Navigating Technological Sovereignty in the Digital Age

Depending on who you speak to, technological sovereignty is either a hot topic, or something that other organizations need to deal with. So, should it matter to you and your organization? Let’s first consider what’s driving it, not least the crystal in the solute of the US Cloud Act, which ostensibly gives the US government access to any data managed by a US provider. This spooked EU authorities and nations, as well as others who saw it as a step too far. 

Whilst this accelerated activity across Europe, Africa and other continents, moves were already afoot to preserve a level of sovereignty across three axes: data movement, local control, and what is increasingly seen as the big one – a desire for countries to develop and retain skills and innovate, rather than being passive participants in a cloud-based brain drain. 

This is impacting not just government departments and their contractors, but also suppliers to in-country companies. A couple of years ago, I spoke to a manufacturing materials organization in France that provided goods to companies in Nigeria. “What’s your biggest headache,” I asked the CIO as a conversation starter. “Sovereignty,” he said. “If I can’t show my clients how I will keep data in-country, I can’t supply my goods.”

Such themes like the Cloud Act have made cross-border data management tricky. With different countries enforcing different laws, navigating where and how your data is stored has become a significant challenge. If it matters to you, it really matters. In principle, technological sovereignty solves this, but there’s no single, clear definition. It’s a concept that’s easy to understand at a high level, but tricky to pin down.

Technological sovereignty is all about ensuring you have control over your digital assets—your data, infrastructure, and the systems that run your business. But it’s not just about knowing where your data is stored. It’s about making sure that data is handled in a way that aligns with the country’s regulations and your business strategy and values.

For organizations in Europe, the rules and regs are quite specific. The upcoming EU Data Act focuses on data sharing and access across different sectors, whilst the AI Act introduces rules around artificial intelligence systems. Together, these evolving regulations are pushing organizations to rethink their technology architectures and data management strategies.

As ever, this means changing the wheels on a moving train. Hybrid/multi-cloud environments and complex data architectures add layers of complexity, whilst artificial intelligence is transforming how we interact with and manage data. AI is a sovereignty blessing and a curse – it can both enable data to be handled more effectively, but as AI models become more sophisticated, organizations need to be even more careful about how they process data from a compliance perspective. 

So, where does this leave organizations that want the flexibility of cloud services but need to maintain control over their data? Organizations have several options:

• Sovereign Hyper-Scalers: Over the next year, cloud giants like AWS and Azure will be rolling out sovereign cloud offerings tailored to the needs of organizations that require stricter data controls. 
• Localized Providers: Working with local managed service providers (MSPs) can give organizations more control within their own country or region, helping them keep data close to home.
• On-premise Solutions: This is the go-to option if you want full control. However, on-premise solutions can be costly and come with their own set of complexities. It’s about balancing control with practicality.

The likelihood is a combination of all three will be required, at least in the short-medium term. Inertia will play its part: given that it’s already a challenge to move existing workloads beyond the lower-hanging fruit into the cloud, sovereignty creates yet another series of reasons to leave them where they are, for better or worse. 

There’s a way forward for sovereignty as both a goal and a burden, centered on the word governance. Good governance is about setting clear policies for how your data and systems are managed, who has access, and how you stay compliant with regulations for both your organization and your customers. This is a business-wide responsibility: every level of your organization should be aligned on what sovereignty means for your company and how you will enforce it. 

This may sound onerous to the point of impossibility, but that is the nature of governance, compliance and risk (GRC) – the trick is to assess, prioritize and plan, building sovereignty criteria into the way the business is designed. Want to do business in certain jurisdictions? If so, you need to bake their requirements into your business policies, which can then be rolled out into your application, data and operational policies. 

Get this the other way around, and it will always be harder than necessary. However, done right, technological sovereignty can also offer a competitive advantage. Organizations with a handle on their data and systems can offer their customers more security and transparency, building trust. By embedding sovereignty into your digital strategy, you’re not just protecting your organization—you’re positioning yourself as a leader in responsible business, and building a stronger foundation for growth and innovation. 

Technological sovereignty should be a strategic priority for any organization that wants to stay ahead in today’s complex digital landscape. It’s not just about choosing the right cloud provider or investing in the latest security tools—it’s about building a long-term, business-driven strategy that ensures you stay in control of your data, wherever in the world it is.

The future of sovereignty is about balance. Balancing cloud and on-premise solutions, innovation and control, and security with flexibility. If you can get that balance right, you’ll be in a strong position to navigate whatever the digital world throws at you next.

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