in the EU.”

Nextcloud Office: refreshing alternative to Microsoft technologies

Nextcloud Office presents a migration path that addresses all of these Big Tech problems, from the grips of vendor lock-in to the critical data privacy concerns. It’s your ideal Microsoft 365 alternative!

By allowing self-hosting on secure and self-controlled servers, or with trusted sovereign cloud hosting partners, Nextcloud Office prioritizes your data sovereignty and GDPR compliance. This gives Nextcloud an edge over Microsoft 365, where data is stored on Microsoft’s servers and may be subject to access by US authorities.

In addition to real-time collaborative editing of documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, Nextcloud Office also seamlessly integrates with other Nextcloud apps like Nextcloud Talk and Nextcloud Groupware applications, enhancing overall team productivity.

Success in Germany’s federal state

From the public sector, the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany migrated away from the grasp of subscription models into Nextcloud’s suite of open source, data sovereign solutions including Nextcloud Office. This transition has been explored in details by Schleswig-Holstein’s CIO Sven Thomsen in a recent episode of the Nextcloud Podcast.

With the adoption of Nextcloud Office in the last years, the value proposition that Nextcloud put into place totally changed for us: Nextcloud migrated in our view from a simple OneDrive alternative to becoming our central hub for collaboration and collaborative document editing. From an IT operations point of view, Nextcloud being open source is the perfect implementation path as a new solution.

Sven Thomsen

CIO of Schleswig-Holstein

Migrating to Nextcloud? Let us help!

We can directly help you migrate to Nextcloud Enterprise or to one of our trusted partners. We offer support for migration from a multitude of platforms, and encourage you to contact our sales team.

To smooth the transition, Nextcloud also supports many Microsoft integrations to make the journey a success!

Nextcloud Office: Your new path forward

As Microsoft Office 2016 and 2019 reach their end-of-life milestones, SMEs face a critical decision, and an opportunity for a better path forward.

An upgrade to Nextcloud Office prioritizes your data privacy, sovereignty, compliance, and vendor lock-in freedoms. Our open source suite of solutions allows SMEs to maintain control over their sensitive business information and avoid the risks associated with Big Tech’s cloud-based services.

Don’t get left behind by the changing landscape of Microsoft’s products. Join the growing community of organizations that have successfully migrated to Nextcloud Office.

Take control of your data and your future.

Explore Nextcloud Office

Your update journey to a more private and collaborative document editing.

Learn more!

The post Nextcloud Office: your privacy upgrade as Microsoft Office end-of-life approaches appeared first on Nextcloud.

In this episode, we dive into Andy Scherzinger’s journey from contributing to Nextcloud as a community member to becoming Director of Engineering. We explore his unique perspectives on our open source community, the importance of compliance in software development, and how he balances technical expertise with leadership responsibilities.

It gives me joy and recharges my batteries if at the end of the day I can see other people succeed.

Andy Scherzinger

Nextcloud’s Director of Engineering

From his approach to problem-solving and guiding others to his personal values that give him direction, this episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the intersection of technology, community, and personal growth.

Episode Links

• AndyScherzinger – GitHub
• Andy Scherzinger | LinkedIn
• The Nextclouder’s Journey with Julien Veyssier – Nextcloud Podcast
• Develop for Nextcloud: App development tutorials
• Nextcloud Enterprise: Content collaboration software for enterprises
• Ethical use of AI: five major challenges
• Google Graveyard – Killed by Google
• Nextcloud – GitHub

The post Empowering through open source: Nextcloud’s Director of Engineering Andy Scherzinger appeared first on Nextcloud.

About the updates

The updates include a number of important bug fixes and performance optimization, as well as other improvements in all supported Nextcloud Hub versions. You can find the full changelog on our website.

Updates are available for:

• Nextcloud Hub 7 (version 28.0.13)
• Nextcloud Hub 8 (version 29.0.10)
• Nextcloud Hub 9 (version 30.0.2)

Nextcloud Hub 9 is our latest and greatest!

Nextcloud Hub 9 lets you stay connected like never before: federated calls, auto-magic with Nextcloud Flow, collaboration through a new medium with Nextloud Whiteboard, a big design redo and much more!

What’s new in Nextcloud Hub 9:

• Federation: Edit documents and have video calls with users from other Nextcloud servers!
• Automate and digitalize enterprise processes
• Brand new design improvements
• New Whiteboard app
• AI reminders & summaries in Mail
• PDF templates and form API
• Chat UI for Nextcloud Assistant

Get Nextcloud Hub 9

Download and install Nextcloud Hub 9 here!

Get Hub 9

Always keep your server up to date!

Nextcloud’s minor releases primarily focus on addressing security vulnerabilities and functionality bugs, avoiding major system overhauls that could jeopardize user data. Keeping your server up to date is vital, and our approach to testing and validation ensures that upgrading to minor releases is generally smooth and reliable.

For mission-critical Nextcloud systems in enterprise settings, consider switching to Nextcloud Enterprise. The tier provides you with ultimate deployment confidence: direct access to the Nextcloud engineering team, full assistance throughout deployment and integration, and peace of mind for system administrators. If you’re responsible for maintaining Nextcloud in your setting, this option may be the ideal solution for you.

The post December maintenance updates for Nextcloud Hub 7, 8 and 9 appeared first on Nextcloud.

When cables are cut, sanctions are put in place or privacy legislation prohibits the use of the service your entire organization depends on, what can you do?

Amidst geo-political changes, organizations face dependencies on large, centralized communication platforms. A major example of this is the SaaS-only communication platform Microsoft Teams. It is the only solution on the market which deeply integrates video calls, team chat and large group call features with real-time document collaboration and file sharing, and has become critical to the functioning of many organizations. Which, in turn, has allowed Microsoft to hike prices by 20 to 40% and not face an exodus of customers – as they and their data are fully locked in.

Organisations, small and large, need a way to ensure the resiliency and digital sovereignty of their operations – an open source, privacy respecting alternative to Teams. And today, we present that solution.

In this short webinar, Jos walks you through how Nextcloud Talk takes on Microsoft Teams!

Welcome to Nextcloud Talk

Today, live from our Enterprise day in Paris, we launch Nextcloud Talk „Paris“. It is the only open-source solution that integrates all key features – from chats and video conferencing to webinars, complete with file sharing and office document editing – into a single platform while avoiding vendor lock-in.

