LINAGORA announces the arrival of General Xavier GUIMARD as CTO Software

LINAGORA is proud to announce the arrival of Brigadier General Xavier GUIMARD as CTO software with effect from 1 February 2023.

Before joining LINAGORA, General Xavier GUIMARD was Deputy Director of Information Systems at the Ministry of the Interior. He has spent most of his career in the Gendarmerie Nationale, particularly in the digital field.

Xavier GUIMARD is an expert known and recognised for his impact on the digital transformation of the French State through the extensive use of Open Source software. He has been at the heart of major programmes to implement Open Source solutions such as GNU/Linux, LibreOffice.org, OpenLDAP, OBM, etc. within the Gendarmerie Nationale.

He is also known (and recognised by his peers) for his active contribution to a number of open source software applications (postfix, openldap). Above all, he is the creator of the LemonLDAP::NG Open Source SSO technology, which is at the heart of the many critical authentication infrastructures currently in production in many public and private sector organisations. An expert in the fields of TDD (Test Driven Development) and javascript programming, he is also a very active Debian contributor and packager, with over 1,200 packages under his responsibility in terms of quality monitoring (https://qa.debian.org/developer.php?email=yadd%40debian.org).

Xavier GUIMARD explains his desire to join LINAGORA:
« LINAGORA is a historic player in Free Software. Throughout my career I have been able to measure LINAGORA's capacity for commitment and innovation. France needs champions of Free Software, and having devoted a significant part of my career to developing the use of Free Software, I will now have the opportunity to actively contribute to developing France's digital sovereignty. I invite all those who share this ambition to join us in helping to build the alternatives to GAFAM that our country needs!»

Joining a company like LINAGORA will enable Xavier GUIMARD to devote himself fully to his passion for free software. But it will also give him the opportunity to convince other talented people to do the same.

Alexandre ZAPOLSKY, Chairman of LINAGORA, comments:
« It is not inevitable that senior civil servants will only join the GAFAMs. The battle for digital sovereignty will be won when the best engineers, whatever their origins, join forces to develop the solutions at the heart of the 3rd digital way. Xavier has always been a pioneer and a courageous man, capable of rising to many challenges. No doubt others will follow his example! We're ready to welcome them!».

Michel-Marie MAUDET, Managing Director of LINAGORA, is also delighted with the arrival of Xavier :
« We are honoured that General Xavier GUIMARD has chosen to join us. He has demonstrated his ability to make Open Source a genuine tool for performance, independence and sovereignty. LINAGORA was created to welcome active developers and contributors who want to reconcile their passion for open source software with their ambition to implement these technologies in the most critical systems.»

Xavier GUIMARD joins LINAGORA with a dual mission: to contribute his experience to accelerate the success of LINAGORA's software offering, in particular the Twake digital workplace solution, and to create a new subsidiary based in Mauritius.

Alexandre Zapolsky explains this choice:
« With the development of remote working, we can offer new work experiences. It seems to us that Mauritius has the potential to offer a dream living environment for many developers who want to combine a balance between their professional and personal lives. There's no doubt that this will significantly increase the number of applications to LINAGORA! Whether you're looking for an international internship or a permanent job, don't hesitate to join Xavier GUIMARD and help our LINAGORA Mauritius team grow! ».

About Xavier GUIMARD's career :

Xavier GUIMARD is a graduate of the École Polytechnique (class of 1990) and completed his training at the École Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications.

As part of his professional career, he graduated from the École de Guerre (class of 2005-2006) and the Institut d'études et de recherche pour la sécurité des entreprises (class of 2014-2015).

He began his career between 1994 and 1998 in the Garde Républicaine as a section leader and then commander of the 1st squadron of the Garde Républicaine cavalry regiment.

His career then took him to command a company and then a Gendarmerie group, while at the same time participating in the implementation of the Gendarmerie's largest IS transformation programmes within the central administration. He is particularly renowned for his involvement in the strategic use of open-source software, both in data centres and on the workstations of Gendarmerie personnel.

Deputy director of command applications in the homeland security technology and information systems department, he was appointed Brigadier General of the Gendarmerie in April 2019, and was appointed project manager to the director general of digital at the Ministry of the Armed Forces, in charge of digital identity. After spearheading the creation of the Gendarmerie Command in cyberspace, he took up the post of Deputy Director of Digital at the Ministry of the Interior's Digital Directorate (DNUM) in July 2021.

Le général Xavier GUIMARD a fait valoir ses droits à la retraite en fin d’année 2022.

About LINAGORA :

LINAGORA is a French open-source software publisher, founded in June 2000 by Alexandre ZAPOLSKY and Michel-Marie MAUDET. With offices in France, Belgium, Canada, Vietnam and Tunisia, the company employs over one hundred and fifty people. LINAGORA has been one of the most active contributors to Open Source communities for nearly 1/4 of a century. Nearly half of the company's workforce is dedicated to R&D, making LINAGORA one of the largest private investors in Open Source research.

LINAGORA's day-to-day operations and projects are based on a simple mission:
« Inventing and developing ethical Free and Open Source Software to help change the world with maximum positive impact for people, society and the planet. » Alexandre ZAPOLSKY – October 2020

In concrete terms, by sharing its software free of charge under an open licence, LINAGORA is giving as many people as possible access to the best of digital technology and drastically accelerating individual and collective innovation cycles.

LINAGORA supports its major public and private sector customers in their digital transformation strategy based on an open platform model, in particular through its software offering: Twake Workplace, LinShare and LinTO. LINAGORA provides its customers with solutions that enable them to free themselves from global software suppliers or proprietary platforms, enabling them to develop their digital sovereignty.

At the end of 2022, LINAGORA set up its head office in Issy-Les-Moulineaux at the Villa Good Tech on the Île Saint-Germain, 37 rue Pierre Poli in Issy-les-Moulineaux.

The Villa Good Tech is first and foremost an atypical and totemic place: the ambition of the Villa Good Tech is to facilitate encounters, sharing, collaboration and cross-fertilisation between different publics, who are potential vectors of creativity, the emergence of new possibilities and innovation.

LINAGORA's ambition for the Villa Good Tech is to become, within three years, one of the most dynamic places in the Ile-de-France region in terms of transmission and training, innovation and experimentation with our "Living Labs" approach.