France swaps Microsoft for Iliad's Scaleway to repatriate health data hub

France has chosen domestic cloud provider Scaleway, a subsidiary of Iliad, to host the country's Health Data Hub, replacing Microsoft Azure in a long-contested arrangement, Scaleway said on Thursday.

The ‌contract ⁠adds to ⁠the French company's broader European momentum. Earlier in April, the European Commission awarded a 180 million euro ($210 million) cloud tender to Scaleway, Post Telecom, OVHcloud and STACKIT.

The French government had originally ⁠chosen Microsoft ‌Azure to host the platform, a decision that drew sustained ⁠legal and political scrutiny. Microsoft's own representatives admitted before a French Senate inquiry that they could not oppose a US injunction targeting French citizens' data, even if it was hosted in France.


A follow-up law passed ‌in 2024 mandates that sensitive data be hosted on sovereign-guaranteed infrastructure, effectively excluding providers ⁠subject to the US Cloud Act.

Scaleway, evaluated for more than 350 technical criteria, was designated ​as the hub's future host, tasked with securing health records covering tens of millions of French citizens.

($1 = 0.8553 euros)