Our platform meets the highest standards of compliance with privacy legislations like GDPR or HIPAA and offers strict data security, ensuring full data control. Thanks to its open architecture, Talk can be seamlessly integrated into existing systems and tailored to individual needs.

Nextcloud Talk is designed to address three key use cases. Let’s go quickly over them!

Efficient team chat

The integrated chat in Nextcloud Talk is designed to help teams stay connected throughout the workday. With multiple chat rooms and the ability to edit files directly within the chat, Talk streamlines hybrid team collaboration and boosts efficiency. End-to-end encryption ensures that calls remain private and secure, while integrated real-time notifications keep everyone in the loop. All data stays under your control, meeting the highest privacy and security standards.

It features deep integration with a wide variety of content. Users can add documents – and edit them right there, inline, without having to open tabs or download the file. Locations, tasks, calendars and notes can all be inserted, viewed and edited without leaving Talk.

Video calls for seamless collaboration

Nextcloud Talk makes virtual meetings easy and accessible across devices. Whether it’s a quick check-in or a larger team meeting, our platform ensures powerful collaboration for hybrid working teams. Features like integrated whiteboards, screen sharing, and joint document editing make real-time collaboration easier than ever. Scheduling and joining calls is effortless, directly from the Nextcloud interface, integrated with the calendar app for easy scheduling of meetings.

Interactive webinars, education and training sessions

Talk enables you to host engaging webinars – bringing audiences like teams, students, or customers together. The platform supports live streaming, Q&A sessions and screensharing and comes with moderation features. Functions like the integrated chat, animated reactions, polls and breakout rooms make the learning experience more interactive and fun. All this, and more, is available wherever you are. Not only in the browser, but also with apps on iOS and Android! When your colleague calls you while you’re out, your phone will ring and you’ll be able to share your screen to show them a quick presentation you’re working on.

You can give participants a phone number to dial in to, and even pull them in by dialing out right from Talk. Need to add hundreds, even thousands of participants? Simply import a spreadsheet. After the call, you export the participant list and see who did and did not show up!

Break up big groups in breakout rooms, enabling everyone to be productive in a smaller team before coming back together to the big group. In your breakout room you can do a call, chat, work on a whiteboard, share documents and more!

Numerous new features for better collaboration

New desktop app

No more searching through browser tabs! The new app offers desktop integration and notifications, allowing users to communicate and join calls effortlessly.

New AI features

Tired of taking notes in long meetings? Enjoy our automatically generated summaries of video meetings! Dreading those 173 unread messages in the morning? The Nextcloud Assistant summarizes them for you. Less work, less stress!

Visual collaboration

The interactive whiteboard enables teams to brainstorm and develop ideas in real-time – ideal for workshops and project planning.

Plan your polls

You can now save a poll as a draft, for quick publishing when the class has started. Need to use the same poll in a different class? Simply export it as a file and import it in the new room. At the end, export the poll as image or spreadsheet. Easy as pie!

Simplified teamwork

Documents can be collaboratively edited directly within chats or video calls. No need to switch to another window or tab! You can easily find chat messages with the search, leave and join open chat rooms or archive the ones you no longer follow, so you stay as connected as you need to be.

Let colleagues know what you think with reactions to chat messages, or animated reactions during calls. And if you need to make a point, you can use bold, italics, headers and even tables in your messages.

Mindfulness features

To promote a healthy meeting culture, Nextcloud Talk has a series of small features that help you be mindful of yourself and others. You can send silent chat messages and even start silent calls which don’t send notifications to everyone. User status communicates to colleagues if you’re available or not – the status will automatically change when you are in a call or have an appointment in your calendar, and your time zone is visible for others.

Need to deal with something – but not right now? You can mark a chat as unread, but also set a reminder on an individual message. You’ll get a notification at the time you set! You can also send a message to a special ‘Note to self’ chat, or put notes there by hand. Keep things organized for yourself. Perhaps favorite your Note to self chat so it’s always on top with other important chats?

You can also set your work hours and enable do-not-disturb outside those hours. Calls give a warning at the 1h mark and can now automatically end after a set time. And, during calls, you can see how much each participant talked so you can make sure even the quiet team members get to have their say.

High-security communication

Nextcloud Talk meets the highest security standards and can even be deployed in airgap environments, keeping all communication strictly away from the internet.

Discover more new features

Calls:

• Summarize Call recordings automatically with AI
• Enforce a maximum call lenght
• Option to always disable devices by default
• Option to download a call participants list
• Option to blur background by default

Chat:

• Summary of chat histories when there are many unread messages
• Option to directly download attachments
• Highlight file and object shares with an icon in conversations list

Guests:

• Identify and recognize guests invited via mail address
• Allow inviting email guests when creating a conversation

Conversations:

• Option to archive conversations
• Automatically lock rooms after days of inactivity

Voice Messages:

• Auto play voice messages which are grouped together

Polls:

• Draft, import and export polls

A glimpse into the future of collaboration

With Nextcloud Talk, we empower companies and public institutions to work securely and productively – regardless of their location or infrastructure. The platform is ideal for on premise installations or hosting by local cloud providers, giving companies and organizations full control over their data.

Finally, the open source community has a real answer to Microsoft Teams.

Learn more at the Talk webpage, or join our upcoming webinar to find out how Talk can replace Teams for your organization!

Get started with Nextcloud Talk

Learn more about Nextcloud Talk and get started right away!

Learn more

The post The open source answer to Microsoft Teams appeared first on Nextcloud.

AI tools woven into the big tech ecosystems, some more “open” than others, some more quiet, often require a silent sacrifice in exchange for easy-to-access technology. An alternative is open-source AI models which, much like open-source software, have a potential to give you more transparency and control.

You can study and even modify the model you are using, and if you don’t need that — at least understand how your data is processed, stored and shared. Sounds like something the viral AI photo editing apps can’t promise, yet millions keep giving them access to their private photos every day.

Join us as we explore how open-source AI benefits users and, from the perspective of our Ethical AI rating, provide examples of AI models that can help you reclaim your privacy.

What are open-source AI models?

With more people becoming aware of how data economy works, earning user’s trust becomes more challenging to the AI providers. To appeal to more conscious users, many AI vendors label their technology open or open-source. But without consensus on what open-source AI is, such open-washing could raise many risks: surveillance, information bias, effects on the labor market and creative industries, and excessive energy usage — to name a few.

