# Communication talent: The Matrix messenger protocol is becoming increasingly popular :::info Transcribed using FasterWhisper from the source: https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/kommunikationstalent-das-messenger-protokoll-matrix-wird-immer-beliebter-100.html [**German transcription**: https://pad.michelson.eu/s/bNVL90e2z](https://pad.michelson.eu/s/bNVL90e2z) Translated into English using DeepL. ::: The first official Matrix conference was recently held in Strasbourg. Matrix is an internet communication protocol for messengers that is the subject of great hope in uncertain times. Both the open source community and the public sector across Europe are already using it on a large scale because of its clear security architecture and interoperability. Achim Killer participated in the Matrix conference online. "My name is Matthew Hodgson. I'm not going to talk about money. I'm going to talk about technology and where Matrix stands. The world needs Matrix more than ever. We are seeing fragmentation of users and attacks on encryption. We live in dangerous times. Today's web needs open and defragmented communication," said Matthew Hodgson of the non-profit Matrix Society in his opening speech at this year's conference. Matrix is an open protocol for real-time communication. It is mainly used in the public sector, for example in Luxembourg, where government employees exchange information via the open-source messenger Luxchat4Gov. “The solution is digitally sovereign. Our servers are located in Luxembourg so that we can control the data. It is encrypted throughout. That is one of the most important advantages. We enforce encryption so that there are no unprotected rooms or chats with us,” says Patrick Weber, the project manager responsible at the Luxembourg Ministry of Digital Affairs. Secure encryption is one reason why Matrix is so popular with governments. The French messenger for the public sector, Tchap, is based on Matrix. The Polish army uses the protocol, as does the Swedish social security system. In Germany, it is used by the Bundeswehr's BW Messenger and the TI Messenger in the healthcare sector, which is maintained by Gematik. “Gematik is the National Agency for Digital Medicine. This means that we are commissioned by the federal government to digitize the healthcare system. And our mission is to establish the TI Messenger, a secure chat option for the entire healthcare system,” says Marie Rudeck from Gematik. Another advantage is the decentralized structure of the Matrix system. Anyone can set up a server and connect to other servers. And interfaces have been developed so that users of other messaging services can also participate. These are called “bridges.” “We are somewhat familiar with this from the world of email. If I use Outlook, my mother uses Gmail, and my brother uses Web.de, then we can write to each other. But if I use WhatsApp and my mother uses Threema, then we cannot chat. However, it is possible to chat with a WhatsApp user via Matrix using the TI Messenger.” The open source community has developed bridges to WhatsApp, Signal, Mastodon, Telegram, LinkedIn, and others. Since the middle of the year, the messenger has been activated in electronic patient records. “This means that you can now access your electronic patient records on your cell phone at any time, if you have installed them, and use the TI Messenger there to write to doctors who also have the TI Messenger.” At the Matrix conference in Strasbourg, meanwhile, people are talking about the success stories so popular in the industry of high installation numbers within a very short time. And indeed, development of the protocol only began ten years ago. For five years now, it has been gaining ground in the public sector. It delivers what is needed in times of international tension. It is open source and is not tied to any of the major US hyperscalers or Chinese internet companies. At the same time, however, it is also able to cooperate with their software and services. Digital sovereignty is also the most frequently heard argument put forward in favor of Matrix. And in Germany in particular, there is another factor: privacy. "Why did we choose Matrix? We have a great many different interest groups in Germany that use different primary systems and different software systems. And we have very high security standards in Germany. This means that as soon as we handle patient health data in Germany, we need the very highest standards. This is also required by law." Achim Killer reported on the Matrix messenger protocol.