Europe's push for digital sovereignty requires a practical operating model, not just policy aspirations
By
Casper Klynge
Summary
Europe is grappling with the need to turn digital sovereignty from an abstract aspiration into a concrete operational model. Amid geopolitical uncertainty, sanctions risk, legal divergence, and cyber disruption, the article argues that digital sovereignty must be embedded into enterprise operating models rather than treated as a standalone compliance or data localization issue. It explores varying definitions of sovereignty and calls for a practical framework that balances resilience, security, and strategic autonomy.
Source
Key quotes
· 3 pulledDigital sovereignty is shifting from aspiration to operational requirement, driven by resilience expectations, critical service dependency, and rising geopolitical and cyber risk.
Definitions of sovereignty vary, ranging from blanket data localization edicts to industrial policy to national security, but the absence of an agreed definition should not be mistaken for an absence of need.
Europe, like much of the world, is living through a period of heightened geopolitical uncertainty in which sanctions risk, legal divergence, and cyber disruption have moved from abstract concerns to board-level variables.
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