In attempt to battle the potentially harmful trend, the Open Source Initiative released its official Open Source Artificial Intelligence Definition (OSAID). According to the OSAID, an Open Source AI is an AI system made available under terms and in a way that grant the freedoms to:

• Use the system for any purpose and without having to ask for permission.
• Study how the system works and inspect its components.
• Modify the system for any purpose, including to change its output.
• Share the system for others to use with or without modifications, for any purpose.

Even though the work on this definition has been endorsed by many companies and individuals, there’s no consensus in the community on whether or not to accept it in its current state, or if the open-source AI is even ready to be defined.

We too think there’s room for improvement. But with or without concrete definition for the OS AI, we can tell how four main freedoms of open-source – to use, to study, to modify, and to share – can impact life of the the AI users.

How do users benefit from open-source AI?

Open source promotes freedom and empowers users to control their software – in this case, the AI – they rely on. Here are several examples of opens-source AI systems could directly benefit you as a user:

• Proprietary AI can include hidden features like data harvesting for advertising and user profiling, embedded biases, and using your private data to refine the products without your consent. Open-source lets you make sure there are no hidden features or data backdoors – because you (and thousands, or even millions of others) can inspect the source code and understand how the software operates.
• If your software is not anymore supported by a provider, you may lose valuable data like your AI’s memory of interactions. And even though normally you can export this data, there’s no guarantee it will be compatible with alternative models. With open-source, you don’t rely on a single vendor – the software will continue to exist, and you will retain full ownership. Moreover, you are not locked in the provider’s ecosystem of applications in order to fully benefit from their AI, no-one controls your costs, your updates and maintenance.
• You can host your AI yourself or with a provider you trust, which means you fully control your data, make own decisions for your privacy, and maintain your compliance instead of relying on third-party services.

Nextcloud Ethical AI rating

At Nextcloud, we employ and integrate AI tools ourselves and we realize the risks brought by the evolving computer intelligence. That’s why we created the Ethical AI Rating that helps our users make the right decisions about what AI models to use in their work. It is more granular than the OSAID and more critical in areas like training data availability. For now, we will keep using it as it resonates with the unique needs of Nextcloud users.

Nextcloud Ethical AI Rating is based on three principles:

• Whether the training data is available and is free to use
• Whether the software (both for inferencing and training) is open-source
• Whether the trained model freely available for self-hosting

Based on how many of the criteria are met, a model receives Red , Orange , Yellow or Green rating.

Looking for open-source AI models to try? Consider these!

Nextcloud is not primarily an AI developer or vendor, so we don’t promote any AI products. Instead, we want to help our users choose the right tools to protect their privacy, and where needed, help them start using those tools through Nextcloud Hub. From the perspective of our Ethical AI Rating, here are several AI models that help you take control of your privacy.

Open-source LLMs via LocalAI

With LocalAI, you can use several open-source models like GPT-Neo or GPT-J, running them locally with ability to modify and interact with them on your server. In this case, the app also gets the Green rating in our Ethical AI rating, fully meeting the criteria.

OpenNMT

OpenNMT is a fully open-source AI translation framework available under MIT license. In Nextcloud, it can be used via LibreTranslate app that offers translation via your own server/API key.

Opus

Opus is a machine translation provider by University of Helsinki that runs locally on CPU and doesn’t let any private data leaves your servers. It meets all criteria of our rating.

GPT4All Falcon by Nomic AI

GPT4All Falcon is an LLM that combines the Falcon language model with the GPT4All interface. It is available under Apache 2.0 license and runs locally on CPU.

There are models that do not match the criteria of the Green rating, but can be worth considering since they are self-hosted and have very permissive licenses, making them mostly safe to run locally:

Self-hosted Stable Diffusion

Stable Diffusion is open-source model licensed under CreativeML Open RAIL-M License. Users have full access to the model and its code, can modify and redistribute it, given that it’s an on premise version. In Nextcloud, self-hosted Stable Diffusion can be used via LocalAI. We give it a Yellow rating, as the training data is not freely available in this case.

Whisper

In Nextcloud, you can use Whisper to enable speech-to-text conversion features. Whisper is available under the MIT License and has a Yellow rating due to limited availability of the training data.

Llama 2

Llama 2 is a free LLM by Meta that can be run on premise, and the software for training and inference of this model is open source. However, the training data is not freely available. It is offered under Llama 2 Community License.

We don’t limit our users’ choice of AI tools, and there are other models and apps that you can integrate in Nextcloud Hub and use with Nextcloud Assistant, including self-hosted models like NeuralBeagle14 7B, Smaug-72B and Meta’s Llama 3. Or famous AI like ChatGPT, DALL·E or Aleph Alpha – which are far from meeting all the criteria of our rating, but you still can easily integrate them in Nextcloud if you wish.

Build your own private AI platform – with Nextcloud Hub

Nextcloud Assistant is the first local AI assistant built into collaboration platform. It is integrated everywhere across Nextcloud Hub, helping you with your daily tasks while taking care of your privacy. Among tools supported by Nextcloud Assistant are chat with AI, text and image generation, email summaries, translation, dictation, inquiring about your own data with Context Chat, automated document creation with Context Write, and much more.

You can integrate AI models of your choice to enable those tools, creating a custom AI-powered environment according to your your privacy and security needs. And if needed, you can host your AI with one of the trusted SaaS providers in Europe, staying fully compliant with privacy regulations like GDPR and others.

Get Nextcloud Hub

AI-powered open-source collaboration platform that puts you back in control over your data.

Get Nextcloud Hub

The post How open-source AI models can help you take control of your privacy appeared first on Nextcloud.

On the eve of the Open Source Experience, we invite you to the Nextcloud Enterprise Day Paris, Nextcloud’s flagship event for professionals. An afternoon of discussions, networking, inspiring presentations, and exclusive announcements awaits you, featuring open-source leaders and experts in collaborative solutions.

Inspiring keynotes and an big Nextcloud Talk announcement

The Enterprise Day Paris kicks off with a keynote from our CEO and founder, Frank Karlitschek. He shares our vision for the future our vision for the future of online collaboration, followed by a major announcement for Nextcloud Talk! This is your chance to learn more about our latest innovations and ask all your questions directly to Frank Karlitschek and the Nextcloud team.

