Bonum Certa Men Certa

Almost 100 Pages of Self-Congratulatory Marketing Isn't a Case of Informing the Administrative Council of the EPO But Misleading It Using Fluff and Buzzwords

And pictures like the one below:

EPO IT report

Video download link



Summary: The video above quickly runs through nearly 100 pages of self-promotional fluff; the Administrative Council of the EPO, which meets in a few days, is being misled or shamelessly lied to by the Office

YESTERDAY we showed that it is notoriously hard to find documents associated with meetings of the Administrative Council of the EPO, so we've made available here a recent document and this addendum (CA/40/20 and CA/40/20 Add. 5, respectively).



"What's worth noting (and seeing; it's covered hurriedly in the video above) is how the Office exploits "diversity" (which it is patently lacking) and greenwashing tactics to paint itself as ethical, still pretending to have a real dialogue with the union (SUEPO), misleading about "quality", and bragging about bribing the media for lots of puff pieces and TV 'air time'..."They're both PDF files, outlined as followed:

CA/40/20 Munich, 12.06.2020 SUBJECT: Annual Review 2019 SUBMITTED BY: President of the European Patent Office ADDRESSEES: Administrative Council (for information)

CA/40/20 Add. 5 Munich, 12.06.2020 SUBJECT: IT Report 2019 – Driving digital transformation SUBMITTED BY: President of the European Patent Office ADDRESSEES: Administrative Council (for information)

One can find the original at https://www.epo.org/about-us/annual-reports-statistics/annual-report/2019/deeper-look/it.html but it takes some efforts to locate because the search facility at epo.org is mostly broken (we demonstrated this in a video one day ago). "Some other interesting EPO documents," as a source noted to us, show just how little the Administrative Council of the EPO is being told about the real situation at the Office. "Two more interesting EPO documents which are publicly available are these ones which contain information about the ongoing "digital transformation" for the information of the Administrative Council..."

Let's take a look at the part about "IT" (a direct link to "Deeper look at: IT - driving digital transformation" (warning: epo.org link) is possible to reach through navigation menus).

"These documents were submitted to the Administrative Council "for information" in June 2020 by the Office Administration," a source said. "The "IT Report 2019 – Driving digital transformation" is full of buzzwords like "fasttrack digitalisation", "IT delivery highway", "Kubernetes" and "migrating to cloud-native architectures"."

In the video above (towards the end) we examine key pages.

Page 3 of 19 says:

Accelerating delivery via a new highway Based on a new reference architecture (Kubernetes), we launched a technical platform for streamlined continuous delivery (an IT delivery "highway"). After building cross-functional teams and improving co-operation with all areas of the EPO, we began to prepare several pilots and create product teams. These initiatives were designed to pave the way for fasttrack digitalisation and paperless solutions for the patent granting process (PGP).


PGP would typically be associated with encryption, but not at the EPO.

Page 4 of 19 says:

Migrating to cloud-native architectures One of our goals is to simplify our overly-complex application landscape, replacing it with a harmonised, open source IT architecture. We embarked upon this journey in 2019 by beginning to decommission obsolete hardware and software, and roll out state-of-the-art alternatives. Going forward, we intend to decouple from our legacy systems and migrate to cloud-native architectures. This will positively impact information security, lower operating costs and ensure that our key applications are future-ready.


We've looked at nearly 100 pages and didn't see Microsoft mentioned except in relation to Vista 10 and OOXML. The report is long and full of pictures/charts. "But there doesn't seem to be anything about the issue of GDPR compliance or any attempt to address the potential risks in outsourcing data processing to US-based multinationals like Microsoft," our source emphasised. "Also the annual audit reports from the Board of Auditors don't appear to contain any meaningful analysis of these issues. So it seems that the Administrative Council is not being properly briefed about what is happening to the EPO's infrastructure."

In the next part (tomorrow) we shall look at more internal documents. What's worth noting (and seeing; it's covered hurriedly in the video above) is how the Office exploits "diversity" (which it is patently lacking) and greenwashing tactics to paint itself as ethical, still pretending to have a real dialogue with the union (SUEPO), misleading about "quality", and bragging about bribing the media for lots of puff pieces and TV 'air time'...

