Open Buro
The open European standard for workplace orchestration.
Open Buro is the missing layer that turns isolated open source workplace apps into a unified digital platform — capable of rivaling Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, without vendor lock-in.
The Problem
Europe has mature open source alternatives for every workplace function: email, documents, project management, video conferencing, chat, calendar. But these tools remain isolated silos. Even with SSO, users get an app catalog — not a platform.
Meanwhile, dominant suites win not because they're better app-by-app, but because they deliver a platform effect: an interlocked ecosystem where everything flows together effortlessly. Leaving becomes perceived as risk, not a project. The dependency is strategic and political, not just budgetary.
The Standard
Open Buro defines how independent open source services assemble and communicate through a common orchestration layer. The standard covers 7 domains:
- Application Integration — Unified SSO, standard app packaging, centralized registry, common settings API
- Cross-service Navigation — Shared home screen, unified nav, global app grid, cross-app command palette
- Data Intelligence — Business object definitions, cross-app event streaming, knowledge graph, unified search
- Platform Collaboration — Cross-service workspaces, threaded comments, unified notifications, shared presence
- Inter-apps & AI — Capability/intent casting, shared file picker, AI agents orchestrating across tools
- Security & Encryption — Platform-level E2E encryption, granular permissions, audit logging
- Mobile & Desktop — Native mobile apps, desktop client, browser extension
The Alliance
The Open Buro Alliance is the collective movement — publishers, institutions, governments — that governs and promotes the standard. Structured as a neutral foundation (modeled on Linux Foundation / CNCF), no single vendor controls the standard.
Founding members:
- Twake (LINAGORA's collaborative platform)
- La Suite numérique (DINUM, French government digital workplace)
We are at the very beginning, join us !