Next, hear inspiring testimonials from clients and partners as they share their success stories and real-world experiences with Nextcloud. These discussions, held in both English and French, provide a great opportunity to explore the benefits of Nextcloud in a variety of contexts.

Keep on reading for the full program of the Nextcloud Enterprise Day!

A networking space to connect with our experts

During the entire day, our networking space will give you a chance to connect with Nextcloud experts ready to advise you and answer all your questions, as well as our key partners and sponsors of the event.

Register now

Why attend the Nextcloud Enterprise Day Paris?

The Nextcloud Enterprise Day Paris is not just a networking event — it’s an opportunity to learn from the success of industry professionals, share your own experiences, and engage with the team behind Nextcloud.

The Nextcloud Enterprise Day experience includes:

• Insights into the Nextcloud roadmap and an exclusive preview of the upcoming major update of Nextcloud Talk.
• A deep dive into the new features and improvements that will help you boost your instance.
• AI in Nextcloud: The most requested developments and the latest features to enhance your platform.
• Real-world case studies presented by Nextcloud users from various industries and different types of businesses.
• Strategies for optimizing your platform for peak performance with the Nextcloud leadership team.
• A friendly meet-up with peers, industry leaders, and experts to expand your network and foster collaborations.
• Exclusive Q&A session and a chance to meet with Nextcloud’s Senior Management.

Great location in the heart of Paris

The event will be held at Espace La Rochefoucauld, a modern and accessible venue in the heart of Paris. Located just steps away from major transport routes, this space is an ideal place for rich and inspiring exchanges, in a city that embodies both tradition and innovation.

View the access map

Highlights of the program: plan out your day!

The Nextcloud Enterprise Day Paris will take place on Tuesday, December 3, 2024. The main program will run from 1:30 PM to 6:00 PM CET, with regular breaks for refreshments and networking.

The day will conclude with a casual cocktail reception. The tentative program below will be regularly updated on the dedicated Nextcloud Enterprise Day Paris page.

13:00	Welcome reception for participants, coffee and tea. Meet our partners and Nextcloud experts.
13:30	Welcome: Introduction to Nextcloud by Frank Karlitschek, CEO and Founder of Nextcloud.
14:00	“Connecter un Demi-Million de personne avec Leviia et Nextcloud” – Guy Daroles, Project Director at Monlycee.net and William Meauzoone, Co-founder Leviia”
14:20	“Nextcloud basé sur MariaDB : Une solution évolutive et hautement disponible” – Sebastien Giraud, Senior Solution Engineer at MariaDB
14:40	Break and networking
15:10	Nextcloud Talk Keynote
15:40	“EUniWell adopte Nextcloud en mode SaaS avec TAS Cloud Services pour la collaboration à distance de ses 11 Universités Européennes” – Youssef Araqi Houssaini and Matthieu Charton.”
16:00	“Bridging Nextcloud with Microsoft via Sendent” – Richard Marx, Co-founder at Sendent
16:20	Break and networking
16:50	“Libérez vos Documents” – Car Méven, Software Engineer at Collabora
17:10	“Ayming : Nextcloud un remplaçant de SharePoint dans le secteur privé” – Xavier Quilliet, CIO at Ayming and Guy-Christian Facia, Consultant at Arawa
17:30	“Présentation des solutions XWiki et de leur intégration dans Nextcloud” – Clément Aubin, Sales Director at Xwiki
18:00 21:00	Cocktails

Meet our sponsors and partners

We are thrilled to be supported by trusted sponsors: MariaDB, Arawa, IONOS, Leviia, and TAS Cloud Services. Come meet them at the event to discover their offerings and learn how they strengthen the Nextcloud ecosystem.

Book your place now to make sure you don’t miss out on Enterprise Day Paris.

Only a few spots left.

Register now!

The post Nextcloud Enterprise Day lands in Paris: be part of the product launch event! appeared first on Nextcloud.

Nextcloud has been recognized with the World Summit Award Germany in the Government & Citizen Engagement category. WSA selects and promotes local digital innovation improving society, aiming to contribute to the United Nations’ agenda of sustainable development goals. In addition, Nextcloud is shortlisted for the World Summit Awards on a global level. The winners will be announced in January 2025.

What this award means for Nextcloud

The digital collaboration platform has been recognized for excelling in data sovereignty and giving customers and users control over their data. Nextcloud builds an open source platform for people to store their files, chat and videoconference, manage calendars, emails and more, that is not run by a single entity. Using a web interface and mobile apps, users don’t have to hand over their data to anybody else. Users, companies and governments can use Nextcloud software to build their own clouds, in a very easy way. And – hundreds of thousands have.

Data is concentrated in the hands of a very small number of companies. This is not good for society – especially with the rise of AI. Privacy is the foundation of democracy and society does not function well if all communication and collaboration is mediated by a few democratically unaccountable entities.

Frank Karlitschek

Founder and CEO of Nextcloud

Digital sovereignty for millions of users

Nextcloud is deeply rooted in the open source community and has become the most popular self-hosted alternative to the collaboration platforms of big tech companies. There are an estimated 500,000 servers on the internet running Nextcloud, some of these with millions of users. We do not track users but estimate to have between 25 and 50 million users in total.

For the business side, besides companies and other organzations, more than 600 EU institutions, federal and state ministries, as well as city and local governments globally rely on Nextcloud, including Germany, France, the Netherlands, Serbia, Canada, Australia, Brazil and the USA. The most popular self-hosted collaboration solution for 2 million users in the public sector and tens of millions of users overall around the globe.

To help the German public sector digitalise their services for citizens, Nextcloud has rolled out several efforts. Latest example is the launch of Nextcloud Flow, the first fully open source, integrated process automation platform.

WSA awards digital solutions with impact on society

The World Summit Awards (WSA) aim to promote the best digital solutions with impact on society. It is a non-monetary award system with a focus on sustainable knowledge transfer through a worldwide network. The award was launched in 2003 and aims to contribute to the United Nations’ agenda of sustainable development goals by recognizing local digital content with societal impact and showcasing the wealth and diversity of innovative applications.

The post Nextcloud Recognized with World Summit Award Germany appeared first on Nextcloud.

About the updates

The updates include a number of important bug fixes and performance optimization, as well as other improvements in all supported Nextcloud Hub versions. You can find the full changelog on our website.

Updates are available for:

• Nextcloud Hub 7 (version 28.0.12)
• Nextcloud Hub 9 (version 30.0.2)

Nextcloud Hub 9 is our latest and greatest!

