The Health Data Hub (HDH), France’s central platform for health data sharing, has officially replaced Microsoft Azure with Scaleway, a French cloud provider, as its infrastructure partner. This transition, long anticipated, marks a significant shift in the governance of sensitive health data in France.
The HDH was originally launched in 2019 under the French government’s “Health Data Hub” initiative, designed to facilitate the secure sharing and analysis of health data for research and innovation. Its initial reliance on Microsoft Azure, a US-based cloud service, sparked controversy over data sovereignty and compliance with European data protection regulations (GDPR). Critics argued that hosting French health data on US servers could expose it to extraterritorial laws like the US CLOUD Act, potentially compromising patient privacy.
Scaleway, a subsidiary of the French telecom and cloud group Iliad, has now taken over as the HDH’s cloud provider. The transition was completed after a rigorous selection process, with Scaleway winning a public tender in 2022. The move is seen as a victory for advocates of “cloud souverain” (sovereign cloud) in France, who have long pushed for local infrastructure to handle sensitive public data.
The HDH’s director, Stéphanie Combes, emphasized that the switch was not just about sovereignty but also about performance and cost. Scaleway’s infrastructure is designed to meet the high security and compliance standards required for health data, including certification under France’s “SecNumCloud” security framework. The new setup also promises improved data processing capabilities and reduced latency for researchers.
The transition involved migrating over 1,000 datasets and 200 projects from Azure to Scaleway, a process that took several months. The HDH confirmed that no data was lost or compromised during the migration. Scaleway will now provide the platform’s core cloud services, including storage, computing, and analytics, while Microsoft remains a partner for certain non-core services, such as office productivity tools.
The move has broader implications for France’s digital sovereignty strategy. It aligns with the government’s “Cloud au Centre” policy, which encourages public sector use of trusted cloud providers, and reinforces the push for European alternatives to US tech giants. However, some experts caution that Scaleway’s scale and global reach are limited compared to hyperscalers like AWS or Azure, which could constrain future expansion or international collaboration.
The HDH’s decision is also a boost for Scaleway, which has been aggressively expanding its cloud offerings and targeting public sector clients. The company now hosts one of France’s most sensitive data platforms, a credential that could help it win other government contracts.
In summary, the HDH’s migration from Microsoft Azure to Scaleway represents a concrete step toward French digital sovereignty in health data, balancing security, compliance, and performance. While the transition was technically complex, it has been completed without incident, and the HDH is now fully operational on Scaleway’s infrastructure. The move underscores the growing demand for sovereign cloud solutions in Europe, particularly for handling sensitive public data.