Digital sovereignty can (and must) still be built!

What awareness do we have today of the value of our data and the use that is made of it ? Citizens today access a huge number of services thanks to their data, without necessarily being aware of it. When we interact with a so-called “free” application, these interactions produce data which constitutes the business of the application provider. Photos, purchases, “likes”, so much information that we provide without thinking about it and with which we “pay” for access to the service. For the younger generations, Gen Z or Millennials, who we readily imagine are the most aware of this form of digital barter, the “deal” is generally not considered a problem, as long as the user experience is there. . According to a recent study, half of consumers are ready to give up their information in exchange for more efficient or personalized products or services. This data could nevertheless become a source of income in the future. In China, for example, a data exchange allows citizens to sell personal data. Some start-ups are also trying to position themselves in this niche in Europe, but so far without significant success.

A new Europe-United States agreement

Companies have become aware of the value of data, to the point that some large groups have integrated a Data manager into their top management. But they are also aware of the issues surrounding sovereignty. Because to exploit this data, companies work with the technological leaders of the market. The data is in the cloud, that is to say in outsourced data centers. European companies must be vigilant regarding the extraterritoriality rules that may apply to their data.

Especially since the regulatory framework is not fixed. After the invalidation of the Privacy Shield in 2020, the European Commission has just validated a new adequacy agreement which authorizes data transfers to the United States as long as the organization ensures a level of protection of personal data equivalent to that of the European Union. “By this decision, the Commission decides that the changes made by the United States to its national legislation now ensure an adequate level of protection of personal data transferred from the EU to organizations located in the United States when they are taking steps to respect this new “data protection framework”,” indicates the CNIL.

Who owns ChatGPT data ?

The attention paid today to generative AI and to applications like ChatGPT or MidJourney perfectly illustrates the issues. These artificial intelligences are engines whose fuel is data. Companies therefore have every interest in maintaining strong control of their data, which could tomorrow be sucked up by these AIs to feed machine learning algorithms. Today we are already seeing disputes appear before the courts concerning the exploitation of data and the courts will have to decide on the intellectual property questions that arise from them. But the answers may not be the same in all countries. For example, Italy blocked ChatGPT for a month, before once again authorizing the application of OpenAI on its territory.

AI is a good example, but we could also cite edge computing and the Internet of Things. For a manufacturer that equips its equipment with sensors, the data linked to the use of this equipment can allow it to offer additional services to users, such as predictive maintenance, for example. But does he automatically own it ?

Based on the principle that data is today an absolutely strategic asset for business activity and that it will continue to gain in criticality in the years to come, it is crucial for all organizations to address these issues of sovereignty. The whole difficulty is both to simplify and streamline the exchanges and exploitation of data, to succeed in making it an ethical and moral business, while protecting its interests and those of its customers vis-à-vis other actors, private companies or states, which could attack this heritage in a more or less aggressive manner; and for the legislator to create confidence without creating a regulatory labyrinth.

Answer the call for sovereignty !

Let's be clear, from a technological point of view, it is difficult to limit ourselves to national players. We see this for example with the sovereign cloud initiatives led by French organizations and based on American hyperscaler technology. But there are ways to move the lines. My first piece of advice is to actively participate in the calls for projects launched by France and Europe. For authorities to understand the business and regulate it effectively, they need companies to dedicate their time to them. These are opportunities to influence decisions and collect information.

For example, there is a call for projects and funding proposals on the website of the Ministry of Higher Education and Research or the European Commission for “Developing an operational, open and equitable European scientific cloud”. These calls sometimes find little response, due to companies' lack of time or simply a lack of visibility, because these initiatives lack promotion and remain relatively unknown. States and supra-state institutions wish to encourage the emergence of national champions. And this requires industry players to invest.

No mastery without skills

The other key point of sovereignty is that of competence. The current shortage of digital skills is a threat to sovereignty since it prevents organizations from mastering their digital transformation. Many companies turn to market leaders because these are environments familiar to their employees, when a “tech-savvy” just out of school might have guided them towards a lean, open and less expensive solution. CITOs (Chief Information Technology Officer) obviously need experienced profiles! But it is important to have a mix of profiles to be aware of the technological alternatives available on the market today and to be able to take the side step that allows you to gain sovereignty.

In this logic, training is therefore naturally a key issue, for public authorities, who must help the educational world to train the engineers and developers that our economy requires, and for companies, which will have to improve the skills of their talents by internally and open up to more diversity. If public and private actors invest and collaborate in the same direction, digital sovereignty will become possible.

Article published in first edition on Dell.com: https://lnkd.in/emGsvhHN

The author was not compensated by Dell Technologies

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