As our world becomes increasingly digital, countries are rethinking how much control they have over the technologies that power their economies. Digital sovereignty is the ability of a country or organization to control its own digital infrastructure, technologies, services and data.
The concept of digital sovereignty is particularly important for policymakers in Europe, who are trying to balance innovation, economic competitiveness, security, and democratic values.
What is digital sovereignty?
Digital sovereignty is when a nation or organization has meaningful control over critical technologies, instead of relying on foreign providers. This can include cloud computing infrastructure, AI systems, telecommunications networks, cybersecurity tools, digital identity frameworks, and software platforms.
Digital sovereignty is not tech isolation or self-sufficiency, but often framed as a country’s ability to make independent decisions about its digital systems while remaining connected to global markets and innovation networks.
"Sovereignty is not about building walls, it's about building bridges," said Ana Paula De Jesus Assis, Senior Vice President for IBM EMEA and Asia Pacific, at VivaTech 2026.
How it differs from data sovereignty
While the terms are often used interchangeably, digital sovereignty and data sovereignty are not the same.
Data sovereignty focuses specifically on where data is stored, processed and governed. It addresses questions such as which country's laws apply to data and who has access to it.
AXA Group Chief Information Officer Giovanni D’Aniello explains that data sovereignty is just the first component of digital sovereignty: "Very often, people believe that once you know where your data are located, I'm safe. I'm sovereign compatible. Well, it's absolutely not enough."
Digital sovereignty is broader. It also covers technology infrastructure, software, AI models, cybersecurity capabilities, digital platforms, and strategic control over critical digital resources.
D’Aniello outlined the three other critical parts of digital sovereignty: "Who is operating the system? Who is in charge, legally speaking, of the activities we talk about? And the last one is who is really mastering the technical details, the underlying stack?"
Why digital sovereignty is rising up the policy agenda
Countries increasingly recognize that economic growth, national security, and the resilience of their democracies now depend on digital systems they don’t always control.
The geopolitical case for control
As long as the U.S. and China are home to the majority of the world’s digital infrastructure and platforms, the rest of the world will be potentially vulnerable to cybersecurity threats, supply chain disruptions, and geopolitical pressure.
"Technology is not just technical. It is super strategic,” Clara Chappaz, France’s Ambassador for Digital Affairs and Artificial Intelligence, told the audience at VivaTech 2026. “And that can basically kill off your whole business, and put the whole country at risk if you're thinking AI applied to healthcare or AI applied to education."
Semiconductors, cloud infrastructure, AI systems, and telecommunications networks are now considered strategic assets. Governments are increasingly concerned about relying on technologies developed, owned, or operated by foreign entities whose interests may not align with their own.
Chappez described Europe’s digital sovereignty dilemma like this: "We went with a solution that was on the shelf and just didn't really realize that then, suddenly, 20 years later, 90-something percent of the cloud market is concentrated in the hands of three U.S. companies, and the risks that's associated with it."
The rise of AI has also increased concerns around model training, data governance, algorithmic transparency, and infrastructure ownership. "Today, deployment of AI is 99% consuming SaaS models in U.S. clouds,” warns Olivier Biton, Director of Technological Transformation at the French bank Crédit Agricole. “If we don't move now, it will be too late."
Economic and security dependencies at stake
When a small number of foreign providers control critical infrastructure, governments and businesses face risks related to resilience, compliance, or supply chain disruptions.
"It's about resiliency,” says De Jesus Assis. "If something happens to your infrastructure that is sitting somewhere that you don't have visibility—a war, an energy blackout, any other cyber attack in your environment—if you don't have a fallback plan, you pretty much go out of operations."
Cybersecurity is another major consideration. As cyber threats become more sophisticated, governments are investing in sovereign capabilities to protect critical systems and sensitive information.
How the EU is approaching digital sovereignty
Europe has emerged as one of the most influential regions shaping the global conversation around digital sovereignty.
Instead of focusing solely on technological independence, the European approach tries to combine innovation, competition, privacy protection, and democratic accountability.
Key legislation shaping the European model
Several major regulations form the foundation of Europe's digital strategy:
- The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) established global standards for privacy and data protection.
- The Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA) aim to increase accountability among large digital platforms.
- The EU AI Act created one of the world's first comprehensive regulatory frameworks for artificial intelligence.
- The Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA) reinforces EU leadership in cloud and AI by strengthening its ecosystem, investment and infrastructure.
These policies seek to ensure that technological innovation develops in line with European values while strengthening Europe's position in the global digital economy.