Recent Techrights' Posts

Weeks After Microsoft Bankruptcy in Russia the Company Shuts Down in Pakistan, Too
Last month Windows' share in Pakistan fell to an all-time low
Crime and Corruption at Microsoft GitHub Cannot be Covered Up by SLAPPs in Another Continent
We'll write about this for a long time to come
Slop Videos Are Disappointing Garbage, Nothing New, Just Brute Force up on Display or a Pedestal of Slop
Slop videos aren't a new thing
 
Links 04/07/2025: Google Replaces the Web With Slop, "AI Might Kill Us All"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 04/07/2025: Mindfulness and F1
Links for the day
Rob Musial's June 2025 Additions of Malware in Proprietary Software
Via the GNU Web site this week
Links 04/07/2025: Microsoft's H-1B Visa Applications Show Another Crisis Unfolding, Many More Deep Cuts and Shutdowns Revealed, Complete Microsoft Exits
Links for the day
Gemini Links 04/07/2025: A Day To Remember and "Stop Killing Games"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 03, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 03, 2025
The War on Local Storage (People Hosting Their Files Locally and Privately)
There's nothing wrong with controlling one's computing
What Digital Independence Means
Independence in the digital realms means abandoning platforms like GitHub, not just rejecting proprietary software
NVidia is a Bubble
they temporarily see fortunes and wrongly assume perpetuity thereof
Fedora Does Not Care About Diversity and Inclusion, It's About Optics (Corporate Image)
any notion of inclusion is superficial and misleading
Don't Buy the Excuses for Microsoft's Mass Layoffs
Back in the 90s, Microsoft bought a lot of companies to get and stay ahead
Happy Independence Day to Our American Readers
Maybe tomorrow will be a good opportunity to explain to American people - in terms of concepts, not brands - which tools respect their independence
Slopwatch: Linux Journal, Linuxsecurity, and Google News Getting Even Worse (More Slopfarms Added Which Attack Linux With Bruce-Force SPAM)
Google News is part of the same problem
Links 03/07/2025: More Cuts and Cancellations at Microsoft Revealed
Links for the day
Gemini Links 03/07/2025: Favourite Child and Launching WikiGem
Links for the day
GNU/Linux is Replacing Microsoft Windows. But We Need to Eradicate Microsoft, It's a Hub of Crime.
I have been writing about Microsoft since the 1990s when I was in school
Mystery Surrounding the PCLinuxOS Sites and PCLinuxOS Magazine
Let's hope this isn't something major
People and Companies Do Learn Some Lessons From Their Mistakes (Stubborn Ones Don't)
Brett Wilson LLP is an example of one that would rather drown in mistakes
Links 03/07/2025: 'Hey Hi' Slop Ridiculed Some More and Microsoft's Layoffs Tally for 2025 Reaches About 29,000 in Just 6 Months (Almost 5,000 Per Month)
Links for the day
Microsoft Staff Harassing Women, Strangling Women, Telling Women to Kill Themselves and Worse? Not a Problem!
Two women have left Brett Wilson LLP
The Slopfarms Are Losing the Plot (and Google is Propping Up Rogue Sites)
Google is part of the attack on the Web, on information, and on technology
New BetaNews Realises There's No Potential or Future in Slopfarms, Prior Editor Wayne Williams is Back
They realise that slop (so-called "AI") cannot replace humans
Claims That Microsoft Looks for Staff That Works More and Gets Paid Less (or Can Only Code by Grabbing Other People's Code, Under the Guise of "AI")
People can form their own opinion
Richard Stallman Was Right About Reasons Not to Use Microsoft
last updated 2017
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 02, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, July 02, 2025
Gemini Links 03/07/2025: No to Cloudflare and Small Web July
Links for the day
Links 02/07/2025: Deep Microsoft Cuts, Macron Speaks to Putin
Links for the day
Confirmed: Microsoft Shutdowns Today, Not Only Mass Layoffs
"The Initiative is the only studio closure planned today, although some other teams have seen cuts of varying degrees."
Microsoft Windows Nosedives in Switzerland While GNU/Linux Leaps Above 6%
