Pilot with Nextcloud: AlgoSoc and SURF Collaborate on Digital Sovereignty

The AlgoSoc Consortium – 5 Universities

Algorithms increasingly influence societal decision-making, posing challenges to safeguarding public values like fairness and transparency. The AlgoSoc consortium, a collaboration of five Dutch universities, explores how to balance and protect public values, societal interests, and human rights in the development of (semi-)automated processes and algorithms.

By teaming up, AlgoSoc and SURF ensure that researchers within the consortium use a collaboration platform rooted in public values and open-source software, enabling seamless collaboration even across campus boundaries.

What is Nextcloud?

Nextcloud is software that provides a powerful digital collaboration environment, including:

• Cloud storage and file sharing
• Collaborative document editing with office applications
• Video calls, chats, and webinars
• Use of plugins, from web-based (survey) forms to AI integrations.

Nextcloud sets itself apart from platforms like Google Workspace, Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft 365 in the following ways:

• All software and (research) data of users are hosted on SURF's infrastructure and managed by AlgoSoc.
• Nextcloud software has a privacy- and security-by-default setup.
• The software components are modular, optional, and well-integrated.
• Its basis in open standards and open-source code enables interoperability with other software, systems, and processes.

Open Source is not a goal

The use of open standards and open-source code is not an end goal but a means to achieve:

• A rich (plugin) ecosystem where numerous suppliers can offer applications within Nextcloud, such as mind-mapping and modeling software or OpenStreetMaps.
• Full control: AlgoSoc, SURF, and pilot users have complete control and authority over all (research) data and the software.
• Security through transparency: Open-source code enables a high level of security.
• Community development: Innovations and improvements from the user community flow back into the software, benefiting the entire community. This creates a continuous process of (public) resources contributing to better, safer, and more user-friendly software, fostering innovation and allowing you to set your own innovation pace.

Digital Sovereignty means… Choosing your own AI assistant

A current example illustrating the difference between Big Tech's closed collaboration platforms and the power of open standards and open-source environments is Nextcloud's AI assistant. Organizations managing Nextcloud can enable or disable the AI assistant as desired. If an organization opts to use this AI assistant, it is not bound to one provided by the vendor.

Unlike platforms like Microsoft (Copilot) or Google (Gemini), Nextcloud allows organizations to choose their own AI assistant. This could be:

• A locally hosted AI assistant,
• A self-developed solution (Say hello to WiLLMA or GPT-NL!),
• A commercial (European) alternative,
• Or an AI assistant from a major American tech player.

It’s all about choice: educational and research institutions should select an AI assistant that aligns with their values and requirements. These might include the legality of the dataset used, algorithm transparency, software and training methods, and accountability.

An additional benefit of an "open" approach is compatibility with innovative technologies like the decentralized Fediverse, enabling integration with social applications like Mastodon and PeerTube. Moreover, it integrates seamlessly with existing (SURF) tools for education and research, such as Yoda, eduID, or the Open Education API.

This flexibility and transparency underscore the value of open standards and open source for education and research.

What will SURF do and why?

SURF supports this pilot by hosting Nextcloud on its own existing infrastructure. This is linked to SURF Research Access Management (SRAM), SURFconext, and SURF Data Services. Using this infrastructure ensures that AlgoSoc’s data is processed securely, fully compliant with applicable standards, and aligned with public values within these services.

By supporting initiatives like this pilot with open-source solutions, SURF offers a valuable alternative to Big Tech’s commercial platforms. This gives users the freedom to configure and deploy technology flexibly to meet their specific needs without compromising privacy, security, transparency, or collaboration—even with individuals outside their organization.

Working on additional alternatives is not a Big Tech ban
With this approach, SURF also aims to support greater freedom of choice and options in the collaboration environment landscape in the long term. Two dominant players are simply insufficient at this moment, regardless of whether these are high-performing, affordable, or geopolitically sensitive products. SURF strives for a future with better balance and real choice options for education and research. This does not involve replacement or prohibition. The more software that meets our public values becomes available, the more choices this will provide.

Why this pilot?

The Nextcloud pilot is a logical next step following a successful trial project within SURF. While the testbed focused on functionality, scalability, and performance, this two-year pilot project will explore the practical application of Nextcloud within research groups like AlgoSoc, including support across five universities.

The aim is to learn, experiment, and work towards a future where education and research actively retain control over their digital environments.

Stakeholders at various levels take responsibility within their scope of action. Europe does so through regulations and directives (e.g., DMA, DSA, AI Act). Nationally, awareness, strategy, and policy are being developed, such as the Agenda for Digital Open Strategic Autonomy and the Value-Driven Digitalization Work Agenda. Education and research are taking concrete steps to proactively steer their own (shared) digital environment.

Depending on the pilot's outcomes and experiences, discussions with SURF members (institutions) may lead to additional pilots, potential new services, and a portfolio that meets the needs of education and research.

Stay informed

During the pilot, SURF and AlgoSoc will regularly update the community on progress and lessons learned. These insights could also be valuable for other sectors, such as primary and secondary education, governments, and implementing organizations.

They face similar challenges around digital sovereignty and the opportunities of digital commons, where software like Nextcloud is collectively managed, developed, and improved by a community.

Bold Innovation and Experimentation

The partnership between AlgoSoc and SURF marks a significant step towards a future where collaboration environments are both powerful and responsible. By experimenting, learning, and daring to develop solutions centered on public values, we lay the foundation for a digital ecosystem where reliable solutions and essential values go hand in hand.

AlgoSoc researchers not only play a vital role in their field of study but, by participating in the pilot, also act as digital pioneers on whose shoulders future efforts may depend.

The AlgoSoc program is funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) under the Gravitation program. Through Gravitation, the government promotes excellent research in the Netherlands. It is intended for scientific consortia with the potential to become world leaders in their fields. AlgoSoc is a collaboration between the following five universities: the University of Amsterdam, Delft University of Technology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Utrecht University, and Tilburg University.