The Open Buro Manifesto

The Problem We Refuse to Accept

Open source has won. Email, document collaboration, project management, video conferencing, messaging — for every workplace function, a mature open source alternative exists. Europe has invested billions in digital sovereignty.

And yet, we lost.

Not because the tools are inferior. Because they don't work together. Every app has its own login, its own navigation, its own data silo. Users don't see a platform — they see a collection of disconnected experiences held together by bookmarks and browser tabs.

The result: organizations default back to Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. Not because those suites are better — but because they are integrated. The proprietary lock-in isn't in the code. It's in the orchestration layer.

What We Believe

We hold these principles to be foundational:

1. Orchestration is the missing layer. The battle for the European digital workplace will not be won by building yet another app. It will be won by connecting the apps that already exist.
2. No single vendor should control the standard. An orchestration layer that belongs to one company is just another proprietary platform. Open Buro must be governed collectively or it becomes what it fights against.
3. Interoperability is not optional — it's the product. Open Buro is not an app you install. It is the contract between apps. Protocols, data formats, navigation patterns, identity flows — defined once, implemented everywhere.
4. Sovereignty means control, not isolation. A sovereign platform doesn't mean rejecting the world. It means European organizations choose where their data lives, who has access, and under which jurisdiction — without sacrificing user experience.
5. AI must serve the user, not extract from them. Artificial intelligence in the workplace should augment human capability with full transparency. No shadow training on private data. No vendor-controlled models as gatekeepers.
6. Open source is necessary but not sufficient. Releasing code under an open license is the beginning, not the end. True openness requires open governance, open specifications, and open participation.

What We Commit To

The Open Buro Alliance commits to:

• Publishing the standard openly — every specification, every protocol, every API under open licenses, free for anyone to implement.
• Governing transparently — decisions made in public, roadmap visible to all, no backroom deals with privileged vendors.
• Welcoming all contributors — publishers, governments, enterprises, independent developers. The standard belongs to its community.
• Shipping working implementations — a manifesto without code is just poetry. We measure progress in running software, not slide decks.
• Resisting capture — by any single vendor, government, or interest group. The moment Open Buro serves one master, it fails its mission.

A Call to Action

Europe doesn't need another app. Europe needs a platform.

Not a platform owned by a single company, but a platform defined by a shared standard — where any publisher can contribute, any organization can deploy, and no single actor holds the keys.

This is Open Buro. This is the standard. This is the Alliance.

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