Digital sovereignty awakens: Why businesses must lead the charge

This op-ed by Imène Kabouya, AI expert at Wavestone, was published in La Tribune in May.

The article was translated using artificial intelligence.

For a long time, sovereignty—especially digital sovereignty—was seen as the exclusive domain of nation-states. But in today’s fractured world, marked by geopolitical instability, economic upheaval, and overwhelming reliance on non-European technologies, digital autonomy has become a strategic imperative for European businesses.
No longer can companies afford to be passive consumers of foreign digital services. They must now become active architects of their own digital sovereignty.

A critical and systemic dependency

Digital sovereignty is not merely a matter of compliance or cybersecurity. At its core, it’s about strategic autonomy. Today, over 90% of Western data is stored or processed through cloud infrastructures owned by U.S. tech giants like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. According to an April 2025 CIGREF study, 80% of Europe’s professional cloud and software spending—amounting to €265 billion—is captured by American providers.

This structural dependency exposes European firms to significant vulnerabilities. In the event of geopolitical tensions, Washington could tighten controls on sensitive technologies, as it did with China in October 2023. This could lead to usage restrictions or sudden price hikes for European clients.

Moreover, U.S. laws like the Cloud Act allow American authorities to compel domestic companies to hand over data stored abroad. This extraterritorial reach adds a layer of legal uncertainty. And then there’s vendor lock-in: the technological stranglehold that makes switching providers prohibitively expensive and operationally risky.

The silent threat: Techflation and economic decline

To reclaim control, European businesses must rethink their digital strategies. This means diversifying suppliers, investing in sovereign cloud solutions, and supporting European tech ecosystems. It also requires embedding sovereignty into procurement policies and risk management frameworks.

Digital sovereignty is no longer a theoretical debate—it’s a condition for resilience, innovation, and long-term competitiveness. In this new era, companies are not just stakeholders; they are frontline actors in shaping Europe’s digital future.

Toward a strategy for technological resilience

In light of today’s realities, European companies must urgently develop a strategy for technological resilience. This begins with a detailed mapping of their digital dependencies—cloud providers, critical software solutions, hardware components, and sensitive data flows. The next step is to identify vulnerabilities—legal, technical, and geopolitical—and to design continuity plans for scenarios such as service disruptions, sudden cost increases, or usage restrictions.

This also means exploring alternative technologies. Where feasible, European or open-source solutions should be prioritized. Adopting these tools should not be seen as a constraint, but rather as a driver of flexibility, innovation, and digital sovereignty.

Finally, businesses have a pivotal role to play in shaping a robust European digital ecosystem. This involves investing in local R&D, partnering with public stakeholders to support the rise of European tech champions, and making the strategic choice to strengthen the continent’s digital industrial sectors.

Sovereignty can no longer be the state’s burden alone

European institutions and national governments have begun to respond. Initiatives like the Digital Markets Act, the Data Act, the Chips Act, and France 2030 aim to better regulate dominant players and foster the emergence of European alternatives. Yet, no matter how ambitious these public policies may be, they won’t be enough on their own. Reclaiming technological autonomy will require a large-scale, coordinated commitment from the private sector.

Digital sovereignty can no longer be seen as the sole responsibility of the state. Businesses must view it as both a safeguard against global instability and a long-term lever for competitiveness. In today’s shifting global power dynamics, passivity is no longer an option. Only those companies that proactively build a sovereign digital strategy will be equipped to weather future disruptions—and seize the opportunities that lie ahead.

Source: https://www.cigref.fr/la-dependance-technologique-aux-softwares-cloud-services-americains-une-estimation-des-consequences-economiques-en-europe