Nextcloud Hub 9 lets you stay connected like never before: federated calls, auto-magic with Nextcloud Flow, collaboration through a new medium with Nextloud Whiteboard, a big design redo and much more!

What’s new in Nextcloud Hub 9:

• Federation: Edit documents and have video calls with users from other Nextcloud servers!
• Automate and digitalize enterprise processes
• Brand new design improvements
• New Whiteboard app
• AI reminders & summaries in Mail
• PDF templates and form API
• Chat UI for Nextcloud Assistant

Get Nextcloud Hub 9

Download and install Nextcloud Hub 9 here!

Get Hub 9

Always keep your server up to date!

Nextcloud’s minor releases primarily focus on addressing security vulnerabilities and functionality bugs, avoiding major system overhauls that could jeopardize user data. Keeping your server up to date is vital, and our approach to testing and validation ensures that upgrading to minor releases is generally smooth and reliable.

For mission-critical Nextcloud systems in enterprise settings, consider switching to Nextcloud Enterprise. The tier provides you with ultimate deployment confidence: direct access to the Nextcloud engineering team, full assistance throughout deployment and integration, and peace of mind for system administrators. If you’re responsible for maintaining Nextcloud in your setting, this option may be the ideal solution for you.

The post November maintenance updates for Nextcloud Hub 7 and 9 appeared first on Nextcloud.

One week is left until Nextcloud Enterprise day, and good things come to those who wait! As you are planning your trip to Frankfurt, we are happy to announce an amazing talk by Dr. Frank Dengler.

• Speaker: Frank Dengler, CEO and founder of audriga
• Title: Migrating from SharePoint to Nextcloud: What we’ve learned

Transitioning the organization’s collaborative environment from SharePoint to Nextcloud is a complex project, successfully undertaken by organizations like Swiss Bank and the Schleswig-Holstein state administration. How exactly do you make such a migration both achievable and efficient? Dr. Dengler argues that a well-prepared and structured approach is key to a successful migration, and he is going to share some of his insights in this special session.

Join Nextcloud Enterprise Day on November 6 in Frankfurt, Germany. Register today!

About the speaker

audriga is a globally recognized expert in email, groupware, and storage migration. They support companies of all sizes, including hosting providers and telcos, with white-label self-service solutions for customer onboarding and large-scale platform migrations involving millions of user accounts. audriga can migrate almost any type of data, such as files, contacts, calendar, tasks, metadata, and settings, between virtually any systems — including migrations from SharePoint to Nextcloud.

Frank Dengler is a co-founder and currently serve as the CEO of audriga. His professional journey began at Intel, where he worked as a consultant in the server and data center division. He holds an interdisciplinary degree in Information Engineering and Management, as well as a PhD in Knowledge Management, both from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).

audriga chose Nextcloud because we noticed a growing demand from customers seeking a strong alternative to SharePoint. Nextcloud stands out as a great option, not only for its robust file management capabilities but also for its additional features like collaboration tools, integrated apps, and data control, making it a comprehensive solution beyond just file storage.

About Nextcloud Enterprise Day

Nextcloud Enterprise Day is our top event of the year for business leaders, decision-makers, and project managers to achieve their goals with Nextcloud.

From customer presentations and success stories to networking opportunities and access to management, sales, marketing, and engineering teams, you’re bound to walk away with new information, techniques, and inspiration.

The upcoming edition takes place at the spectacular Radisson Blu hotel in Frankfurt, Germany on November 6.

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The post Nextcloud Enterprise Day: key to smooth SharePoint to Nextcloud migration with Dr. Frank Dengler appeared first on Nextcloud.

HKN GmbH has joined the Nextcloud Enterprise Day 2024 sponsor lineup, and we couldn’t be more excited!

The event will be held on November 6 in Frankfurt, Germany, and we can’t wait to see you there! As a long-standing partner of Nextcloud, HKN is absolutely thrilled to support the event and promote the importance of data sovereignty and open-source solutions.

Register today to secure your seat!

About HKN

Since 1996, HKN GmbH has been a top provider of open-source solutions for businesses. It operates its own OpenStack cloud to serve the needs of demanding clients, and it’s been doing an amazing job! One of the best things about HKN is our ability to tailor Nextcloud environments to fit each customer’s unique infrastructure and requirements perfectly. This flexibility has made HKN a trusted partner across various sectors, from financial institutions to healthcare organisations – and we’re proud to have earned the trust of so many great clients.

Together with Nextcloud, HKN have had great success implementing a whole range of projects. These include Nextcloud for teachers in Luxembourg, platforms for financial institutions and tailored solutions for healthcare organisations.

HKN GmbH prioritize data sovereignty and run their own cloud infrastructure entirely on open-source solutions. HKN GmbH makes a considerable contribution to helping organisations avoid vendor lock-in and maintain full control over their data.

HKN GmbH can’t wait to join the event with their team on-site to share expertise and engage with attendees. The Nextcloud Enterprise Day is a fantastic opportunity to connect with forward-thinking leaders in the IT industry and gain insights into the latest developments surrounding Nextcloud.

About Nextcloud Enterprise Day

Nextcloud Enterprise Day is our top event of the year for business leaders, decision-makers, and project managers to achieve their goals with Nextcloud.

From customer presentations and success stories to networking opportunities and access to management, sales, marketing, and engineering teams, you’re bound to walk away with new information, techniques, and inspiration.

The upcoming edition takes place at the spectacular Radisson Blu hotel in Frankfurt, Germany. Early Bird tickets are limited.

The post HKN joins as sponsor for Nextcloud Enterprise Day 2024 in Frankfurt appeared first on Nextcloud.

MariaDB becomes a new sponsor of the Nextcloud Enterprise Day in Frankfurt on November 6.

A provider of leading open-source database solutions, MariaDB makes data easier to access and lets users focus on growing their business while being confident in their database’s resilience. A long-standing partnership between Nextcloud and MariaDB enables scalability and high availability of solutions for Nextcloud customers. We are proud to welcome MariaDB as a sponsor of the most important event for Nextcloud’s enterprise users.

Nextcloud Enterprise Day takes place on November 6 in Frankfurt, Germany. Register today to secure your spot!

About MariaDB

MariaDB seeks to eliminate the constraints and complexity of proprietary databases, enabling organizations to reinvest in what matters most – rapidly developing innovative, customer-facing applications. Enterprises can depend on a single complete database for all their needs, that can be deployed in minutes for transactional, analytical or hybrid use cases. 

