All articles tagged with #digital sovereignty
The Sunday Times investigates who holds the keys to the internet and the growing use of state-led blackouts—from Egypt’s 2011 shutdown to Iran’s modern ‘halal internet’—and what that means for democracies, resilience, and potential UK vulnerability in a world moving toward digital sovereignty.
France will replace Microsoft Teams and Zoom with its domestically developed Visio platform for all government departments by 2027, as part of the Suite Numérique to boost digital sovereignty. Visio, currently tested with about 40,000 users and hosted on a sovereign cloud, aims to reduce reliance on US software and cut licensing costs, potentially saving around €1 million per year per 100,000 users.
Germany's National Library of Medicine is developing an alternative to PubMed to promote digital sovereignty and resilience in scientific communication, sparking debate about the risks of reliance on a single global platform and emphasizing the importance of diverse, transparent knowledge systems for scientific progress.
European leaders, including Macron, condemned US visa bans on European figures involved in digital regulation, viewing them as coercion and threats to European digital sovereignty, amid broader US-Europe tensions over tech regulation and free speech.
The Trump administration has imposed visa bans on European officials and organizations involved in enforcing the EU's Digital Services Act, citing concerns over extraterritorial censorship, which has sparked diplomatic tensions and accusations of repression and threats to European digital sovereignty.
European demand for locally-based digital services has increased due to concerns over privacy, politics, and reliance on US tech giants, prompting efforts to promote digital sovereignty and use of European and open-source alternatives, amid ongoing dominance of US companies like Google and Meta.
Broadcom has announced new and expanded services for VMware Cloud Foundation at VMware Explore 2024 in Barcelona, focusing on accelerating AI, enhancing cybersecurity, and supporting digital sovereignty. The updates include VMware Tanzu Data Services for streamlined data management, VMware Live Recovery for improved disaster recovery, and a new VMware vDefend Advanced Service with GenAI-based threat assistance. Broadcom is also expanding its Private Cloud Modernization Program and offering new certifications to support private cloud transitions. These initiatives aim to provide scalable, secure, and resilient cloud solutions for enterprises.
The German state of Schleswig-Holstein is making a significant move towards open-source software by replacing Microsoft Office with LibreOffice and planning to switch from Windows to Linux for its approximately 30,000 employee's PCs. They are also transitioning to open-source services for collaboration and aiming for digital sovereignty by reducing the influence of non-EU tech companies. This shift reflects a growing trend of governments and organizations seeking to break free from vendor lock-in and promote open-source solutions.
Amazon is launching a separate cloud service called Amazon Web Services European Sovereign Cloud, specifically designed for highly-regulated industries and the public sector in Europe. The new cloud system will allow customers to keep certain data within the European Union, with only EU-resident AWS employees having control and support. This move addresses concerns over data privacy and digital sovereignty, as the EU aims to have stricter rules over the storage and transfer of data and boost European-developed critical technology. Other major tech giants, such as Google and Microsoft, have also introduced features to meet the demand for "sovereign" clouds in the EU.
The European Union has agreed on a $47 billion plan to boost its chip industry, called the European Chips Act, to compete with the US and Asia on tech and secure control over a critical bit of technology behind the world's electronics products and devices. The initiative aims to double the EU's global market share in semiconductors from 10% to 20% by 2030. The Chips Act has three main aims: building large-scale capacity and innovation, making sure the EU is self-sufficient, and preparing the EU for potential future supply crises.