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Collaborative work, under high security
"We needed an easy-to-use, ergonomic collaboration suite that met our security constraints and was GDPR-compliant. Talkspirit checked every box!" — Céline Massy, Deputy CIO and Digital Transformation Architect, CEA
Collaborative work, under high security
Europe's leading innovative public body
Founded in 1945, the CEA (French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission) is a public research body — Europe's leading innovative public body. Four domains: defence and security, nuclear and renewable energy, technological research for industry, and fundamental research.
20,000 employees (15,000 in the civilian branch, 5,000 in the military branch), 9 research centres across France. In 2020, the CEA rolled out Talkspirit across its civilian branch.
Collaborating without ever compromising on security
In 2020, the CEA launches a digital workplace for its 15,000 civilian employees: easing information sharing and centralising exchanges. But its activities demand highly secure solutions.
Data that can't leave
The Covid crisis forces Teams into place in a hurry — a stopgap solution, to be quickly replaced by a sovereign alternative.
Data that can't leave
The Covid crisis forces Teams into place in a hurry — a stopgap solution, to be quickly replaced by a sovereign alternative.
Data that can't leave
The Covid crisis forces Teams into place in a hurry — a stopgap solution, to be quickly replaced by a sovereign alternative.
A benchmark, a crisis, a sovereign choice
Why Talkspirit: French software (created in 2008 by Philippe Pinault and Olivier Ricard), hosted in France, outside the Cloud Act, already proven with public institutions (French Army, CNRS, CNES, CPAM) — and easy to use.
Slack, Teams… then Talkspirit
The CEA evaluates several tools on technical, security, and user experience criteria. The Covid crisis forces Teams into place urgently — but the Cloud Act disqualifies it for sensitive data.
A European, sovereign alternative
Digging deeper into European players, the CEA picks Talkspirit to replace Teams: security, hosting in France, GDPR compliance, ease of use.
From 30 to 5,500 users
A gradual but fast rollout: first small working groups, then IT and business units — from 30 to 300, then to several thousand. Six months after launch: 5,500 users, nearly two-thirds active every month.
Toward 15,000 users, partners included
Users have a lot of freedom (everyone creates their own groups), with close support from the Talkspirit team. The CEA has just ordered 10,000 licences and is aiming for 15,000 users, opening mixed communities with its research partners (CNRS, INSERM, INRIA).
Sovereign, easy to use, adopted
What the digital workplace changed at the CEA.
users in 6 months
From a handful of pilot groups to several thousand users — nearly two-thirds active every month.
From a handful of pilot groups to several thousand users — nearly two-thirds active every month.
Outside the Cloud Act, hosted in France
Where Teams and Slack opened a door to data, Talkspirit protects confidentiality: data in France, GDPR compliance, regular audits.
Where Teams and Slack opened a door to data, Talkspirit protects confidentiality: data in France, GDPR compliance, regular audits.
A new reflex
Not very accustomed to remote work before the crisis, the CEA made the platform the place where information gets shared — simplifying remote collaboration.
Not very accustomed to remote work before the crisis, the CEA made the platform the place where information gets shared — simplifying remote collaboration.
A responsive vendor
Workshops for admins, onboarding sessions: a close relationship has formed, and the CEA's needs feed into the roadmap.
Workshops for admins, onboarding sessions: a close relationship has formed, and the CEA's needs feed into the roadmap.
We showed the auditors what we were already doing every day in Talkspirit. Living governance wasn't a side project: it was built into the way we work.
Thanks to the organisational map built in Talkspirit, everyone knows who does what and what their responsibilities are. This transparency helps each person better understand the direction the company is taking, and lets us align our efforts to fulfil our purpose.
Talkspirit played a key role in clarifying roles, responsibilities and cross-team collaboration within our hierarchical organisation. [...] The tool has also transformed the way we run our meetings. In the past, our meetings were often unproductive. Today, they are better structured, roles are clearly defined and decision-making is far more efficient.
Having a strong intention to change wasn't enough. We needed a tool capable of supporting the practical workings of this new organisational approach.
Organisational clarity and agility allow everyone to fully apply their skills and reach their full potential. It gives people wings. And every organisation needs that.
Adopting Holacracy has helped us gain autonomy and clarity. Employees know what's expected of them, so they can make decisions without constantly seeking everyone's approval. [...] The result: our trust index now stands at 89 out of 100!
In the past, we would have managed with emails, but the documents would have ended up scattered all over the place. With Talkspirit, we share files directly in an organised, structured and centralised way. The latest updates are gathered in a single place, so we can discuss them in real time and act as quickly as possible.
Talkspirit brings us closer to our teams, fuels collective intelligence and makes day-to-day information sharing far smoother.
Pooling our strengths makes each of us stronger. Within our network of SMEs, Talkspirit is an essential driver of transformation and agility.
Talkspirit allows every employee to fully unlock their talents. If someone has skills in several areas, they can take on different roles without being boxed into a single job description. This flexibility in roles also strengthens our agility — an essential asset in today's VUCA world (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous).
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30 minutes with our security, compliance, or DPO team to review your current landscape: regulatory constraints, sovereignty requirements, and consolidation projects. No generic presentations.