Trusted by organizations such as Deutsche Bank, DBS Bank, Red Hat, ServiceNow and Samsung – MariaDB delivers customer value without the financial burden of legacy database providers.

About Nextcloud Enterprise Day

Nextcloud Enterprise Day is our top event of the year for business leaders, decision-makers, and project managers to achieve their goals with Nextcloud.

From customer presentations and success stories to networking opportunities and access to management, sales, marketing, and engineering teams, you’re bound to walk away with new information, techniques, and inspiration.

The upcoming edition takes place at the spectacular Radisson Blu hotel in Frankfurt, Germany. Early Bird tickets are limited.

The post MariaDB becomes a sponsor of Nextcloud Enterprise Day 2024 in Frankfurt appeared first on Nextcloud.

In this episode, we explore how open source solutions are revolutionizing the way governments work, from collaboration and knowledge sharing to digital sovereignty and artificial intelligence.

Join us as we learn about the world of open source in government with Sven Thomsen, CIO of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany. Sven shares the factors that influenced their decision to adopt open source solutions, their implementation strategies along the way, and lessons learned from the adoption of open source in Munich.

We also discuss Schleswig-Holstein’s 10-year journey into open source, from desktop solutions to database systems, and how it has become a key part of their digital sovereignty strategy. Sven shares his insights on the current discussion in Germany about the importance of open standards, open source, and open interfaces in promoting the idea of European IT resiliency.

We also hear about the political and technical challenges they faced, including the successful implementation of Nextcloud as a central hub for collaboration and knowledge sharing in their federal state. Sven will share his thoughts on the “hidden champions” of open source and how Nextcloud’s new data automation platform has helped them solve some of the most difficult challenges in implementing the Online Access Act (OZG).

With AI based tools in Nextcloud, we were able to close an automation gap that we weren’t able to close with rule-based automations. Implementing AI-based microservices into the ecosystem of Nextcloud, and following Nextcloud’s very good AI strategy, we were able to implement something that is perfect for an organization like Schleswig-Holstein.

Sven Thomsen

CIO of Schleswig-Holstein

Tune in to hear Sven’s words of advice for public sector adoptions, including the importance of community support and giving back. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in open source solutions in government or curious about the future of technology in the public sector.

Episode Links

• Welcome to Schleswig-Holstein – schleswig-holstein.de
• Sven Thomsen – Mastodon Schleswig-Holstein
• Nextcloud Flow: Automate your business processes
• Introducing Nextcloud Hub 9 – Federation, Data Automation and more!
• Nextcloud Enterprise Day 2024 – November 6 in Frankfurt
• Nextcloud Enterprise Day speaker spotlight: Felix Gebauer from Schleswig-Holstein
• Nextcloud Spotlight: German state Schleswig-Holstein’s 40k public administrators embrace Nextcloud
• German state & Nextcloud build digitally sovereign AI for public sector
• Webinar: Schleswig-Holstein and Nextcloud collaborate on a sovereign workplace

The post Open source and Nextcloud in government: Insights from Sven Thomsen, Schleswig-Holstein’s CIO appeared first on Nextcloud.

We are excited to announce SpaceNet as a sponsor of the Nextcloud Enterprise Day taking place on November 6 in Frankfurt, Germany!

With a track record extending over three decades, SpaceNet is now a leading provider of private, sovereign infrastructure solutions in Germany. As a Nextcloud Gold Partner, SpaceNet delivers a comprehensive range of Nextcloud hosting solutions. These services meet many business demands, from highly standardized cloud services ready for immediate use, to customized installations uniquely tailored to individual client requirements.

Positioned in the heart of Munich, Germany, SpaceNet’s data centers are at the forefront of managed Nextcloud offerings. This strategic location not only aligns with the stringent European data protection standards but also reinforces the commitment to providing robust security, supreme efficiency, and complete control over your data.

Register for the Nextcloud Enterprise Day today to secure your spot!

About SpaceNet

SpaceNet is a Munich-based provider of managed services and data center solutions that prioritizes security and performance while strongly aligning with GDPR standards and principles. In acknowledgment of the distinct challenges each business faces, SpaceNet offers customized solutions tailored to the unique needs of their clients. SpaceNet has earned the trust of industry leaders such as MVV, Utopia.de, and Antenne Bayern, a testament to the commitment to excellence and innovation in IT solutions.

Providing secure hosting in Germany, SpaceNet contributes to the initiative to build a digitally sovereign European IT. A Gold Partner of Nextcloud, SpaceNet expands its offering with powerful capabilities of Nextcloud. Nextcloud is also a part of Zamadama, the self-service collaboration platform by SpaceNet. Managed Nextcloud is offered both as an immediately available standardised cloud solution and as a customised installation to fit individual requirements. 

About Nextcloud Enterprise Day

Nextcloud Enterprise Day is our top event of the year for business leaders, decision-makers, and project managers to achieve their goals with Nextcloud.

From customer presentations and success stories to networking opportunities and access to management, sales, marketing, and engineering teams, you’re bound to walk away with new information, techniques, and inspiration.

The upcoming edition takes place at the spectacular Radisson Blu hotel in Frankfurt, Germany. Early Bird tickets are limited.

The post SpaceNet joins as a sponsor for Nextcloud Enterprise Day 2024 in Frankfurt appeared first on Nextcloud.

Today, the Open Source Initiative has released its first official definition of Open Source AI. This is an important milestone. Let me explain why.

Why Open Source matters

The key tenet of open source is is that it puts the user in control. Software is ever growing in complexity and importance in our society. Software is how we do our work, how we communicate, how we pay, how we access information. When software is a black box, subject to subtle (or not so much) manipulation, users are at risk.

Risks of AI

AI brings these risks to an entirely new level. Not only because it makes decisions that are often entirely intransparent, but also because its easy, human like interface often lulls users to trust it far more than deserved.

The big AI firms have done their level best to ensure the attention of the public around risks with AI were aimed at existential, contrived notions akin to Skynet, the AI in the movie series Terminator, scenarios where AI would take over the world. In reality, the risks associated with AI are far more mundane. Surveillance, bias, explosive energy usage and job losses are the concerns we should focus on.

