Why are we conducting this pilot?
Europe has become heavily dependent on large American tech companies. Due to recent geopolitical developments, it is uncertain whether we can continue to use these parties safely for our data and essential services. For this reason, SURF is investigating whether Nextcloud can offer a reliable, secure, and Netherlands‑hosted alternative for collaboration, storage, and communication.
Why Nextcloud?
Nextcloud aligns well with the values of Dutch education and research. The software can be hosted in the Netherlands, is open‑source, and works with open standards, allowing institutions to maintain control over their data and collaborate easily with one another. SURF has many years of experience with Nextcloud services and is building on that foundation in this pilot.
Goals of the pilot
The pilot examines whether Nextcloud is suitable as a full collaboration environment. We are looking at:
- Technical architecture – which setup works best for performance, management, and scalability.
- User experience – how lecturers, researchers, students, and staff experience the environment.
- Collaboration – secure collaboration between institutions, including guest users and integrations with other systems.
- Management & governance – how responsibilities, support, and decision‑making can best be organised.
- Security & privacy – compliance with legislation, incident resilience, and digital autonomy.
- AI assistant – exploring how a responsibly deployable AI assistant can support users.
- Future scenarios – determining how institutions can scale and use the environment to increase digital independence.
Pilot duration
The pilot is planned for 2026, but it may continue for several additional months in 2027.
What is expected of you?
- You are expected to use the SURF Nextcloud Pilot for your daily work during the pilot period.
- You complete the evaluation forms, starting with the first questionnaire for the baseline measurement, in collaboration with the University of Amsterdam (UvA).
- You share your findings regarding the setup and use of Nextcloud so we can address them and/or include them in the final conclusions.
- You move your data to an appropriate location before the end of the pilot.
Sharing findings
If you have findings related to the use of Nextcloud, you can register them via the self‑service form.
Current known issues
- The Nextcloud calendar does not yet synchronise with the Exchange calendar, which means you have appointments in two places. Work on this is ongoing.
- @@ Teams folders …
Questions or need help?
If you have questions, need help, or have comments about this pilot, about using SURF Nextcloud, or about this communication, you can contact the following sources:
- Log in to your pilot environment via SURF Nextcloud and use the help function (?) in the taskbar.
- Consult the SURF Works wiki.
- Complete the ICT Service Desk self‑service form; they are happy to assist you.
What happens to your data when the pilot ends?
You will be informed in advance when the environment is scheduled to be deleted, allowing you to move your data. There are ideas to set up a comparable production environment alongside it, but plans are not yet concrete