sooner or later they might have to make the move anyway
Anxiety at Microsoft: Many Workers (Maybe Over 10,000) Still Don't Know They're Being Laid Off Just Before US Independence Day
"Has anyone gotten the notification yet?"
Microsoft "Declined to Say How Many People Would be Laid Off," According to Associated Press
Some other prominent publications said they reached out for comment from Microsoft and received none
The X War is Over and the "Wayland People" Lost
People will gravitate towards what works for them
20 Years Since My Thesis
It's still online
GNU/Linux is Replacing Windows in Laptops/Desktops
The world will move on while Windows and Microsoft shrink
Now Comes the Expected Webspam, Framing Microsoft Layoffs as "Hey Hi" Success Story (False Marketing That's Piggybacking the Layoffs)
falsely marketed as "intelligence"
Hungary: Microsoft Windows Sinks to 17% "Market Share"
In many nations in Europe it seems like the era of Windows is coming to an end
Microsoft Media Operatives and Bill Epsteingate-Funded Sites Said Microsoft Lays Off 9,000, But Other Sites Say More (Including 2,300 in Redmond Alone)
We might never know the real number/s (Microsoft will keep the cards close to its chest) until there are leakers or unless there are whistleblowers with hard proof
Microsoft Layoffs in Spain, Portugal Record for GNU/Linux
in Portugal we see GNU/Linux at record levels
GNU/Linux Reaches All-Time High in the United States of America
Windows is trending down
Yes, Microsoft is Again Using Its Favourite Liars (Stenographers) to Seed Fake Layoff Numbers, Much Lower Than What's Really Happening
It is Jordan Novet again, just as we predicted
Will Microsoft Once Again Choose Its Favourite Liar to Spread Lies About Today's Layoffs, Quickly to be Replicated and Spread by Slopfarms?
What lies is Microsoft briefing its media moles to tell today?
"OSS Fetishism" Wins After Ferenc Zsolt Szabó Ousted (Microsoft Mole From Capgemini)
Many people said 2025 would be the "year of Linux on the desktop"
There is Nothing That LLMs Can Offer Honest People
LLMs are a passing fad; they're expensive and offer poor "value" for energy; they usually offer no value at all unless you are a cheater, spammer, and liar
What statCounter Shows Today Helps Explain Microsoft's Helplessness, Mass Layoffs
Since many US journalists are already away on holiday almost nobody will dare ask the difficult questions or give a voice to whistleblowers
Microsoft Gets the Chop in South America
The notion of digital sovereignty gained a lot of popularity
Europe Has an 'Exit'
Let's see what happens the rest of this year
El Presidente Talks, Canada Walks (Away From Windows)
GNU/Linux rising
Cities in France and Germany Move to GNU/Linux and statCounter Detects Big Differences
Will governments lead by example?
Microsoft Lost Its Foothold in Africa
How many of these are "old" Windows machines converted to GNU/Linux? Probably a lot.
Led by Europe, GNU/Linux Makes Big Gains This Month
statCounter started showing new/fresh stats
Links 02/07/2025: Massive Microsoft Layoffs About to Commence, "Tesla's Robotaxi Program Is Failing"
Links for the day
Why the Microsoft People Who Started SLAPPs Against Techrights Could Very Well be Sent Back to Prison
White-collar crime is also a crime
The Company Run by Former (and Last Proper) Red Hat CEO, Promoting Microsoft Mono, Faces Shock as Senior Partner Jailed for 33 Sexual Offenses Including Pedophilia
"As reported by The Oxford Mail in April 2025, the offenses include rape, sexual assault, engaging in non-penetrative activity with a child, and more."
Microsoft Lost 29% of Windows Users, Based on Microsoft, Now Come Massive Layoffs
Microsoft collapse is today
Slopwatch: Google Serves to People Linux Slop and Linux FUD (Made by Bots)
"Slopwatch" finds it difficult to ignore Google's role in encouraging LLM slop
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, July 01, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, July 01, 2025
"Wayland People" Behave Like the Googles and Microsofts of This World
Published yesterday by Igor Ljubuncic
Gemini Links 02/07/2025: Arch Linux and Fulfillment in Gemini
Links for the day