Need for control

And, just like with software, what matters is control. Who controls the AI, who makes decisions about what it can and can’t do, what goes in and what does not. With control, we can address the real risks of AI. Without control, we can simply hope that the billion dollar companies do the right thing.

They haven’t in the past. So we need Open Source AI. AI that that gives users the ability to study and modify the AI models that govern their lives.

Nextcloud Ethical AI Rating

Nextcloud gave this a first shot in March 2023, when we launched our Ethical AI Rating. A simple traffic light would show with green/yellow/orange/red if a given AI model was freely available, if its data was publicly available and if the code needed to run and train it was open source. This way we help users make an informed decision without restricting their choice of models and features.

Users of AI solutions deserve transparency and control, which is why we introduced our Ethical AI rating in early 2023. Now, we see big tech firms trying to hijack the term open source AI. We fully endorse the creation of a clear definition of open source AI by the community to protect users and the market.

Frank Karlitschek

CEO and fouder of Nextcloud

The wider open source community has picked up the gauntlet as well, and after extensive consultation with the community, today the OSI has announced an official definition of Open Source AI. This will help users, from private users, to governments, research institutes, hospitals and businesses, to make decisions what systems they can trust.

So, today, It is a first step in a journey and we are glad to be a part of it. Nextcloud has formally endorsed the definition, even if we think there is room for improvement. We will use it as a basis for our Ethical AI Rating. Our rating is a bit more granular and also more critical in some areas – for example, when it comes to data, we believe it should be always fully available – and thus, for now, we will keep using it, as it fits the use cases of our users more.

We look forward to your input, both on the OSI definition – on the road to a 2.0 – and on our AI rating.

The post Open Source AI is here appeared first on Nextcloud.

Nextcloud has been awarded Platinum at the IT Awards 2024! This proves once again that love and support of our community is everything. Today, we celebrate this win together!

This recognition, decided by thousands of IT professionals, reflects the trust that our community places in us. It’s an incredible acknowledgment of our efforts to provide a secure, open-source, and flexible platform.

The IT Awards, hosted by Vogel IT Media, celebrate outstanding IT solutions across various categories. Being recognized in this highly competitive contest is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our entire team.

At Nextcloud, our mission is to enable individuals and organizations to regain control of their data through solutions that prioritize data sovereignty and privacy. Winning the Platinum Award strengthens our commitment to this vision, showing that our approach resonates with users and professionals alike.

We are deeply grateful to our community, partners, and customers for their continued support. Your trust drives us to keep innovating and delivering solutions that meet the evolving demands of modern digital collaboration. We look forward to continuing this journey together, building a more open and secure digital future.

You can read a full overview of the winners in this article (in German).

The post Nextcloud wins Platinum at the IT Awards 2024! appeared first on Nextcloud.

About the update

This Nextcloud Hub 9 update combines numerous fixes and improvements across various areas, including file handling, UI and accessibility, error handling in tasks and settings, and more improvements. It also brings the enterprise release of Nextcloud Hub 9. You can find the full changelog on our website.

Updates are available for:

• Nextcloud Hub 9 (version 30.0.1)

Nextcloud Hub 9 is our latest and greatest!

Nextcloud Hub 9 lets you stay connected like never before: federated calls, auto-magic with Nextcloud Flow, collaboration through a new medium with Nextloud Whiteboard, a big design redo and much more!

What’s new in Nextcloud Hub 9:

• Federation: Edit documents and have video calls with users from other Nextcloud servers!
• Automate and digitalize enterprise processes
• Brand new design improvements
• New Whiteboard app
• AI reminders & summaries in Mail
• PDF templates and form API
• Chat UI for Nextcloud Assistant

Get Nextcloud Hub 9

Download and install Nextcloud Hub 9 here!

Get Hub 9

Always keep your server up to date!

Nextcloud’s minor releases primarily focus on addressing security vulnerabilities and functionality bugs, avoiding major system overhauls that could jeopardize user data. Keeping your server up to date is vital, and our approach to testing and validation ensures that upgrading to minor releases is generally smooth and reliable.

For mission-critical Nextcloud systems in enterprise settings, consider switching to Nextcloud Enterprise. The tier provides you with ultimate deployment confidence: direct access to the Nextcloud engineering team, full assistance throughout deployment and integration, and peace of mind for system administrators. If you’re responsible for maintaining Nextcloud in your setting, this option may be the ideal solution for you.

The post New maintenance release for Nextcloud Hub 9 appeared first on Nextcloud.

We are excited to announce Bechtle as one of the Nextcloud Enterprise Day sponsors!

Bechtle is close to its customers and is one of the leading IT companies in Europe with IT e-commerce companies in 14 countries. Bechtle also has a network of partners to meet the needs of global customers. Bechtle support more than 70,000 customers from industry and trade, public sector and financial market in their digital transformation and offer a complete range of IT infrastructure and operation services.

Bechtle is strongly committed to enhancing digital sovereignty, speciality in the public market. They championing open-source solutions and strategically operate services within European data centers to ensure the highest standards of data protection. Active engagement in the public sector, marked by successful collaborations with federal and state authorities, showcases Bechtle’s understanding and capability to meet the unique IT requirements essential for governmental operations.

This collaboration underlines the strength of the partnership between Nextcloud and Bechtle. Both strive to deliver secure, compliant, and effective IT solutions across various sectors.

We invite you to join the conversation with the forward thinkers of the global IT. Nextcloud Enterprise Day takes place on November 6 in Frankfurt, Germany.

About Bechtle

Bechtle is a renowned German provider of IT services and solutions founded in 1983. It has since grown to become one of the largest IT service providers in Europe. The company serves a diverse base of customers businesses, government offices, and educational institutions. Bechtle’s portfolio of services includes IT consulting, software and hardware procurement, system integration, and managed services.

Bechtle is a leading ambassador for digital sovereignty. For many years, the company has been promoting technological independence as an fundamental part of the digitalization strategy. Bechtle have supported multiple organizations on their path towards digital sovereignty with a vendor-neutral portfolio of solutions and consulting services, as well as a European cybersecurity stack.

Bechtle is a company with an impressive history and a prominent position on the European and global IT landscape. We are fascinated to welcome Bechtle as an Enterprise Day supporter.

About Nextcloud Enterprise Day

Nextcloud Enterprise Day is our top event of the year for business leaders, decision-makers, and project managers to achieve their goals with Nextcloud.