Sovereign cloud and infrastructure requirements
Cloud infrastructure has become a major focus of digital sovereignty initiatives.
Raphaël Auphan, COO of Proton, which offers a suite of privacy-focused services, says it is imperative that Europe develops its own cloud providers to reduce foreign dependency: "When you have this level of dependency on the cloud—close to 90% on the U.S. cloud providers—this level of dependency on email providers, 74% across all the publicly listed companies, it’s not a partnership anymore with the U.S. providers. It's a full dependency. And with this dependency we can see that Europe is a digital colony of the U.S. right now."
To address this concern, European policymakers and industry leaders have launched projects aimed at increasing local cloud capabilities.
Digital sovereignty in practice: real-world examples
Digital sovereignty is already shaping decisions by governments, businesses, and technology providers.
National cloud initiatives
Several countries have launched sovereign cloud programs designed to provide greater control over sensitive data and critical services.
These initiatives often focus on public-sector workloads, defense applications, healthcare systems, and other areas where data governance requirements are particularly important.
For example, France’s sovereign cloud strategy is part of the “France 2030” national investment plan, and includes three initiatives to strengthen its cloud service offering.
National cloud projects help governments maintain oversight of critical infrastructure while also supporting domestic innovation ecosystems.
Open-source and domestic software strategies
Open-source technologies are increasingly viewed as tools for strengthening digital sovereignty.
Open-source software can reduce dependence on proprietary systems controlled by external vendors because source code can be inspected, modified, and audited.
"At Proton, we bet on the open source models,” Auphan said at VivaTech. “We run an open source model on our infrastructure, and we make sure that this infrastructure is only in Europe."
Additionally, governments are investing in local technology ecosystems to support domestic software development, cybersecurity capabilities, and AI innovation.
Trade and market access as sovereignty tools
Digital sovereignty also affects trade policy. Governments are evaluating how data flows, platform access, cloud services, and AI capabilities influence economic competitiveness.
The challenge is finding the right balance between openness and control. Restrictive policies can protect certain interests, but they can also limit access to innovation, investment, and global markets.
What digital sovereignty means for companies
Digital sovereignty is becoming a business strategy issue as much as a policy issue. Companies are evaluating where their data is stored, which cloud providers they use, and how AI systems are governed.
De Jesus Assis gave the example of IBM’s partnership with L'Oréal to create a sovereign Generative AI application that protects the beauty giant’s proprietary knowledge: "Foundational models, large language models are super powerful. But I invested 100 years in my company to build knowledge about formulas for cosmetics, right? I don't want to give that expertise, that knowledge away. So I want to train my own foundational model."
Organizations that proactively address these issues can gain advantages in compliance, security, customer trust, and long-term resilience.
"When you think about sovereignty, it has to go beyond just the regulatory and compliance requirements,” advises De Jesus Assis. “It's really understanding your business requirements, and what are the applications that are truly mission critical that you need to ensure that level of control."
The main challenges to achieving digital sovereignty
While the need is clear, actually achieving digital sovereignty is far from straightforward.
Compliance costs and technical complexity
Building sovereign digital infrastructure requires significant investment. Governments and businesses have to navigate complex legal requirements, evolving technologies, cybersecurity risks, and interoperability challenges.
For many organizations, implementing sovereign solutions increases costs and requires specialized technical expertise.
Balancing openness with protection
One of the most difficult components of digital sovereignty is maintaining openness while protecting strategic interests.
Innovation thrives through international collaboration, open standards, and global talent networks. Excessive restrictions can reduce competitiveness and slow technological progress.
"This is not against collaboration internationally,” insists Chappaz. “It's for the collaboration. Because if we have more capacity for ourselves, then we have a stronger voice when it comes to how we want to operate with partners internationally."
For policymakers, the goal is to strike the right balance of security concerns with the benefits of global connectivity.
Foreign provider dependency and transition risk
Transitioning away from foreign cloud providers and platforms can be expensive, technically challenging, and disruptive.
Because of this, most digital sovereignty strategies focus on increasing resilience and optionality instead of eliminating international partnerships altogether.
But Chappaz says, governments and companies have to start putting their money where their mouths are: "It's great to talk about sovereignty all we want. But if we continue buying non-sovereign solutions, things are not going to change."
Want to go deeper on digital sovereignty? Start with this conversation from VivaTech 2026: "Digital Sovereignty in the AI Era: Balancing Innovation and Control”