From customer presentations and success stories to networking opportunities and access to management, sales, marketing, and engineering teams, you’re bound to walk away with new information, techniques, and inspiration.

The upcoming edition takes place at the spectacular Radisson Blu hotel in Frankfurt, Germany. Early Bird tickets are limited.

The post Bechtle: a new sponsor of Nextcloud Enterprise Day 2024 in Frankfurt appeared first on Nextcloud.

Federation offers a solution to the challenges posed by centrally controlled public cloud applications by letting users communicate and collaborate between independent servers and even independent apps. In this article, we explain how federation works, what features you can use with federation in Nextcloud, and discover how it can help businesses and governments achieve digital sovereignty.

Whether you’re new to federation features or already familiar with them, let’s start with the basics.

Understanding the federated internet

It’s a well-known fact that on-premises software offers more autonomy compared to public cloud tools in several ways, largely due to the level of control organizations have over their infrastructure and data. Self-hosting is a definition of decentralization in the realm of collaborative technologies. An important question arises when considering self-hosting: how can we collaborate effectively using decentralized software?

The answer lies in federation – it’s the key to making decentralized collaboration possible. To understand federation, you need to ask yourself – how does email work? Email is, in fact, federation in action: it operates through a network of independent servers connected via standard protocols and allowing users from different domains to exchange messages with ease via single client.

Or take Mastodon, a federated social network where each instance is a separate server run by an independent entity or community. Each user can sign up on an instance they prefer, and then follow, reply to, or message users on other instances, making communication across the entire network seamless.

In Nextcloud, user’s Federated Cloud ID works similar to an email address or a Mastodon handle, allowing them to exchange data across servers: share files and and collaborate on documents, communicate in group chats and make audio and video calls.

Federation and digital sovereignty

Federation enables private users, organizations, and their departments to use independent infrastructure, hosting their software locally with customized security and compliance measures. Each entity operates its own platform while staying connected to a larger network that supports cross-server collaboration. This decentralized architecture reduces reliance on a single service provider. It also frees you from vendor lock-in, allowing you to choose a trusted provider and work with the software that meets your needs, all while retaining the ability to collaborate seamlessly across different platforms.

Regulators are responding to a growing backlash against big tech firms from users who perceive their behaviour as market abuse, with the term ‘malicious compliance’ being used. This trend causes a growing interest in decentralization technologies.

Frank Karlitschek

Nextcloud founder

Finally, self-hosting with federated features gives you full ownership and control over your data. You choose your own encryption and own access controls, or get more flexible where others can’t, pursuing only your own compliance objectives. Companies and governments can avoid numerous risks by not having to store data under unfavourable regulations, break free from the privacy terms of large cloud providers, and enjoy freedom without being controlled by foreign entities.

Federation in Nextcloud

In Nextcloud Hub, it is already possible to do a lot when it comes to federated collaboration, as we mentioned above. For example, you can share files across servers and even collaborate on them, while federation in Nextcloud Talk enables you to join group chats and run meetings on another server.

Besides better security, easier compliance and more independence, there’s also convenience: you don’t need to send invites or create guest accounts, or set up your own on somebody’s instance. Just use your own account and stay within familiar interface of your home platform — you won’t even notice any difference.

Sure, there are certain limitations, for example, you can’t create private federated chats in Nextcloud Talk yet. But we already support many essential and handy features like polls, markdown and user mentions. And federation in Nextcloud constantly evolves as we explore more abilities of the Federated Cloud Sharing API.

How to configure federated features in your Nextcloud Hub

If you wish to configure and manage federation tools in your Nextcloud, you need to enable the Federation app and follow a few easy steps:

1. Enable the Federation app.
2. Allow your users to share and receive files from other servers.
3. Create a list of trusted servers to enable federation features for them.

Read our documentation for detailed instructions on enabling federation features and federated sharing, and creating federated conversations in Nextcloud Talk.

Federated calls and more amazing features in Nextcloud Hub 9

With Nextcloud Hub 9, we introduced federated calls in Nextcloud Talk, as well as multiple other exciting features across the entire platform. The latest update lets you stay connected like never before
— with new automation features, Nextcloud Whiteboard, new tools in Nextcloud Assistant, improved Nexcloud Mail and Nextcloud Calendar, and much more.

New to Nextcloud? There’s no better time to try it out! Get control over your data today with the most secure open-source collaboration platform.

Get Nextcloud Hub 9

Download and install Nextcloud Hub 9 here!

Download

The post Federation: a foundational concept for digital sovereignty? appeared first on Nextcloud.

We’re excited to announce another sponsor for the upcoming Nextcloud Enterprise Day, scheduled to take place on November 6 in Frankfurt, Germany. We are delighted to welcome IONOS, one of our respected partners, as a sponsoring partner for this event.

The strategic partnership between IONOS and Nextcloud is centered on enhancing security, transparency, and data sovereignty through the consistent application of open standards and open-source software, strengthening the collaborative relationship between our organizations.

Register for the Nextcloud Enterprise Day today at a limited special rate.

About IONOS

IONOS is a top European digitalization partner for SMBs. With six million customers in 18 markets, they provide worldwide accessibility and a comprehensive Web Presence & Productivity portfolio, serving as a convenient ‘one-stop shop’ for digitalization needs. IONOS enables customers to host their own Nextcloud server within their secure, trusted and certified data centers.

IONOS and Nextcloud share a lasting and dynamic partnership, established upon shared goals of enhancing security and boosting transparency. Our collaboration is grounded in the utilization of open standards and open-source software, reflecting our shared belief in the rights of customers to scrutinize the code, pinpoint any security gaps and adjust as needed.

Both IONOS and Nextcloud are firmly committed to raising awareness around the crucial issue of data sovereignty. Our common conviction is that organizations should – and indeed can – reclaim control over their data. This conviction forms the basis of our partnership and this sponsorship.

About Nextcloud Enterprise Day

Nextcloud Enterprise Day is our top event of the year for business leaders, decision-makers, and project managers to achieve their goals with Nextcloud.

From customer presentations and success stories to networking opportunities and access to management, sales, marketing, and engineering teams, you’re bound to walk away with new information, techniques, and inspiration.

The upcoming edition takes place at the spectacular Radisson Blu hotel in Frankfurt, Germany. Early Bird tickets are limited.

The post Announcing IONOS as a sponsor for Nextcloud Enterprise Day 2024 in Frankfurt appeared first on Nextcloud.